Currently ours is our living room. I've kicked around the idea of the guest bedroom or the basement but am happy where it's currently at. The only drawback is that we have cathedral ceilings and our room is pretty big so I feel sometimes like we're losing some sound.

Anyhow, just curious where yours is at and if you're completely happy where it is.

Well mine is actually a multi purpose room. It started its life out as a garage attached to the house...THEN I closed it off to make a nice gym...Now is serves as a gym, pc/console gaming room, and theater.

If you meant a "dedicated theater" sorry for posting...

No, not dedicated. Thats cool man. Ours gets multi tasked too.

My theater.

Thus the "Dedicated Theater Design & Construction" Forum. You might want to post in the "General Home Theater & Media/Game Rooms" to get more responses.

Many times a room is something before it becomes a "Dedicated Theater." My wonder was what rooms became the theaters. :rolleyes:

My wonder was what rooms became the theaters. :rolleyes:Master bedroom became a dedicated theater.

MY theater was a blank expanse of nothingness (ie: an unfinished basement) in a previous life.

Exactly what I was looking for. Keep'm coming guys. Anyone who didn't have their theater constructed in a new build, what was it before? :)

Mine is not converted fully - just starting its rebirth. It /was/ a rec room in one of those four level split homes.

We've got 3 bedrooms, and a bath on the top level. We've got a living room, dining room and kitchen on the main level, and a good family room, second bath and laundry room on the third level...so basically 2 living rooms...why would I need a third? Workshop...man cave...well, I've got the furnace room I can use for that, or the baby barn...wait a second...a theatre!

That was the evolution. :)

Many times a room is something before it becomes a "Dedicated Theater." My wonder was what rooms became the theaters. :rolleyes:

True, but that's not really what you asked. You asked "which room functions as your theater?". Only a theater can function as a theater. You can have theater gear in your bedroom, but unless you truly convert it (in which case it's no longer a bedroom), it's still a bedroom (or living room or kitchen or bathroom)

My theater functions as my theater. It was designed as a theater and was nothing before that (technically the house plans called it a media room).

My basement was previously a S&M Dungeon, but then I had kids, so I figured a dedicated home theater would be a more wholesome use of this space..

5 years ago we had a 22 x 24 foot sun room added to the house. We did not need any more basement space. We decided to make a full basement underneath and pour stadium seating into the floor (was no extra cost to do this) for a theater. Since they knew it was going to be a theater, they put all of the runs of HVAC on one wall and hid everything else b/n the joists. Up until last month it was a storage space.

1 car garage became my Theater. It was operated as a professional recording studio for more than a decade before it became a dedicated theater.

My basement was previously a S&M Dungeon, but then I found Jesus, so I figured a dedicated home theater would be a more wholesome use of this space..
Funny...I found Jesus some years ago then a couple years ago found out the easter bunny was not real or santa or the tooth fairy...so im putting him in there with the rest of my childhood..:)

Funny...I found Jesus some years ago then a couple years ago found out the easter bunny was not real or santa or the tooth fairy...so im putting him in there with the rest of my childhood..:)

The Easter Bunny and Santa won't sentence you to eternal damnation :)

The Easter Bunny and Santa won't sentence you to eternal damnation :)

IM sure Jesus has better things to do...Image always looks like a hippie to me..He's probably smoking a lil weed chillin with some Greatfull Dead or something...I doubt he's gonna worry with me. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

IM sure Jesus has better things to do...Image always looks like a hippie to me..He's probably smoking a lil weed chillin with some Greatfull Dead or something...I doubt he's gonna worry with me. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

That's one way to look at it. I would bet he's watching everything we do on a 65" Pioneer Plasma in TrueHD. :)

That's one way to look at it. I would bet he's watching everything we do on a 65" Pioneer Plasma in TrueHD. :)

LOL....at least you said Pioneer....hahaha

Can we get back to the topic please, I'm sure you've offended enough people with your ignorance. I don't come here to read about your beliefs or disbeliefs. Your quote was misquoted to begin with.

Let's move back to topic.

I was considering moving the system from the great room to the basement but there is a slight issue with moisture down there and with the money I have invested I would be really nervous. I wanted to theme the movie theater and could do so down there. Up here in the great room the wife is not down with themes, lol.

Any of you have concerns with moisture if your theater is basement located?

Here's my story and rationale for the room I chose for my home theater:

I'm in the middle of my home theater reno now. (Well, I hope it's the middle).

I'm converting what I guess would be called the "living room" into a home theater/music listening room. The room is the first one you see from the hallway as you enter the house. At the back of the house is the family room. As is the case with many families, we do most of our living in the family room, kitchen and the basement (renoed for the kids to play in). The "living room" was that front formal room done up nice, with sitting chairs...the one you rarely actually go into.

I've always wanted any room in the house to be used, functional, have a purpose. So years ago the living room became my high-end audio listening room (although, arranged around the nice furniture). As I started to get into home theater and wanted a projection set up it became the go-to room. Our basement had been renovated for the kids to play in and they used every square inch of it. There was no way I was taking that useful space out of our house for a home theater. And, anyway, I'm not a big fan of basement dwelling.

But while my wife accepted the audio gear in the living room, the changes necessary for a projection based set up were going to be a tougher sell. It took a good year or two of getting her on board (after all, it was the first room you see when you enter the house). Eventually she got on board through the logic that it wasn't a room anyone but me was using at all. If we made it into a home theater room with a giant comfy sectional sofa the whole family could watch together and get use out of the room. Sold.

