The HTS Room of "Potential"
Once you've finished reading, the video above will give you a bad, but far clearer idea of what I'm talking about below
Ok, - so some background here. I have never built or purchased a HTS, apart from a cheap Phillips Costco 5.1 system-in-a-box in the early 2000's when that was all the rage.
I live in China - and recently signed a lease on a really great place. Very unique in that it has TWO basement levels, basically that go down the depth of the parking garage beneath the apartment tower. The basement has been finished - but is still essentially bare of furniture. On the bottom level of the basement (I promise, this doesn't take a weird turn with some scene from Saw) - there is... a "home theater room" that has had absolutely nothing done to it except... a ridiculous amount of sound paneling. Which, on the one hand, is needed, because the entire basement level is solid concrete walls. I saw another one that was completely unfinished save paint on the walls, tile on the floor, and empty two floors high - and the echo was deafening even at regular speaking levels. Totally unusable. For anything. Without sound panels.
Whoever made this "room" had the start of a right idea... the size is right (although the ceiling is a little low - probably 9 feet - and it's clearly already been wired in part for a home theater in mind: there are speaker wires in the front top right and left of the room, front bottom and right of the room, back left and right, and a projector space for a ceiling mount with the HDMI already there - going to a small (too small, probably) side of the wall for what I assume is supposed to be the location of the receiver and media players.
The floor is bare marble/tile. The walls? Every square inch is covered in a sound-absorbing tile. The Ceiling? Every square inch is covered in sound-absorbing tile. Except for the massive, central area that's covered in what looks to be a sound-absorbing "star-ceiling". There are also two pillars in the room - center and back. The projector wiring is right in-between them. But that puts something of a hard limit on how far back seating/couches can go.
Basically, what I'm asking for is general advice: from my understanding, a 7.1 system is out because there is NO bouncing sound off of that ceiling without ripping out the light-extravaganza. I'm ok to settle with a 5.1 or 5.2 system. But there is also NO sound being refracted off of any wall - it just is absorbed into a black hole of sound paneling. It'd be a kick-ass space as is if I wanted to invite a band over to practice... there is no risk of sound getting through two levels of basement and concrete. But has this room been ruined? And given the size... I feel like I'm going to need some serious speakers to make a dent (I'm planning on a 150" screen and 4k projector). But without sound... what's the point?