I'm going to be building a new dedicated home theater in my basement. I can't figure out how I want to arrange the room, where to mount the screen, how big of a screen will fit comfortably, how many rows of seating, etc. Please give me some recommendations for sizes and shapes of things.

The room will be approximately 12'5" x 19'9" (or 12'5" by 16'9" if I add a 3 foot deep closet across the back of the room which I'm trying to decide on).

It has a cement floor and approximately 8' ceilings (I have not measured, but that's my "eyeball" measurement.

I will be doing a projector and screen combo but haven't decided on screen ratio.

I will be building a riser (or two) for my rear row (or rows) of seating but I'm not sure if I should go with 2 or 3 rows of seats.

The doors to the room will be in the back, with the screen in the front. They'll probably be double doors.

So, I guess my general questions are:
What is the biggest screen I can fit in this room and would the biggest be the best choice?
How high should the screen be mounted above the floor?
How far should the first row of seats be from the screen?
How many rows of seats would be appropriate for a room this size?
How far should the second row (or third row) of seats be from the first row?
Approximately how far back should I mount the projector (is further away, better or worse?)

Thanks everyone! I can't wait to get started! Let me know if you need more info.

If you have to enter the room from the rear than you probably don't want to lose 3 feet of space for a closet at one end. Entering from the rear means that you lose 3 feet from the back wall to the back row of seats for a walkway. This enables you to have a center seat, which is ideal. So scratch the closet idea.

Check out the "Theater of Payne" thread as he is doing something similar. The room looks great although he has more width to work with.

Now on to your questions.


So, I guess my general questions are:
What is the biggest screen I can fit in this room and would the biggest be the best choice? The biggest screen would be based on screen ratio and where you plan on putting your speakers. For a non AT screen your speakers will be placed beside and below/above the screen effectively reducing the size you can have. So where do you plan on putting speakers? What size are they?
How high should the screen be mounted above the floor? The screen should be placed so that the bottom third to bottom half of the screen is below eye level when seated.
How far should the first row of seats be from the screen? Around 1.2 to 1.5 times the screen width is the minimum recommended, but that is purely your decision. Some like to sit close at the theater, some far away.
How many rows of seats would be appropriate for a room this size? Two would be good based on the room size, or one row with a bar like rear row.
How far should the second row (or third row) of seats be from the first row? Depends on the type of seating. Recliners need more space. 6 foot seems to be the minimum for recliners with 6.5 to 7 feet being ideal.
Approximately how far back should I mount the projector (is further away, better or worse?) Depends on the projector. First determine your screen size and seating locations, then use a projector calculator to determine which projector will work for your space.

Thanks everyone! I can't wait to get started! Let me know if you need more info.
Some pics of the space and a floorplan would be great!

Also, I have a room that has similar dimensions that I have plans for in the future. Here is a sketchup of my room with some initial ideas.

I have spent some time working with Sketchup for the first time and I have run into a couple of problems that I would like suggestions:

I have the screen wall 2' from the back wall and the stage comes out another 16" on the ends and a total of 34" at the edge of the curve. After placing my 6.5' W x 5'D riser 3' from the back and side walls I am left with only 66" between the riser and stage for more seating (the depth of several Berkline Recliners). IS this too tight? This also places the front row with a viewing distance of 8' and the rear row approx 12.5'. One thought is to use speakers that can be placed closer to the back wall and make the screen wall closer to the original room wall. If I do that I won't have enough room for a sub or two behind the false wall (time to buld my own IB setup below the screen?).

Now the dormer also poses another problem. How would I do my right side surround in a 7.1 setup? It looks like I would need to close in the dormer area maybe.

Any other areas of concern that you can see? I thought about doing soffits but I don't think it would look right and I would lose too much headroom.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=109079&stc=1&d=1209502309

Also, I have a room that has similar dimensions that I have plans for in the future. Here is a sketchup of my room with some initial ideas.

Ah In2, you'll be joining the angled-roof club?

CD

So where do you plan on putting speakers? What size are they?

Currently in my old 5.1 setup I have good pardigm center, sub, and rear speakers and some tall Boston Accoustic floor speakers for my fronts (they're about 10 years old but sound good). In the new theater, I would like to hide the speakers a bit (either in-wall or behind the screen) but due to budgeting, might need to start with my existing speakers, then rotate in new ones as the budget allows. That would probably be easier to do with an AT screen by placing the speakers behind the screen. I really haven't settled on which way to go with this yet and would love to hear opinions on this too.

Ah In2, you'll be joining the angled-roof club?

CD
I hope so. But it won't be for a year or two. We bought the house last March and have lots of other plans that are "more important" to get out of the way first.

Currently in my old 5.1 setup I have good pardigm center, sub, and rear speakers and some tall Boston Accoustic floor speakers for my fronts (they're about 10 years old but sound good). In the new theater, I would like to hide the speakers a bit (either in-wall or behind the screen) but due to budgeting, might need to start with my existing speakers, then rotate in new ones as the budget allows. That would probably be easier to do with an AT screen by placing the speakers behind the screen. I really haven't settled on which way to go with this yet and would love to hear opinions on this too.

I have been a fan of AT screens since I worked for a AV store several years ago. There was just something about having the screen fill the front wall and all the sound coming from the screen. When it comes time for me to do my room I will be going AT for sure, especially considering the DIY prices on some of the screen material.

It sounds like your speakers would be fine for now. Spend the money on the room, you can upgrade later if you feel the desire.

Hey In2, there is no reason for wasting 3 ft in the back of room if you do a step up into the room outside the room (think porch step). Then you can do a wall to wall riser at the back of the room. Also Berkline recliners need about a 6'8" deep riser.

Hey In2, there is no reason for wasting 3 ft in the back of room if you do a step up into the room outside the room (think porch step). Then you can do a wall to wall riser at the back of the room. Also Berkline recliners need about 6'8".

Thanks for the info. Would you mind checking out my thread and sharing some more ideas? I'll post some questions for you.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1023008

Currently in my old 5.1 setup I have good pardigm center, sub, and rear speakers and some tall Boston Accoustic floor speakers for my fronts (they're about 10 years old but sound good). In the new theater, I would like to hide the speakers a bit (either in-wall or behind the screen) but due to budgeting, might need to start with my existing speakers, then rotate in new ones as the budget allows. That would probably be easier to do with an AT screen by placing the speakers behind the screen. I really haven't settled on which way to go with this yet and would love to hear opinions on this too.

Well, as In2 has already suggested, if you want to come in from behind the rear row, you're going to have to be careful about a false-front (if you still want to do 2 rows that is); and you're a bit width challenged, so you probably don't want floorstanders, at least long-term. I don't know what your budget will be, but I think in-walls have come a long way, and can be pretty slick in an AT set-up.

CD

I was going to make the same comment that BIG made. I'm a fan of wall to wall risers and eliminating as many elevation changes as possible. Easier to walk around, and more flexible for furnishing.