Hi all,

 

I’ve been reading the forums and need to get some ongoing advice. I will be updating the thread as I go along.

 

We bought our first house which is a 1979 build. It has a large Living Room that I will be slowly transforming into a dedicated home theatre. 
 

This is its current state, please excuse the mess, one of our walls is being repaired from some water damage:

 

 

 

 

 

The room is: brick rendered

 

 Ceiling Height 2380 mm and there’s the centre beam drops down and is 2040 mm from the floor. Length of room is 5620 (tv cabinet to back wall with windows) and width 5130.

 

Right now I have a 65” LG OLED, We are getting the house re-carpeted, so we have to do the lounge room now. The walls are getting repaired and rendered, I’m getting a nice dark grey carpet and will be painting the walls a slightly lighter grey. 
 

I’ve already got my couches picked out (which might be a mistake in hindsight for viewing distance for the OLED TV but my end goal is a full on home theatre with projection and that’s my starting point so that’s that.

 

 

we’ve picked the day bed in a dark grey and the Theatre Seats are leather.

 

I’ve also measured the Theatre Couches and they are 1870 mm fully stretched out. I’m thinking of getting a riser made that’s 2 metres stretching the width of the room and will build is 300 mm high (lowest height recommendation) this will pose problems because of the structural beam but I’ll need some sort of riser to get over the day bed, so I think this is the best idea.

 

So my first question do you think this 2 metre Riser is a good size or should I make it bigger? The larger I go, I’ll be pushing the Day bed towards the TV

 

Edited June 21, 20223 yr by Ben80

I really like that room, even the existing cabinets.

 

Ideally you want some space behind the seats so speakers aren't directly in your ear, but that brings everything forward. Where will the MLP be? Day bed or recliners? If recliners, move them forward, if day bed stick with what you got. It's best to not have seats against back wall. Do you need 6 seats?

 

I don't think your screen is big enough, be ok for day bed but not the rear seats, it's a big distance from the recliners.

I also use a 65 TV, I sit about 3.2m from screen and I want a bigger screen. Projector in that room would be ideal, otherwise 85 inch TV minimum.

 

Please keep posting progress, could be a cracking room.

The 65" is not enough IMO as well, I will be saving for a projector and screen in the future, i'm hoping I can possibly repurpose the cabinets, by moving the two glass cabinets together and making the AV rack (possibly on the far left of the room and then opening the middle section up, getting speakers behind the screen, sort of deal.

 

I actually moved one of the couches last night to get the ideal viewing distance for the OLED, like you said 3 metres is what i read as well (1.8 to 3 metres)

 

The main reason for the riser, is to future proof myself for when i get the projector, so while the MLP will be the riser, the ideal viewing distance definitely wont be this for the TV.  I have to do it now because of the carpet going in, so for now potentially, i might move the 4 Home theatre couches  on to the ground position.

 

WE need the Day bed to act as a quasi fold out bed for guests, as we have a 2nd child on the way, so downstairs lounge room, will suit family members staying over.

hmm looks an interesting room mate,

 

riser: 2 meters deep remember to leave room to actually walk on the front of the riser. this can be made difficult with recliners on the back if one person is reclined and one person wants to leave etc etc. reason why my recliners are at the front, i sit the rear on a couch.

 

but the problem with that is sitting at the front with a large projection screen may not work for some people, although you have the choice of swapping to riser later. the thing with the recliners at the front is the screen height from floor. you dont have a lot of room so it will be under or close to 600mm most likely. i found 600mm is about the lowest you want to go.

 

get rid of all that stuff at the front when you go pj and do a diy spandex A/T screen. not sure why everyone keeps there av gear at the front as it limits screen height. lower gives much more immersion imo.

 

anyway the basics are there just need to work out the riser, the rest has plenty of time for research/opinions. thats the "fun" part

Why don't you switch the couches. Have the recliners at front and mlp. Then riser has day bed, you wouldn't need much riser in front of it. Viewing in the front row would be ideal I think. My recliners are middle ish, but my room is 8m deep. Even with projector front row would be immersive and good.

I like the shelves, try to keep some of it.

I like this idea, I'm going to defiantly try it both configs, I'm thinking of making the Step 2200mm, will double check with my Brother in law and see what he thinks. Hopefully get some more pictures up over the next few weeks.

I saw the thread title - Ben’s Home Theatre - slow progress /money, and thought Hey, sounds just like my Home Theatre build! 

On 21/06/2022 at 11:06 PM, Ben80 said:

I’m thinking of getting a riser made that’s 2 metres stretching the width of the room and will build is 300 mm high

That works out to approx 3 cubic metres, which is a massive space to put subwoofers. I'd strongly suggest building subs in the riser. The tactile impact you could get from that would be amazing and they'd be hidden as well. 

