Home Theater Setup

[Clivek]

I have a question on the setup of a home theater room, I have gotten various answers from the salespeople and thought I would check out what you guys thought.

I have a basement room which I am going to be totally gutting in the next few months down to the concrete floor and walls. It is a rental property so I do not forsee building it as only a home theater room, but it will be for my use over the next couple of years.

The room is 13 feet by 22 feet, and I will be using half of that for the TV area. To imagine it the TV will be setup 13 ft along the long part of the wall, creating a 13 x 13 ft viewing room. The room will not be partioned and I plan on having a large section couch along the two walls opposite the TV. The best viewing position would be directly in the far corner across from the TV. My question is this, using a 5.1 system, where should I put the speakers?

In having the best viewing position in the corner is it going to be difficult to have good sound? Would thick curtains hung behind the couch help deaden the room? Would a 6.1 or 7.1 system help?

The floor will be a faux wood type with a rug in the TV area, and the walls and ceiling will be gyproc. Would sound insulation help behind this finish? Are there any absolute NO's that I should be aware?

Thanks for any suggestions for the home theater newbie?

Clive

 

[Ethan Winer]

Clive,

> The room is 13 feet by 22 feet, and I will be using half of that for the TV area. <

You should set up so the loudspeakers face the longer way down the room. If you want to use only half of the room, without a divider, have the unused half be behind you. The drawing below shows the ideal setup for a rectangular room, with the listening position set so your ears are 38 percent of the way back from the front wall.

--Ethan

<img src="http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup1.gif">

 

[Clivek]

thank you for your response, but I would like to set the seating as I mentioned above, as well I am looking for a 5.1 setup. That is however great advice for my living area where I have 2 mains and a subwoofer.

thx. Clive

 

[Ethan Winer]

Clive,

> I would like to set the seating as I mentioned above <

I understood that, but I felt I should point out the best arrangement anyway. I guess it comes down to a choice between having the room "look" the way you'd like, versus sounding as good as possible.

> I am looking for a 5.1 setup <

All the more reason to set up with the speakers firing the long way down the room. Otherwise you're sitting so close to the rear wall that the surround speakers can't be placed properly. Just for completeness, below is a surround version of the same drawing from the same article.

--Ethan

<img src="http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup2.gif">

 

[Clivek]

thank you very much.