Dedicated Basement Theater - Room Layout Advice

[kernelpanic]

Hi all, need some advice on room layout. My vision is to build my dream 7.2.4 theater with two rows of seating, 2nd row on a riser with 3 seats in each row. The best space available in the basement of my new house is only 12ft wide with 7 ft ceilings (length is flexible and not an issue). This seems tight to me for a theater of this level. My concerns are:

Width:

• There only seems to be about 26 inches of aisle space on each side with three seat rows based on measuring
• Also means that side surrounds would only be ~26 inches from listeners (I plan to go bi-poles in the middle of the two rows to help with this)

Height:

• Is 7’ ceiling enough separation between Atmos speakers and bed layer?
• Clearance of head space from riser to ceiling is limited
• The ceiling is not 100% flat and symmetrical as there is some ductwork along the back right corner of the space.

What’s everyone experience with similar room widths and heights? Wondering if I should just go with the layout as is or look at some major renovation to alter the width/ceiling height?

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

I'm no expert by any means, but your space is close in size to mine. My HT room is 18.5' l × 10.5' w × 7.5' h. I also have 2 rows of 3 seats with the back row on a set of 16" risers I built.

Your room is a little wider, mine has more headroom. I'm currently running a 7.2 set up, with an acoustically transparent 110" screen. I also want to add 4 Atmos speakers, and another set of bed layer speakers for the front row.

IMO width wise, you've got more than enough room. If I had that extra 1.5' of width, my room would be near perfect. Your biggest issue will be headroom. Having the bed layer speakers at the ear height of the listeners, and then having Atmos speakers as well, which is pretty much the same issue as I'll be having when the time comes. On top of that, depending on your seating height, seeing over the front row could be an issue. The 16" risers are about the perfect height in my room. You said length wise you've got room to play, so that could definitely help out.

Are you planning on having a projector or just a big TV?

 

[kernelpanic]

Wow, nice! How did you get three seat rows with only 10.5'? What seats did you go with? Would love to see pictures of the room given the similarity in dimensions.

How is your side surround experience? Where's your placement and are they monopole or bipole?

I plan to go projector. I was thinking maybe 12" riser, but I can play with that if needed.

 

[shadyJ]

Hi all, need some advice on room layout. My vision is to build my dream 7.2.4 theater with two rows of seating, 2nd row on a riser with 3 seats in each row. The best space available in the basement of my new house is only 12ft wide with 7 ft ceilings (length is flexible and not an issue). This seems tight to me for a theater of this level. My concerns are:

Width:

• There only seems to be about 26 inches of aisle space on each side with three seat rows based on measuring
• Also means that side surrounds would only be ~26 inches from listeners (I plan to go bi-poles in the middle of the two rows to help with this)

Height:

• Is 7’ ceiling enough separation between Atmos speakers and bed layer?
• Clearance of head space from riser to ceiling is limited
• The ceiling is not 100% flat and symmetrical as there is some ductwork along the back right corner of the space.

What’s everyone experience with similar room widths and heights? Wondering if I should just go with the layout as is or look at some major renovation to alter the width/ceiling height?

The surround speakers are so close to the listeners that I might just skip the surround speakers. It isn't going to hurt the overall sound quality much. Just don't screw up the front stage speakers or bass system and it will sound very good. Definitely do not do anything to sacrifice the front stage. You could scale the system back to 5.2.2 and you wouldn't lose much, probably nothing even noticeable.

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

Wow, nice! How did you get three seat rows with only 10.5'? What seats did you go with? Would love to see pictures of the room given the similarity in dimensions.

How is your side surround experience? Where's your placement and are they monopole or bipole?

I plan to go projector. I was thinking maybe 12" riser, but I can play with that if needed.

I went with KEF Q150 for the rear/side surround speakers. They're probably mounted a little higher than need be to accommodate the space, but it is what it is. They sound and perform great. Might be a bit of an issue when the time comes for Atmos speakers, but I'll figure something out.

Seating had to be pushed to one side of the room, so I've only got the 1 aisle to walk to the front.

It's a double riser totalling 16" high. I thought I could get away with just the single, but the high backs on the seating made it so that I had to add the extra riser platform.

I've pretty much upgraded the entire system (except the AVR) in the last 6 months. Mostly on the advice, and research information, I've gotten from this forum. Lots of very friendly and helpful people around here.

 

[kernelpanic]

I went with KEF Q150 for the rear/side surround speakers. They're probably mounted a little higher than need be to accommodate the space, but it is what it is. They sound and perform great. Might be a bit of an issue when the time comes for Atmos speakers, but I'll figure something out.
View attachment 49208

View attachment 49209

View attachment 49210
Seating had to be pushed to one side of the room, so I've only got the 1 aisle to walk to the front.
View attachment 49211
It's a double riser totalling 16" high. I thought I could get away with just the single, but the high backs on the seating made it so that I had to add the extra riser platform.
View attachment 49212

I've pretty much upgraded the entire system (except the AVR) in the last 6 months. Mostly on the advice, and research information, I've gotten from this forum. Lots of very friendly and helpful people around here.

Thanks for the info and pics, this is helpful! The Tuscany's without the arms in the middle definitely help on width. But yeah, the 16" riser will probably be tight for atmos. How high is your screen off the ground?

Do you find any issues with not having the seats centered in the room and off to one side? And any issues with localization of the side surrounds since they are close?

I'm debating excavating the floor to gain height and help with Atmos, need to look into that more.

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

Edit: Doble post

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

Thanks for the info and pics, this is helpful! The Tuscany's without the arms in the middle definitely help on width. But yeah, the 16" riser will probably be tight for atmos. How high is your screen off the ground?

Do you find any issues with not having the seats centered in the room and off to one side? And any issues with localization of the side surrounds since they are close?

I'm debating excavating the floor to gain height and help with Atmos, need to look into that more.

No problem.

The screen is a 110" Acoustically Transparent Screen. I also built stands/risers to get the L/R speakers up off the ground, and for the 2 subwoofers as well. They're filled with sand as well to help stop the transmission of vibrations in the room. I vastly underestimated how much sand those boxes would take to fill (the speaker stands have ~150lbs of sand each, the subwoofer stands ~100lbs each).

Originally I had the screen about 22" off the ground, but with it pushed forward from the wall, the bottom of the screen was kind of low for viewing from the back row. I raised it another 6".

No issues with the sound or screen location due to the seats being on one side. Barely noticeable at all. But in your room, within extra 1.5' in width, that might not be the case.

I thought about doing the same thing with excavating my floor. It's a lot of work, even if you can access it properly.

Cheers.