It has certainly been challenging, trying to balance the technical requirements for high-quality home theater (including low-reflective environment) with the aesthetics of a main-floor room. I sometimes envy those with dedicated theaters because they can make choices purely on what will help picture and image quality. But in the end I think it's going to be worth it. I actually prefer a feeling of connectedness rather than isolation in a house, including a movie-watching room. The room will have excellent light control and comfort for high performance and immersion into the movie, but not feel like I've gone off and isolated myself in some separate part of the house, basement or whatever. So I'm willing to work through the challenges.

I think I'll be starting my HT reno thread soon.

The isolation of the basement is a potential issue that bothered me. With a few rooms upstairs to choose from, given the slight moisture issue and the iso factor I may settle up here somewhere.

This year it was either a pool and hot tub or HT. I may have to do both to keep the boss happy.:o

Mine used to be part of my side yard :)

I did an addition at the same time, so might as well add in a theater room!

I would go upstairs with it. Slight moisture issue is kind of like being sorta pregnant. But I would also try to figure out what the moisture problem is and fix it.

I took advantage of my 670 sqft basement, since it was not a full basement, I turned it into a dedicated and acoustically treated theater with two rows of seating, fabric walls, AT screen wall, stage, riser, controlled lighting, the whole works. I am also planning to add an L-shaped bar and a concession area that will seat 5 and will be adjacent to the back row riser.

I would always recommend using an unfinished basement if you have one. All you need is about 300-400sqft to make an enclosed dedicated theater, and you have all the freedom in the world since you won't make the wife mad by turning a functional fully furnished guest bedroom or an office into a theater. If you got the basement, then use it by all means, plus if it is unfinished you will have the pleasure of designing and building it from scratch (e.g. runnning low voltage wiring through drywall...etc)

1 car garage became my Theater. It was operated as a professional recording studio for more than a decade before it became a dedicated theater.

Hey John, I didnt know you had a recording studio, that must have been a hard decision to make, turning a recording studio into a home theater. What kinda music did you record/produce?....sorry to go off topic, feel free to PM.

I have a huge basement,finished with 5x9 wet bar..Measurements are 28x18. I have 3 HT seats in front, futon on riser in back row. Still have room for card table in back.I have a 7.1 system. I paneled and tiled bar area. check out my gallery..

I would go upstairs with it. Slight moisture issue is kind of like being sorta pregnant. But I would also try to figure out what the moisture problem is and fix it.

It stems from my sump hole. My basement is 1400 square feet and 1000 sq. ft. of it is finished with the sump hole in the unfinished section.

The only trouble is the moisture that comes from the sump. Our area is wetlands and it runs most all the time. In the summer we run a dehumidifier all the time but it still scares me because of all of the money I have wrapped up in equipment.

The other issue is that the only room upstairs I could talk the wife into would be the guest bedroom which is only 10x12x8 and I've read about heat issues in small spaces like that. Not to mention seating would be an obstacle. The room everything is in right now is huge and has cathedral ceilings and I feel like I'm not getting the full benefit of the home theater experience.

Currently ours is our living room. I've kicked around the idea of the guest bedroom or the basement but am happy where it's currently at. The only drawback is that we have cathedral ceilings and our room is pretty big so I feel sometimes like we're losing some sound.

Anyhow, just curious where yours is at and if you're completely happy where it is.

Hi,

Prior to retiring down in Florida, my wife and I visited about 129 model homes and reviewed their floor plans. We found a great plan with a guest bedroom adjacent to a den. Among other structural changes, we instructed the builder to leave out the wall between the bedroom and the den, omit the windows, and create one contiguous space for our dedicated home theater. I designed the space, speced out the staggered studs walls, the door ways, the 6-zone lighting system the 120 volt wiring, the low voltage prewiring, and the rough-in plumbing. After the builder completed the shell of the room to my specifications, I finished the room installing the acoustic treatments, HVAC, lighting fixtures, projector, seating, seating platform, screen, shadowbox, wet bar, cabinets, refrigerator, microwave and equipment rack.

The theater is located adjacent to all the other public spaces, the great room, a guest bathroom, the Laniai, pool and a pool bath. This space is much more convenient than my previous theater that was located in the basement because guests don't have to wander through the private areas of the house to get to the theater. Having all our public entertainment spaces contiguous to one another is great for parties.

Larry

Tried to incorporate PJ in my older house but never made it....when we starting looking for a bigger house 2 years ago, I told my wife I needed to have a separate game room/den as a requirement and eventually, we bought a 2 story house with a dedicated gameroom upstairs (12 feetX25feet).

Was able to squeeze in my first PJ (Marantz VP4001 720p PJ) with a 120" DIY screen in it!

Now when I'm home, this is my fav spot to hang out ....I deliver killing blows from this very room every night......



COD4 (XBox 360)!!!!

My basement was previously a S&M Dungeon, but then I had kids, so I figured a dedicated home theater would be a more wholesome use of this space..

I'm disappointed Staffy. I wouldn't think a guy like you would let kids stand in the way of a good S&M Dungeon. You could always double lock the basement door to keep the kids from less than wholesome activities. You have now lost your street cred with me!

I actually wonder why more people have not answered as "My theater functions as my theater" but I'll play nice.

First it was my family room, and now it will be a dedicated space in my basement with a multipurpose/family room on the other side.

Regards,

RTROSE