Potential dedicated room for HT... thoughts

[The Dali]

Ok, so I have two modest home theaters (basement and main floor) and I'm installing one in my newly constructed bedroom over the garage (my wife falls asleep duiring every movie, so now she doesn't even have to go upstairs after the movie is over). I was poking around in the member's home theater threads and you all have some SICK home theater rooms! It got me thinking of possibly working on my wife to transform the "scrapbooking" room in the basement into a full-fledged dedicated home theater room.

I haven't brought it up yet but wanted to do some fact finding anyway. It is about 12x12 and would be fully enclosed. 8.5 foot ceiling. I have other space in the basement (finished) and have an older theater down there that we don't use that much. I was thinking of using this 12x12 and getting higher quality components and "doing it right".

Anyway... would 12x12 be a bit too small? The other areas in the basement are not really conducive to a dedicated room. I couldn't do a projector down there - would have to do a 60 - 70" LCD or LED. I could probably get seating for 4 or 5 comfortably. This is probably a few years off, as I'd want to do some construction and re-rig the lighting, etc...

Any suggestions for a room that size? Thx!

 

[The Dali]

Additional info... I'd likely not need to buy furniture, but would de-commision the existing theather down there... I have some decent stuff, but it is older and I'd like to get a fully matching speaker system. blu-ray, powersub, etc...

Overall my budget would be in the $4000 - $7000 range.

 

[GranteedEV]

I think 12 x 12 could work, although a square room AFAIK isn't ideal.


But not with conventional speakers, I'd probably go with in-walls.. I'd also go with an acoustically transparent screen and mount it right on the wall. The biggest thing would be getting compact seating that can be placed around 3 feet from the back wall without things looking too cramped.

3 x RBH MC-6DB IN WALL Mounted in the front wall,
2 x RBH MC-6DB IN WALL Mounted in the side-back walls
2 x RBH SI-10 Mounted opposite each on the center of the side walls
1 x Seymour AV screen 85" Fixed
1 x Projector mounted in the back wall

And a decent bit of absorption / diffusion all along the walls, ceiling, and floor. This is key!
I don't know if I'd bother with 4 subs or rear backs in that size of room, but you may want to consider adding two more SI-10s and a pair of MC-6 IN WALLS.

Also on the sub. I'd also look into floor based infinite baffle going into the garage or something... LOL! Actually even regular subs might do the trick without needing in walls. I'd ponder the sub decision until I saw how things started to shape up.

 

[sholling]

Ok, so I have two modest home theaters (basement and main floor) and I'm installing one in my newly constructed bedroom over the garage (my wife falls asleep duiring every movie, so now she doesn't even have to go upstairs after the movie is over).

It sounds like you need to beef up the master bedroom system to make it a theater system. That's safer than trying to take over her scrap-booking room - unless you have a really comfortable couch you enjoy sleeping on.

 

[jostenmeat]

Ok, so I have two modest home theaters (basement and main floor) and I'm installing one in my newly constructed bedroom over the garage (my wife falls asleep duiring every movie, so now she doesn't even have to go upstairs after the movie is over). I was poking around in the member's home theater threads and you all have some SICK home theater rooms! It got me thinking of possibly working on my wife to transform the "scrapbooking" room in the basement into a full-fledged dedicated home theater room.

I haven't brought it up yet but wanted to do some fact finding anyway. It is about 12x12 and would be fully enclosed. 8.5 foot ceiling. I have other space in the basement (finished) and have an older theater down there that we don't use that much. I was thinking of using this 12x12 and getting higher quality components and "doing it right".

Anyway... would 12x12 be a bit too small? The other areas in the basement are not really conducive to a dedicated room. I couldn't do a projector down there - would have to do a 60 - 70" LCD or LED. I could probably get seating for 4 or 5 comfortably. This is probably a few years off, as I'd want to do some construction and re-rig the lighting, etc...

Any suggestions for a room that size? Thx!

