Setting up HT in new apartment...Please Help!!

[jdchess]

Hey guys. I'm new here at the forums. I just moved into a new apartment and I'm looking for some advice on how to set up my home theater. Here's the floorplan that I am dealing with:

I want to set everything up in the living room if possible. I understand that using an "open" room like this can cause some problems. One side is basically missing a wall, or at least doesn't have a wall until the far edge of the kitchen/dining room.

I'll be using using a 6 channel, 600 watt Panasonic receiver with Pioneer speakers (mains, center, and 2 surround speakers). I am looking to buy a new TV and a new sub.

What general setup and/or placement would you recommend? What size TV would you probably go with considering the room size? Speaker placement and sub placement? Main seating position? Are there any kind of treatments I should use? Also, should the glass-paned french doors be covered? If so, with what?

In my old place I was using a 5.1 setup. Should I add a rear surround speaker for the 6.1 setup? How far behind the seating position should it go?

I'm pretty new to the whole home theater idea and I would appreciate any help or advice at all. Thanks!

 

[ScottMayo]

I wouldn't get fancy. If it was just stereo listening I'd say put the speakers on the east wall, but for HT the screen has to go between the speakers, so the north wall is more or less your only option. The acoustics are going to be strange in that space, and no amount of trapping is going to even it out, so I think I'd just go with a few traps behind the speakers, a big subwoofer, and enjoy the rumble. Put the speakers near to you ("nearfield listening") so you can play them softer - both for the sake of the neighbors, and to minimise the room's effect on the acoustics. Try to put the seating as far from the back wall as you can stand it, as right against the back wall you'll get an annoying bass boost.

 

[jdchess]

Thanks for the tips Scott. I really appreciate it. So you think putting the screen on the north/outside wall would be better than placing it on the lower inside wall, next to the hallway entrance? My first thought was to put the TV on the lower inside wall. Also, what do you think about the glass-paned french doors? Should they be covered?

 

[ScottMayo]

Thanks for the tips Scott. I really appreciate it. So you think putting the screen on the north/outside wall would be better than placing it on the lower inside wall, next to the hallway entrance? My first thought was to put the TV on the lower inside wall. Also, what do you think about the glass-paned french doors? Should they be covered?

Neither position is ideal, but the speakers against the south wall contributes to a problem. The left speaker will be in a corner and get reinforced bass. The right speaker's rear wave will fire down the corridor and have diminished bass and a noticably delayed echo (it won't be audible as an actual echo, but it will sound "loose" or "sucked out".)

Against the north wall you at least have wall behind both speakers, which will help things balance a little better.

The french doors are not a big problem. If anything, they will let a little bass escape, which is a good thing here. For movies where the sound matters, you might get a better sound by leaving them partway open.

The room would almost certainly sound best with the speakers on either side of the french doors. You probably don't want to install a projector, and put in a drop down screen over those doors, but that would be the best way to go if sonics were the primary consideration.

 

[jdchess]

Thanks for the adivce. I really do appreciate it. I would like to put the main speakers on each side of the french doors, but I think using a projector would be the only way to do that. A TV would obviously prohibit getting in and out of the home office area.

If I put the TV and main speakers on the top / north wall, what problems will I likely encounter from the left side of the room being so open? Is there any correction for those problems at all?

Also, where do you guys think the proper sub and bass trap(s) placement would be? Thanks again for the help so far.

 

[jdchess]

I think I have decided to set everything up with the TV and main speakers on the north / top wall. For the right front speaker (the one that will be in the corner), how far from the side wall and back wall should it be? How close to the side wall is TOO close?


I have seen info on placing speakers in a rectangular room, but I am unsure about placement in this situation since one entire wall is missing on the left side of the room I'm using. How does this affect speaker placement? What effect will the "missing" wall have on the left front speaker?