I am in the planning stages of creating my theater in my basement. The basement is unfinished and wide open. So basically I can do anything I want which is nice.

The size of the basement is 30' x 27' with 1 single row of support beams running down the middle.

I originally wanted to build a dedicated, soundproofed room but now I am thinking it would just make the basement seem too small. So I am thinking something similar to the rooms I have seen here with a bar and poker room and kids play area.

BUT I am wondering whats a good size for a theater area/room. I am thinking I can stay the 15' wide area as that would bring me right up to the supports, but how long should it be? I know the area is not supposed to be square for acoustical reasons, but does it really matter if its an open space?

I was thinking of making the theater area something like 17 x 15? Is that too small for a 100" screen?

Myself, I like the wide open room, especially if you entertain or have lots of kids running around.

The HT, bar, poker, pool table is a dream of mine, but will not happen in my current house. My basement is finished, with an open HT, we did the best that we could with what we had to work with. The room was an abortion to start with. I would give my left nut for a basement of your size with 10' ceilings and only a few posts. I would make one heck of an wide open family get together room.

Just my .02

Mike

Yeah like I said, I am now leaning toward the open theater. I guess I am wondering what would be the minimum size requirements for a 100" screen or so? I want it to be good sized but dont want to kill the basement space. I would like to take the minimum size and make it slightly bigger. I just don't know where to start.

Oh and I wish my ceiling were 10' only standard 8 ft' and will be even lower after drop ceiling installed.(I despise dry-walled ceilings)

Yeah like I said, I am now leaning toward the open theater. I guess I am wondering what would be the minimum size requirements for a 100" screen or so? I want it to be good sized but dont want to kill the basement space. I would like to take the minimum size and make it slightly bigger. I just don't know where to start.

Oh and I wish my ceiling were 10' only standard 8 ft' and will be even lower after drop ceiling installed.(I despise dry-walled ceilings)

My ceilings are 7'6" in my basement, and I too despise dry walling a basement ceiling. I have drywall on the ceiling for obvious reasons. Just made real sure that everything was buttoned up, no leaks, etc.

As far as the HT size? I really don't know, just commenting on the open theme which I think is more family friendly. Do you have a rough sketch of your basement with the stairway and mechanical locations? That would go a long way to helping with any advice. And some pictures too. Nothing like harnessing all of the great minds here for ideas.

Mike

Here is a quick layout of my basement.

As you can see I am fortunate enough to have the major stuff in the back utility room and out of the way including the stairs.

The part I have labeled "low duct work" is the only are I think I need to stay away from for the theater. Everything else is tucked up between the joists throughout the basement.

I am thinking the best spot is right above where i have the 15' mark as I would want to stay away from the water meter closet as well.

Any ideas welcomed on size, layout, placement, etc....

Thanks.

That's a good layout to work with. Were you thinking multiple rows of seating or more of a "living room" type seating layout? I think that will affect layout recommendations. Also, I think 17'x15' would be a good size.

Considering you want to have a 100" or bigger screen, use the entire width of the room. Center the front stage on one of the 27' walls. This will provide you with enough width so the main L/R speakers arent' stuck into corners, which is always bad.

The very least, the room should be 17~18 ft wide, if you did decide you wanted storage areas, which would place the main speakers about 4 ft or so in from the side walls.

With a 100" screen on one of the 27 ft long walls that would place the front row of seats about 3~4 ft in front of the center post line, for best viewing.

I was told for a rule of thumb on screen size, is you would want to be sitting that exact distance back. Example: 100" diagonal 16:9 screen, you would want to be sitting 100" from the screen.

So, with your screen size, you could have 2 rows of seating.
Hope that info helps.
Old.

That's a good layout to work with. Were you thinking multiple rows of seating or more of a "living room" type seating layout? I think that will affect layout recommendations. Also, I think 17'x15' would be a good size.

I am thinking more of a living room type seating for now. That may change when I actually start the build. And the 17 x 15 size would still leave me about a 10 x 15 area behind the theater area for a bar or poker table setup plus still half the basement for the kids to play.

Thats the problem as always the WAF. She loves the idea of the theater but doesnt want to lose her basement to it. Thats why I am leaning toward the open layout cause she feels the dedicated room would close off the basement too much.

The recommended THX viewing distance for a 100" diagonal screen is 11.2ft.
http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html#anchor_13194

So if you were to lineup the center of the screen, along the 27ft wall, with the center point of one of the support post bays, then the first row would be 4 ft in front of the post line and a second row would be in line with the posts. This would allow you to put the second row seating between those posts and still centered on the screen. I'm assumming the pic is to scale.
How many seats would depend on the spacing between the posts.

So you would still have room to the side(s) of the HT area, plus still have a 15' x 30' area on the other side of the post center line.

I am thinking more of a living room type seating for now. That may change when I actually start the build. And the 17 x 15 size would still leave me about a 10 x 15 area behind the theater area for a bar or poker table setup plus still half the basement for the kids to play.

Thats the problem as always the WAF. She loves the idea of the theater but doesnt want to lose her basement to it. Thats why I am leaning toward the open layout cause she feels the dedicated room would close off the basement too much.
I had the same issue with the WAF. I started showing her pictures from this site and she got less and less nervous about me doing the theater.
As much as I love the dedicated builds here, I didn't want to do it either because of the same reasons you mention about losing so much space because of it. Plus, when it comes to card games, sporting events, fantasy football drafts, or kids' birthday parties the open concept is much more practical.....IMHO.

I was reading on another post elsewhere where going from a closed theater to open was so much nicer. He stated his children were nervous about being closed in inside the "theater". It made sense to me, and I could only imagine the trouble a couple of teenagers would get into in such a closed setting.

Mike

I love an open theater design, but then again I love an open floorplan in houses too. So I guess it depends on your taste. To me an open theater just allows for much more versatility and better parties.

I am thinking more of a living room type seating for now. That may change when I actually start the build. And the 17 x 15 size would still leave me about a 10 x 15 area behind the theater area for a bar or poker table setup plus still half the basement for the kids to play.

Thats the problem as always the WAF. She loves the idea of the theater but doesnt want to lose her basement to it. Thats why I am leaning toward the open layout cause she feels the dedicated room would close off the basement too much.

This is the layout I would go with. You can VERY comfortably fit a 100" screen on a 15' wide wall. If you click the link in my sig you will see some shots of my screen wall, which is a 100" screen on a 16' wall. I could easily give up a foot on that wall and not know the difference.

I would much rather have it situated this way, so that your poker/bar/whatever area is right behind your theater and will have nice sightlines to the screen.

Putting the screen in the middle of the 27' would just be a waste of space in my opinion. Your seating would run into the poles at 15' and you wouldn't have enough room on either side to really do anything productive with the space.

This is the layout I would go with. You can VERY comfortably fit a 100" screen on a 15' wide wall. If you click the link in my sig you will see some shots of my screen wall, which is a 100" screen on a 16' wall. I could easily give up a foot on that wall and not know the difference.

I would much rather have it situated this way, so that your poker/bar/whatever area is right behind your theater and will have nice sightlines to the screen.

Putting the screen in the middle of the 27' would just be a waste of space in my opinion. Your seating would run into the poles at 15' and you wouldn't have enough room on either side to really do anything productive with the space.

Thanks for the input marc. I have seen your pics of your setup and its very nice! I agree with you that it should go on the 15' wall giving me room for a bar/whatever behind it. This way the poles won't be in the way and I think I would be using the space more efficiently.