I'm really flustered .....I'm thinking I really want a Mitsubishi HC 3800 PJ in my basement HT...problem is a 30-35% offset no lens shift and a low ceiling.

After thinking about tilting the PJ I'm leaning toward mounting it on the floor and covering it with a roof/riser that would house the PJ and be the floor of my first row of seats....6" or so tall

The big problem is that the second row riser would become 20" from real floor and leave me with 64" of clearance to crawl into our seats?

I'm only 5'6" and the wife is 5'4" and two short kids, but I really wondered if that room would look crazy or bang heads or ????

should I give up my dream of the HC 3800? and go to a different PJ?

A little over 5 feet for headroom sounds a little odd. Where I live, code says nothing less than 7' for continuous ceiling height (cross beams can sit lower.)

Can you mount the PJ on the ground where the "center" first row seat would go and just have front row seats to the left and right of the PJ "cabinet?"

-Suntan

20 inch riser + 64 inches of headroom is 7 ft.

Honestly, I would give up on this projector and pick one with a lens shift so it would be easier to set up in the room. Are you able to mount the screen a little higher to get away with a smaller riser. 20 inches will need two steps, nevermind the reduced headroom.

Greg

A little over 5 feet for headroom sounds a little odd. Where I live, code says nothing less than 7' for continuous ceiling height (cross beams can sit lower.)

Can you mount the PJ on the ground where the "center" first row seat would go and just have front row seats to the left and right of the PJ "cabinet?"

-Suntan

To be more clear - the ceiling in the basement is 86", I will lose at almost 2" to my 7/8" Dri Core + carpet and 5/8" drywall ceiling,

problem with the "center" is I really wanted my PlaySeat http://www.playseat.com/ on the ground in the front row....funny part is that thing is the biggest reason I'm getting my home theater, I bought that seat last year and my wife has been willing to spend $10k to "Get it the h---- out of the living room!"

Why does the Playseat need to be on the floor in the front row? If it's truly that important, build a riser that is movable with wheels on one end and a handle on the other so you can move it about as needed. Cover the riser in carpet that matches the floor, and put it smack dab in the middle of the front row.

When you want to play games, unplug it and roll it out of the way. You can even have a chair ready to fill that space if it's movie time with a full theater.

CJ

I'm 5' 6" with a 7' 1" ceiling height. I can tell you that every inch of height is precious and wasting 6" because the pj is on the floor is a bad idea, and the 20" high riser with resulting headroom will look like hell. I can understand you being flustered, getting everything to work in 7' 1" was tough.

I also wouldn't tilt the pj and have to deal with keystoning and the correction of it. Spending more on the pj and getting more flexibility would be money well spent.

well I ended up agreeing, I'm looking for a different projector tonight...oh well there are plenty of others to find..