After reading this forum for so long, I am now tired of my current "theater" with terrible acoustics - which resides in the living room with hardwood floors and 16' vaulted ceilings. :(

So I am finally getting construction bids on an addition to the house. The theater will be located upstairs. I am planning a theater with dimensions of about 16X22, with about a 7" soffit around the perimeter, and a star ceiling in the center. I also will be adding a riser for 2nd row seating - assuming about 12."

So for all of you that have done this before: Should I go with 9' or 10' ceilings, i.e. would 9' be low? Currently I only have 2 rooms in the house with flat ceilings, at a heigth of about 9'4".

Thanks!

I've got the same issue in my family room. The ceilings are almost 19' tall and there's a bank of windows across from the speakers. In short, the sound stinks. That's one of the reasons that I'm building a dedicated space. My ceiling height when finished will be about 9'.

I've been in theaters with 7'6", 8', 9', and over 10'. They all look and sound great. I'm partial to more of an intimate feel, so for me 9' will be the upper bound, but this is really a personal choice.

Look at the following theaters:

BillMac
MMMKAM
BigMouthInDC
CurtisG
BritInVA
ChinaDog

...among others, and good luck.

CJ

I'd go for 9'6" or 10'. Ceiling height is a great thing to have. It offers a lot of options. Also, when building the room, leave space above the ceiling to account for HVAC, etc. without having to compromise height.

The one thing you have to watch for with a high ceiling is the PJ height and how you want it to look - unless you're projecting through a wall.

Bryan

We started with eight and finished up with a nine foot ceiling. It made a big difference in the room. Did not have the option to go any higher.

My room is only 15 x 20. One foot wider and two feet longer would be very nice (like yours) and I would want a higher ceiling then. The bigger the room the higher the ceiling needs to be to get that theater feeling.

Thanks for the response. After meeting with 3 general contractors, I'm starting to lower my expectations.... I may only do a single story addition, which would limit my room dimensions to 15'x22.

If I were to go to 16', it would chop an adjoining room down to 10' in width, which I think may be a bit narrow.

Is the 15' that bad?

With single story, I will most likely go to 10' ceilings.

I think 15' would be great. I have 14' with a row of 4 chairs and a lolly column. It works just fine, but the chairs are 4-6" off center. 15' would have been perfect for me.

(Incidentally, I had a depth of 21' and would have loved to have had one more foot. So I think your dimensions are fine.)

Given the choice of 9' or 10', I'd take 10' if it was equivalent money, but 9' is pretty nice so I wouldn't spend many dollars on the upgrade. Then again, I'm only 5'6" so your priorities may vary...

15' is tight and only allows a step on one side

My room is approximately 13'4" and I have two rows of 3 with ~30" aisle on each side.

Works well.

Should have stated I have two rows of 4 berks 088's