Hi everyone,

I've been lurking about for quite some time, and it's about time for me to join the party! I'm going to be looking to put together my first HT set-up in the upcoming months, and I'm getting started on the research for speakers, subs, etc. However, I do have some initial questions.

First of all, I'll be looking at a 5.1 set-up, as my great room doesn't really have a layout that would easily accommodate 7.1 (and hey, it's my first HT... but I want to do it right). It's a pretty good-sized room; 10 ft. flat ceiling coming down to 8 ft. at a 45 deg. along the back of the house (so, not much slope to the ceiling at all relative to the rest of the room), main dining area off to the side, entry foyer, and doorways all around. I'll put a sketch together later; I need to re-measure some things first, but the entire room is roughly 20 x 20 x 10, with several walls, alcoves, etc. bringing the walls in/out in different places. However, the listening area itself will only be roughly 14.5' x 20' x 10' (i.e., ~ 2900 cubic ft), with three walls enclosing (and that 10' -> 8' drop running down the 20' length on the right side; left side is open).

Now, first question. Do I need to consider the entire room size when figuring out how much output I need, or do I only consider the listening area? It doesn't matter to me if I cannot hear surround effects when sitting at the dining table, for example; the actual seating area is important.

Thanks for any insight that you all can provide; it will be greatly appreciated!

Best regards,
Jeff

If you have a large room, it can affect the acoustics, especially in the bass region, even if your actual seating area is closer to the speakers. My HT/Rec room is 30 x 31 x 9ft and my HT portion is over to one side. Sub frequencies are very long, so 1 sub may give you good performance in the primary seat, but as you move just a few ft either direction, you might not hear much. I have 3 subs in my room spaced out.

For the mains and music listening it is not as bad, but if your ever across the room like I am when shooting pool or sitting at the bar, you want good enough speakers to fill the room when you crank it up. :)

Hi everyone,


First of all, I'll be looking at a 5.1 set-up, as my great room doesn't really have a layout that would easily accommodate 7.1 (and hey, it's my first HT... but I want to do it right).

However, the listening area itself will only be roughly 14.5' x 20' x 10' (i.e., ~ 2900 cubic ft), with three walls enclosing (and that 10' -> 8' drop running down the 20' length on the right side; left side is open).


That's plenty for 7.1.


Now, first question. Do I need to consider the entire room size when figuring out how much output I need,


Yes. Once you get 2-4 feet from a typical speaker in a typical domestic room you get more sound from the reverberant field than you do directly from the speaker and the reverberant field strength is a function of room volume.

If you have a large room, it can affect the acoustics, especially in the bass region, even if your actual seating area is closer to the speakers. My HT/Rec room is 30 x 31 x 9ft and my HT portion is over to one side. Sub frequencies are very long, so 1 sub may give you good performance in the primary seat, but as you move just a few ft either direction, you might not hear much. I have 3 subs in my room spaced out.

For the mains and music listening it is not as bad, but if your ever across the room like I am when shooting pool or sitting at the bar, you want good enough speakers to fill the room when you crank it up. :)

Thanks for the response, I hadn't considered the sub performance. Definitely something to keep in mind as I research further.

Best,
Jeff

That's plenty for 7.1.

Size-wise, sure. However, the room layout doesn't work for actually setting up a 7.1 system (sorry, I'm not cutting holes in the ceiling), and I'm perfectly content with a 5.1 arrangement.

Yes. Once you get 2-4 feet from a typical speaker in a typical domestic room you get more sound from the reverberant field than you do directly from the speaker and the reverberant field strength is a function of room volume.

Thanks, more things to keep in mind!

Best,
Jeff