On 23/06/2022 at 10:15 PM, BenBenBen said:

That works out to approx 3 cubic metres, which is a massive space to put subwoofers. I'd strongly suggest building subs in the riser. The tactile impact you could get from that would be amazing and they'd be hidden as well. 

 

In the Riser, like facing the woofer up to the ceiling, can you do that?

2 hours ago, Ben80 said:

 

In the Riser, like facing the woofer up to the ceiling, can you do that?

That would be an option, although you'd have to protect the speakers with some heavy duty grills in case someone stood on them. It's been done before but it's a bit of extra work.

 

If you could increase the riser height to about 330mm, you could fit in 16 of the $AU98 12" JBL Stage 1210 subs facing forward in the front of the riser. 

 

Now power it with a a Behringer NX6000D ($900), or other pro style PA amplifier, and this would be an absolutely insane amount of bass, for less than the price of a pair of SVS SB2000 Pro subs ($3000).

 

These are highly regarded "bang for you buck" subwoofer drivers (also called JBS CS1214 or JBL CX1200), and because they are so cheap, you can get lots of them, which means that each cone hardly has to move to get enough SPL, which in turn means that there is really low distortion and clean bass.

The 12" driver in the SVS is better than the JBL, but if you're comparing 8x JBL to 1 SVS, the 8 JBL will have far more clean output, headroom and just wipe the floor with the SVS. If you're interested, we could model this in WinISD for you to see how it'd perform.

 

Alternatively, even 4 or 8 of the JBL drivers in the riser would give you some amazing bass for a fraction of the cost of commercial subs.

 

 

3 hours ago, Ben80 said:

 

In the Riser, like facing the woofer up to the ceiling, can you do that?

Other options with a volume that big would be building Large Low Tuned (LLT) subs, horn subs, or possibly even sealed subs using the whole volume which would make them very close to Infinite Baffle subs. Lots of of options - Google is your friend (however sealed subs like the JBL described above would be the easiest to build).

24 minutes ago, BenBenBen said:

That would be an option, although you'd have to protect the speakers with some heavy duty grills in case someone stood on them. It's been done before but it's a bit of extra work.

 

If you could increase the riser height to about 330mm, you could fit in 16 of the $AU98 12" JBL Stage 1210 subs facing forward in the front of the riser. 

 

Now power it with a a Behringer NX6000D ($900), or other pro style PA amplifier, and this would be an absolutely insane amount of bass, for less than the price of a pair of SVS SB2000 Pro subs ($3000).

 

These are highly regarded "bang for you buck" subwoofer drivers (also called JBS CS1214 or JBL CX1200), and because they are so cheap, you can get lots of them, which means that each cone hardly has to move to get enough SPL, which in turn means that there is really low distortion and clean bass.

The 12" driver in the SVS is better than the JBL, but if you're comparing 8x JBL to 1 SVS, the 8 JBL will have far more clean output, headroom and just wipe the floor with the SVS. If you're interested, we could model this in WinISD for you to see how it'd perform.

 

Alternatively, even 4 or 8 of the JBL drivers in the riser would give you some amazing bass for a fraction of the cost of commercial subs.

 

 

 

that's amazing, you're a madman!

Made some updates, it will be. awhile before I can get an actual projector or home theatre, but its a great start!

On 14/09/2022 at 3:22 PM, Ben80 said:

Made some updates, it will be. awhile before I can get an actual projector or home theatre, but its a great start!

Just discovered this thread. Great build Ben! Really excited to watch the progress. Have you considered a motorised projector screen to roll down just in front of the existing cabinets?

 

Have you considered a BOSS or HoverEze setup built into the riser? Think of subwoofer drivers installed in the riser facing up at the recliners with a plywood board suspending the recliners above sandwiched with bike tubes that seal the drivers. I've been working on this type of setup in my room for a while. Just waiting on my builder brother in law to help with cutting the plywood.

thanks Justin, the plan is to get a projector and either pulldown screen in front of the cabinet, i'd love to ditch the whole cabinet and put in a Krix  modular system  behind the screen type setup, but there's some saving to do!

On 21/09/2022 at 6:22 PM, Ben80 said:

thanks Justin, the plan is to get a projector and either pulldown screen in front of the cabinet, i'd love to ditch the whole cabinet and put in a Krix  modular system  behind the screen type setup, but there's some saving to do!

One step at a time! I actually think your cabinets work well in the room and give some good storage. You might even be able to get creative with some built in acoustic panels down the track.  You have lots of flexibility with that riser setup too. Keen to see the room progress!

nice work!