Yeah, 12x12 is very small, and of course square. (It was the only ? mark I noticed, and that's why I'm starting there.) I could not give you acoustical/mathematical comparisons (especially without certain figures given), but with the impressions I have, I actually would blindly choose a very large square room over a very small room with much better boundary ratios. Maybe I say that because b pape once said he would kill to have a bigger room; ratios can be overrated when compared with pure size. (Yes, once again, video or audio, the compromise is yours to make.)

Now may I ask you how you would choose an LCD, whether LED backlit or not, for a "dedicated" room?

For the scrapbooking room, there are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and you have a very good budget. Start googling "tab-tensioned" screens, if you need to keep the wall bare for as long as possible. Though it will eat up a very large portion of your budget, you still have a lot to work with.

Ok . . . now that I'm typing, I think I get the gist of your lost-in-the-desert question . . . and I think you should go for the compromise in the scrapbooking room. Easy to say from over here . . .

Otherwise, look towards this for inspiration for the "dedicated look". However, acoustics are very against you . . . but I already said that . . . and since you have a lot more budget to work with, who knows what kind of magic you can come up with:

Small Budget, Smaller Room HT Conversion

 

[The Dali]

Thanks for the link - nice setup for that dude.

Yeah, 12x12 is a bit small, which was my concern. I have other options down there, but this would be the best use of the space in the basement. I'll have to draw up a layout to show you.

Sholling, that is a good point, but she doesn't really scrapbook very much, and there would be plenty of room in the basement for scrapbooking if she ever got the fever again. Thanks for looking out for me!

Jostenmeat, what do you mean about the picking out the LCD for the dedicated room?

 

[The Dali]

By the way, I was mentioning the LCD idea because of the room size. I didn't think that I could get such a large screen in such a small space.

Now, using this calculator, I found that at a sitting distance of 10 feet I could use a 95" screen. Does that sound right to you?



Viewing Distance Calc

 

[TLS Guy]

By the way, I was mentioning the LCD idea because of the room size. I didn't think that I could get such a large screen in such a small space.

Now, using this calculator, I found that at a sitting distance of 10 feet I could use a 95" screen. Does that sound right to you?



Viewing Distance Calc

Can you remodel the basement to get a space with a dominant dimension that is also larger? If you could get around 12 X 20 feet you would have something to work with. I think the sound will be severely compromised in a 12 X 12 ft room sitting 10 ft from the screen you will only be 2 ft. from a back wall in a square room.

My view is that, that is not the space for that kind of investment.

However you are in general thinking along the right lines. I believe a superior multichannel experience demands a dedicated space.

It is not usually the end of the world moving walls in a basement by the way.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Projectors all have different throw distances, it is not standard, but for a quality LCD projector like the Panasonic AE4000 or the Epson 8700UB, you will get about a 100" diagonal from about a 10' throw distance (lens to screen). With a room 12' deep, that is really acceptable, and in a dedicated space (dark paint, carpet, ceiling), it is beyond ideal!

The room acoustics are perhaps the biggest fighting points for you, and I would spend some time/money rewiring the room for really good lighting so you can get some lights on while the projector is in use.

The new 3D JVC projectors are likely to be availble to market as well and may be worth your consideration if you want to have some real cinematic fun with the space.

Your budget is good, but will always be a limiting factor. A good projector will be $2,000ish, and a screen can pretty easily be about $1,000 for a quality model. So, that's about half your budget. A good 65" plasma is about $3,500 as well, so you are in about the same budget when you go that route.

That leaves about $3,000 or so for audio, which is decent, but more in line with what I would call mid-grade gear. Not likely appropriate to go with Emotiva Pre-pro/amps at about $1,400 which would leave $1,600 or so for the 7.1 speaker setup. Pretty easy to see how we run out of money so quickly with this hobby.

I would say that good speakers are pretty much 'forever' as is a good screen for a projector. Receivers and projectors are items which likely will need to be upgraded every 5-10 years under normal circumstances. But, a good amplifier for your speakers could last forever, so spending some money there is good.

