xr06t Posted March 10, 2007 Posted March 10, 2007 i am currently building a house and it has a small room at the front which i plan to use as a theatre.. here is the general idea.... X's are windows .................2.830 ...._____________________.... ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ........................................|.... .....opening........................|.... ......(930)..........................|.... ....|...................................|.... 4.550 ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ....|...................................|.... ....|___XXXX_____XXXX___|.... after reading i see that this is not the best shape but it is what it is.. i have pretty much a free reign on this room after letting swmbo get a dog when we move in! the only thing she really wants is nice cedar blinds over the windows, but i can add curtains to make sure that no light can get in.. the only equipment i have so far is my dlp, i'll get the rest once the house is finished and i can see what is left! i was thinking that having a couch at the window end would be the best idea.. do those in the know agree with that? i want to get a 5.1 setup and was wondering, with a room this small is it a better idea to get speakers that are 'brighter' or 'bassier'? the reciever i think i will get is the onkyo s506.. would people say that this is the right type of reciever for me? how close to the rear wall would be best for the couch? i plan on having a 3 seater rather than 'theatre chairs'.. would in-ceiling speakers be any good in this application, as i recently read that they should be approx 1m behind the seating position and im not sure that the couch should be that far forward. im really just looking for people to give their opinions as i havent seen any posts from people with such small rooms! what i thought would be a good idea is to get a thick curtain for the opening, as there is no door on it.. should i get another curtain for the opposite wall? should a theatre be symetrical? thanks for readng and please post u pany ideas!! cheers
sold Posted March 10, 2007 Posted March 10, 2007 My thoughts: Seating - I'd agree that the window end is the best location for the couch with screen at the opposite end. Ideally you'd put it at about 2/3rds down the room at ~3m mark. Though depending on your screen size and resolution you may need to play with that a bit. Speakers - Try and audition them in a room similar to yours (taking them home for a demo would be ideal if possible) and just go with what sounds best to you. If you have a budget at a later date I'm sure you could get suggestions on here for those that might suit you, which you could then go and listen to. Rear speakers - Depending on the walls and how difficult it is to run cable in-wall speakers may be another option worth looking at. Curtain - A curtain over the opening with a matching one on the other side sounds like a good idea (bad pun intended). By playing a bit with the location of the front speakers and couch you might be able to get this to sit at the first reflection point (i.e. where the sound from the front speaker would hit the wall and be reflected to you. You can find out exactly where this is with the help of a mirror), which would be ideal.
xr06t Posted March 11, 2007 Author Posted March 11, 2007 thanks for the tips sold.. sounds like a good idea putting the couch away from the rear wall as i will be able to put the equipment rack back there! keep the tips and comments coming guys..
Guest EZYHD Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 I agree too, seating at rear window end, you have plenty of length in the room if you need to bring seats forward. In ceiling speakers are very hard to find to demo, have them myself. You don't say what your budget is so hard to recommend much. Yamaha and Denon receiver/amps are very popular. Cables: http://www.htcustomcables.com http://stores.ebay.com.au/Selby-Acoustics Speakers: http://adigitallife.com.au/home_theatre.html?cat=27 Wall Plates: http://www.cliff.com.au/products/wallplates/wallplates.htm Have you considered a Projector?, can be had (PJ & 100' Screen - 2.2m wide!) under $3k. viewing will never be the same!. If you go see mine HT there are 2 pics at bottom that one of the DTV guys has, its a longish room and looks very neat. I really like the seat floor riser he did and colours used. http://www.cairnshomes.info/page8/page8.html Run as many cables as you can seeing its a new house, consider installing some 70mil pipe in stud walls with a draw string for future cable pull through. Go to an Electrical wholesaler for a roll of speaker cable for long rears, its a hell of a lot cheaper. Think the one I used was Olex 12g.
xr06t Posted March 12, 2007 Author Posted March 12, 2007 thanks alot for those links and pics foxtail.. i guess the budget for speakers would be 1k all up. i would really like a projector but that will have to wait a bit!! unfortunatly i have left it a little late as the house got locked up last week... :/ one side of the room is an outside wall so im hoping that i can get into there and run some cables.. thanks again for the pics, and that HT2 pic is what i would like to have in the end! very similar to my room i think, just a little bigger..
Guest EZYHD Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 thanks alot for those links and pics foxtail..i guess the budget for speakers would be 1k all up. i would really like a projector but that will have to wait a bit!! unfortunatly i have left it a little late as the house got locked up last week... :/ one side of the room is an outside wall so im hoping that i can get into there and run some cables.. thanks again for the pics, and that HT2 pic is what i would like to have in the end! very similar to my room i think, just a little bigger.. If your thinking of a PJ later install a 10m HDMI and component set from Selby. Edit: Also put in some timber across the battens to take the PJ.
Nevyn72 Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 The other advantage of moving the lounge forwards is that it makes a 6.1 or 7.1 system much more effective as the rears need to be around 1 metre behind the seating position.....
xr06t Posted April 3, 2007 Author Posted April 3, 2007 one futhur question guys, after standing in the room in its mostly finished state, do you think that a curtain on the inside of the door opening will intrude the room too much (it is only 2.8m wide...)? should i try to mount the curtain in the door opening where the door frame would usually be? or will there be a noticeable benifit by having it in the room? should i put another on the wall opposite to keep the room symetrical, or is this a non issue? cheers
nang3 Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 hey buddy have you chosen any gear yet???? dont forget to let us know and il see what my mate can do !! my rooms getting closer and closer, cables have all been run, getting painted this weekend, carpeted in 2 weeks, windows tinted and blinds the week after, then its PJ and screen buying time !!!!!!!!!!
quijibo Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Having done a similar setup recently I tried a few things out. I only had thin curtains on my windows, and I havent got around to changing them and I may not now, but I found the projector so much more effective during the day with the windows behind the screen. Even with the curtains behind the screen completely open, I still found the side door had a greater effect on the picture. Completely blocking out the side door so no light can fall directly onto the screen has a greater impact than closing the curtains behind the screen. When I had the screen setup temorarily on the wall opposite the windows, watching it during the day was awful. As I was unable to completely cover over the windows behind me the amount of light washed out the picture on the screen. At the highest settings the picture was still watchable, but it had lost all of its effectiveness.
xr06t Posted April 4, 2007 Author Posted April 4, 2007 thanks for your tips guys.. nang, havent bought anything yet, still gettin ideas for the room etc.. havent had house handover yet but will defn be in contact! thanks again for the offer.
nang3 Posted April 5, 2007 Posted April 5, 2007 Having done a similar setup recently I tried a few things out. I only had thin curtains on my windows, and I havent got around to changing them and I may not now, but I found the projector so much more effective during the day with the windows behind the screen.Even with the curtains behind the screen completely open, I still found the side door had a greater effect on the picture. Completely blocking out the side door so no light can fall directly onto the screen has a greater impact than closing the curtains behind the screen. When I had the screen setup temorarily on the wall opposite the windows, watching it during the day was awful. As I was unable to completely cover over the windows behind me the amount of light washed out the picture on the screen. At the highest settings the picture was still watchable, but it had lost all of its effectiveness. fark im glad to hear that !!!! we decided to mount our screen on the same wall as a 3m wide window, which we've ripped out and replaced with 2 smaller windows.. the screen will drop down in front of these and hopefully the tint + blinds combo will stop any light showing through !! there are double french doors on the side of the room which shouldnt let much light in either hopefully !!
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