On 25/06/2022 at 11:58 PM, BenBenBen said:

That would be an option, although you'd have to protect the speakers with some heavy duty grills in case someone stood on them. It's been done before but it's a bit of extra work.

 

If you could increase the riser height to about 330mm, you could fit in 16 of the $AU98 12" JBL Stage 1210 subs facing forward in the front of the riser. 

 

Now power it with a a Behringer NX6000D ($900), or other pro style PA amplifier, and this would be an absolutely insane amount of bass, for less than the price of a pair of SVS SB2000 Pro subs ($3000).

 

These are highly regarded "bang for you buck" subwoofer drivers (also called JBS CS1214 or JBL CX1200), and because they are so cheap, you can get lots of them, which means that each cone hardly has to move to get enough SPL, which in turn means that there is really low distortion and clean bass.

The 12" driver in the SVS is better than the JBL, but if you're comparing 8x JBL to 1 SVS, the 8 JBL will have far more clean output, headroom and just wipe the floor with the SVS. If you're interested, we could model this in WinISD for you to see how it'd perform.

 

Alternatively, even 4 or 8 of the JBL drivers in the riser would give you some amazing bass for a fraction of the cost of commercial subs.

 

 

Have you implemented any of this craziness in your space Ben? I've recently added four 12" Alpine Bass Series subs to my room in a HoverEze setup and they generate some solid SPL. This is on top of my three existing SVS PB-2000 series. I can't imagine 16 x 12" drivers!

 

@Ben80 - Any more progress in your room?  

12 hours ago, OzJustin said:

Have you implemented any of this craziness in your space Ben? I've recently added four 12" Alpine Bass Series subs to my room in a HoverEze setup and they generate some solid SPL. This is on top of my three existing SVS PB-2000 series. I can't imagine 16 x 12" drivers!

 

@Ben80 - Any more progress in your room?  

Hey @OzJustin, 

I don't have any room for a riser in my room, so no chance of 16 x 12" JBL subs there. 

 

However I have got a third 18" sub and QSC amp to power it, just need to design and build the box. Choosing between ported and a Devastator... Ported will be easier to build, but the Devastator will give so much more output using the same driver and amp. 

 

I've also built a HoverEze using a 12" Alpine Type S. It's great for tactile response, however I hardly get any SPL out if it with a steep 40Hz Low Pass Filter. What filter do you have on your Hovereze? 

 

6 hours ago, BenBenBen said:

Hey @OzJustin, 

I don't have any room for a riser in my room, so no chance of 16 x 12" JBL subs there. 

 

However I have got a third 18" sub and QSC amp to power it, just need to design and build the box. Choosing between ported and a Devastator... Ported will be easier to build, but the Devastator will give so much more output using the same driver and amp. 

 

I've also built a HoverEze using a 12" Alpine Type S. It's great for tactile response, however I hardly get any SPL out if it with a steep 40Hz Low Pass Filter. What filter do you have on your Hovereze? 

 

Nice with the potential Devastator build!

 

I'll have to double check my miniDSP settings but I believe I'm running a 50Hz LPF with Butterworth 12dB/Octave. It's a steep roll off to keep the platform from rumbling all the time. Funnily enough, I actually prefer no LPF for the HoverEze with music. You seem to lose some nice massage impact 50-100Hz with the filter applied.

On 30/11/2022 at 11:50 PM, OzJustin said:

Have you implemented any of this craziness in your space Ben? I've recently added four 12" Alpine Bass Series subs to my room in a HoverEze setup and they generate some solid SPL. This is on top of my three existing SVS PB-2000 series. I can't imagine 16 x 12" drivers!

 

@Ben80 - Any more progress in your room?  

 

 

 

Well we just had another baby, so with two kids, the home theatre updates have taken a back seat!

 

We've got new pulldown blinds and i've got some hardwood doors, that i need to stain and get them installed. I've got some money tucked away (if the wife can't find it) so hopefully i'll be able to get some audio components to get me through in the new year.

10 hours ago, Ben80 said:

 

 

 

Well we just had another baby, so with two kids, the home theatre updates have taken a back seat!

 

We've got new pulldown blinds and i've got some hardwood doors, that i need to stain and get them installed. I've got some money tucked away (if the wife can't find it) so hopefully i'll be able to get some audio components to get me through in the new year.

Congrats on the new baby mate. Some soothing tunes in the theatre to help the new addition to sleep perhaps? I loved doing that with our kids.  

13 minutes ago, OzJustin said:

Congrats on the new baby mate. Some soothing tunes in the theatre to help the new addition to sleep perhaps? I loved doing that with our kids.  

Thank you!