Ok, so I bought a new house, and I knew immediately that the false wall had a lot of promise, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I've spent about 2 months in the house and I'm now ready to make it a real theater.

Here is a picture of it right now with the old projection TV pulled out. You can see the in-wall speakers, but those will be pulled out.:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t197/joshmv/DSC00715.jpg?t=1255638917

And here is my photoshopped version with what I'm planning. The screen is a 97.5" from Seymour and is pretty much as big as I can go with the width. The red boxes represent the speakers behind the screen. They are a little close together, but I really don't want to push them way out to the corners.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t197/joshmv/DSC00715revised.jpg?t=1255639047

Here is the current seating and back wall. These couches will be theater seating soon.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t197/joshmv/DSC00717.jpg?t=1255639366

Here's the photoshop. You can see the current "surround" speakers up in the ceiling. I want to take those out and maybe put some surround speakers recessed into the back wall even though they are a little far back for surrounds. Right now I can only seem to work out a 5.1 system, but if somebody has an idea on how to get 7.1 in there let me know.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t197/joshmv/DSC00717revised.jpg?t=1255639545

And here is another view from the side so you can see that I have no wall directly to the left of the seating and the distance from the back of the seating and the wall where I want to mount the surrounds is quite large.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t197/joshmv/DSC00718revised.jpg?t=1255639595

Well there is the initial post, I have some questions to follow. If anybody has questions, comments, picture requests ,etc please let me know!

First question:

For the front stage speakers behind the false wall, should I build an actual enclosure inside the false wall for the speakers to be in or should I just build a little stand for them to sit on and then leave it at that. I think I read somewhere that they should be open back there, but I wanted to make sure.

The same goes for the sub because the previous owner built a box inside the wall for the sub to sit in. Right now the sub is pretty small, but I just ordered a MFW-15 to sit in there and I'm kind of worried that it will be boomy in an enclosed box.

Thanks

First question:

For the front stage speakers behind the false wall, should I build an actual enclosure inside the false wall for the speakers to be in or should I just build a little stand for them to sit on and then leave it at that. I think I read somewhere that they should be open back there, but I wanted to make sure.

The same goes for the sub because the previous owner built a box inside the wall for the sub to sit in. Right now the sub is pretty small, but I just ordered a MFW-15 to sit in there and I'm kind of worried that it will be boomy in an enclosed box.

Thanks

Speakers on stands will be fine. I use a sealed sub in an enclosure in my downstairs room and I do not have any problems.

Speakers on stands will be fine. I use a sealed sub in an enclosure in my downstairs room and I do not have any problems.

Thanks for the response, I was hoping thats what I'd hear.

Next Question: Right now in my mock up picture above, I have the center channel horizontal, but since I'm framing up that open space where the old TV went, I could easily frame in a spot to mount it vertically.

I know vertical is supposed to be better if you have 3 front speakers that are exactly the same, but is it better if it's a regular horizontal center channel?

I would bring that center speaker down to match where the mids & tweets are in your mains.

I have the center channel horizontal, but since I'm framing up that open space where the old TV went, I could easily frame in a spot to mount it vertically.

If the speaker is designed to be horizontal, then you must install it horizontally otherwise you're seriously mucking with the lobing and dispersion patterns of the speaker. Three identical speakers in the front is best. That cavity where all your speakers will be sitting needs to be lined with fiberglass insulation on all surfaces or you're going to have a huge resonance cavity.

If the speaker is designed to be horizontal, then you must install it horizontally otherwise you're seriously mucking with the lobing and dispersion patterns of the speaker. Three identical speakers in the front is best. That cavity where all your speakers will be sitting needs to be lined with fiberglass insulation on all surfaces or you're going to have a huge resonance cavity.

Hmm, thats a good point. There is insulation on the back wall, and I could probably put more insulation between the studs in a lot of places on the fake wall, but for flat surfaces, would something like dynamat work well also?

I'm also thinking about lining the inside of the enclosure where the sub will be sitting with dynamat.

I would bring that center speaker down to match where the mids & tweets are in your mains.

Ya, I just read that someplace as well so if I do end up keeping this horizontal center, I'll bring it down so the tweeter of the center matches up with the tweeter of the vertical speakers.

Don't be using Dynamat to stop resonance in a cavity...that's not the purpose for which it was designed.

Don't be using Dynamat to stop resonance in a cavity...that's not the purpose for which it was designed.

Good to know. I'm not sure if this is what you were suggesting but I'd rather not fill up that whole area behind the false wall with insulation since I'm planning on building an access door from the side so I can still get back there and change speakers or mess with wiring if I ever need to.

Is that what you were talking about, or were you just talking about putting it between the studs on each wall?

Thanks again, your input is greatly appreciated.

You don't need to fill the entire cavity. I'd like to see six inches on all surfaces fully exposed.