The room construction shouldn't really take years or anything, but it depends on how much work the space needs, and other than basic planning, I wouldn't worry to much about components right now.

12x12 - dedicated? In my experience a dedicated room always gives the best results, so while smaller than ideal... and square, you still will likely be able to get the best performance from this space.

 

[The Dali]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to re-measure tonight for exact dimensions.

I have posts the run the center of the basement (encased in wood right now) which preclude me from moving the wall. I do have another potential option, but it has its own issues due to my water system (potential for damage and noise) and requires the construction of a wall which would close off half the basement. My current 12x12 idea already has the walls in place (ie, already sequestered off).

 

[jostenmeat]

Jostenmeat, what do you mean about the picking out the LCD for the dedicated room?

I just cannot see any benefits whatsoever in choosing LCD over plasma for a dedicated theater. Check out the 65" Pana V10 or the VT25 at a considerably higher budget.

By the way, I was mentioning the LCD idea because of the room size. I didn't think that I could get such a large screen in such a small space.

Now, using this calculator, I found that at a sitting distance of 10 feet I could use a 95" screen. Does that sound right to you?

Viewing Distance Calc

Yes, that is the perfect starting point for a system in which native HD material will be the exclusive or near-exclusive source. To know for certain, it is usually best to just get the PJ first, and fire it at the wall for a few days. Your patience will be extraordinarily tested, but it will pay off. The fine tuning of the viewing angle can also be dependent on the display's own quality/technology as well. For instance, with a plasma, you can probably go very darn big in angle if you wanted, due to superior motion resolution.

 

[The Dali]

Thanks! I prefer Plasma myself, I wan't sure, however, that they were making them 65" + - I thought the LED technology was going to the larger screen sizes.


I have bad and good news. The bad is that the room is actually 11x12, the good is that I perhaps can do something in another part of the basement that is 12x19.

I'll post an image of the basement.

 

[The Dali]

Ok, here is my super-crude drawing of the basement.

The scrapbook room is too small. An option would be to use the area near the water as the home theater, but I do worry about potential water issues. I could put up a wall at the far end and put all the equipment down there, away from the water. Doing this does eat up my basement space, however.

I don't want to close off the main section, and there are two windows (not shown) on the wall near the bathroom.

The small squares are the posts.

 

[TLS Guy]

Ok, here is my super-crude drawing of the basement.

The scrapbook room is too small. An option would be to use the area near the water as the home theater, but I do worry about potential water issues. I could put up a wall at the far end and put all the equipment down there, away from the water. Doing this does eat up my basement space, however.

I don't want to close off the main section, and there are two windows (not shown) on the wall near the bathroom.

The small squares are the posts.

You will need to close off from the stair area to the oil tank.

You will need an entry door.

I suppose the water area is the hot water tank. That is a pity as water tanks rupture periodically, so you will need to keep equipment well away.

 

[Whitey80]

I have a dedicated theater that is nearly those same dimensions.....and, my girlfriend has the same narcaleptic tendencies as your wife.....my theater is directly across the hall from the master bedroom.

After some tuning and arranging, you can get solid, clean sound in those dimensions....and the effective output of your sub will be phenomenal!

Here's the link to my theater thread:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65905

 

[The Dali]

Well, after more deliberation, I think that this room will have to do it for me... the beauty is that I've updated the idea, so now this room will act as a full media room and not simply a home theater. I expect to use the room for my guitars, laptop (for the guitar stuff), and the home theater, with the room also serving as a general music-listening room.

I have a set of stairs that run on the other side of one of the walls, of which under the stairs was turned into a closet. I should be able to locate all my equipment in this location and create a built-in cabinet for equipment and DVDs.

Since the room moves my guitar (hanging on the walls) and amps/pedals (against one wall) it allows me more freedom in the rest of the basement for placement of other stuff (including a large closet for the wife's scrapbooking). In addition, it protects the electronics and guitars from potential water damage (since they will be segregated from the water systems).

More to come!!!