Hello Everyone,

I am new to this dedicated home theater world, I had one in my condo but it was also the living room. Well I have a new house and I want to make the 3rd floor bonus room my theater. I provided a picture but the actual room size because of the added closet is 16.9' L X 14.9' W. The ceiling slants are about 2' deep(if that is the correct term). There is 1 window which I am sure I would just use a false wall to cover it. There is a ceiling fan in the center of the the room. The room is totally surrounded by insulation which i do have access to outside the walls to the attic space. I have attached the layout of 3rd floor.

I do the work myself with help from my neighbor.

5K budget I will use my old surround sound from condo for now that system consist of:

Yamaha rx v800
Polk rt 55i --- Front
Polk Cs175 --- Center
Boston Accoustics CR7 -- Rear

Okay I need ideas but first I want a riser and not sure if I should go with projector or plasma/lcd.

Also would like to know what is a good dimensions for the riser.

Let me know what you think

I think you don't lift a finger until you have this all figured out. What kind of seating are you planning? You probably don't have enought depth for two rows of reclining theater seats.

Definitely a projector if you want the big screen at the theater feel.

So now we need to look at that window wall and figure out what is possible in the way of a screen. With that we can figure out viewing distances and screen size, and required heights for a riser.

An excellent projector for your first time up to bat would be the new panasonc 3000. That would take 50% of your budget.

http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=24159&itmname=Panasonic+PT%2DAE3000U

With that projector you will want a 2.35 ratio screen to take advantage of the memory zoom and fill capability for letterbox movies.

So until you have 5 posts we can't see a picture so give us the exact dimensions of what will be your screen wall , width at bottom, room height, width at top and how tall the side walls are.

I agree that a projector is the way to go. You could consider some used ones from eBay or AVS Clasified to help with the budget.

A 2.35 screen is great, but it depends on your viewing habits. Do you watch just movies or sports and TV also? A 16x9 screen may be a starting point, then upgrade if you want when budget allows.

I would suggest using a portion of the closet for equipment storage. Do you have room to install an equipment rack with access to the back of the gear for wiring?

You may want to put a sound proof door at the entrance to the theater room.

When it comes to paint, go dark, try a nice flat non-reflective color. It doesn't have to be black, but something that will soak up light.

I doubt you will need a riser with only one row of seating. 16.9' is a little shallow for two rows, you could consider one row at 2/3 of the way from the front wall. This will give you room to move around the furniture when entering from the back of the room.

You may want to look at the link in my signature for other ideas on a similar sized bonus room.

If you want to call it a "Theater" and mean it plus achieve a genuine Theater in the HOme viewing experience then the ONLY option is a Projector - NOT a little television.

I don't think you will have room for two rows of specialty theater seats with a riser with your room dimensions and allow enough distance from the screen for eyeball viewing comfort.

I think you can have comfy seating for at least six people in a single row across the width of the room. You don't need "theater" specialty seats to achieve Home Theater - in fact, a room that darkens with comfortable seating, a projector and a screen qualifies as a Home Theater - IMO.

Our PJ to screen distance is only around 14 ft. and we sit along the wall. The PJ sits on a shelf about 60 inches off the ground and this simple setup works just fine.

So far as screens go everybody has a different idea and there is no single correct answer BUT you do need to figure out which is the best answer for you.

Now in our room we found that we prefer a more square than rectangular screen. Most commercial theaters seem to have large more square screens and probably to allow them the flexibility of image adjustment regardless of the content's aspect ratio.

We started with a 16:9 and learned that it didn't make us happy with older movies @ 3:2 and NTSC stuff (including our zillion hours of home movies) @ 4:3 and it limited what we could do with wider content. You just can't "play" as much with more square content on a 16:9 or even wider rectangular screen - at least to us - and I like to full screen 4:3 stuff and zoom a lot and stuff.

So the 16:9 sits in its' box in our garage and we love our Da-lite 72X96 fixed wall screen - it's gray so we can't see the dreaded "black bars" when our projector scales wide screen movies @ 1.85:1 and reallllly wide screen movies @ 2.39:1 - the square format lets me zoom and ajust the image to my heart's content. If I ever wanted a bigger screen it would be a larger version of what we have - in other words, a bigger 4:3 screen.

Finally, for five grand you should be able to lay the foundation for a very spiffy viewing room. IMO - get a high quality screen and a projector with native 1080p resolution and 3D ready (3D is coming and, finally, is almost here).

I just finished watching three old movies - what a great way to spend an afternoon while my bride sits and shoots bird pics in the backyard. One was a 1940s Bogart 3:2, one was a letter box and the third was untra wide, wiiiiide format and they all looked fantastic to me. WOW - just like being at the movies!!!! Only a projector and screen can deliver that WOW!!
Enjoy and best wishes with you room!

My only comment to possibly contradict the others is considering a 720p projector such as the Panny AX-200. For $900 street price, you could save a lot of money to throw somewhere else. For a noob 720p + Blueray will blow him out of the water.

Next thought is simply let BIG guide you if he's willing. Few more knowledgeable, thorough, and possessing keen attention to detail (in addition to being on the forum seemingly 24 hours per day!).

You can easily get 2 rows in that space, just keep your screen size down. Some folks go as big as will fit without any consideration of seating distances.

You don't say what area of the country/world you are in but have you given any thought as to the HVAC needs of the room.... given it's on the 3rd floor you are likely to have a bigger problem than those of us that put them in the basement.

Best of Luck

Bud

2nd Run Cinema - A Fabric Frame Theater (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1153475)

What is the height that you could hang a screen (unobstructed)? Also the measurements in the pic say 20x15, is that including the additional rooms (closet, bathroom etc?). My ht room is about the same at 20x15 if you want to take a look at the pictures to get an idea furniture wise, what would fit.

My only comment to possibly contradict the others is considering a 720p projector such as the Panny AX-200. For $900 street price, you could save a lot of money to throw somewhere else. For a noob 720p + Blueray will blow him out of the water.

Next thought is simply let BIG guide you if he's willing. Few more knowledgeable, thorough, and possessing keen attention to detail (in addition to being on the forum seemingly 24 hours per day!).

I tend to agree with this advice as well. The Panny 3000 is a bang-for-buck champion at 1080p to be sure, but it may not be right for EVERYONE. Someone who is just starting out, doesn't even have enough experience to know what he needs, what he doesn't, and what even differentiates one PJ from another. If money is a concern at all, I'd look to get a well-reviewed 720p to "cut your teeth on", and then look to upgrade in a year or so...if you even feel like you need to...once you have an idea what you like about your PJ, and what you wish the next unit would do (or do better).

Now, if money is not a concern, or you are convinced 1080p is where you want to be from the start, and your budget allows $2500 for a PJ, the 3000 seems to be the hot choice in that price range.

CD

What is the height that you could hang a screen (unobstructed)? Also the measurements in the pic say 20x15, is that including the additional rooms (closet, bathroom etc?). My ht room is about the same at 20x15 if you want to take a look at the pictures to get an idea furniture wise, what would fit.

The room is 16.9' X 14.9 actual size.