My home theater is 23' long and I plan on having a 12" high riser that will be 10' wide. What should the depth of the riser be in order to recline comfortably without leaning back into a third row or wall or kicking someone in the first row in the head?

Plus, how many people have a dual riser for a third row of seating and if so what is the total depth of your riser?

Thank You!

Depends on what kind of seating you are using.
Some recliners require a foot or more behind them...others only a few inches. Non-reclining chairs require no space behind them (but you may want some anyway). Also look at the dimensions of the chair you are using. Use the depth of the chair plus the distance behind the chair and then about 2 feet or more for the walkway in front.

I'm looking at chairs that can be as close as 3" to the back wall. When calculating depth do you use a 2ft walk way with the seats upright or in the reclined position?

From the back of my seating to the screen is 23 feet. I have 3 rows of seats with the back two rows being on risers. The front two rows are recliners and the back row is traditional theater seats. The middle row height is 14" high and the back row is 28" high. This allows the middle row to be fully reclined and still see over the front row in the upright position.

For the recliners, I would recommend a minimum of 6 feet. That would allow most people to be fully reclined and not interfere with the other rows, you may want a little more room if you are/know/plan to invite a bunch of tall people. Of course this means almost no walking space when fully reclined. If you add in room for walking space, then it throws off your accoustics. It's easier to set up a room for a small seating area.

Thank you everyone for your responses on this subject. Toxarch, I would love to see pictures of your theater. Your setup seems to be exactly what I plan on doing. The only problem I have is that my ceiling is only 7.5' high. Having a 28" high back riser I would be afraid someone would hit their head.

There are some pictures in my AVS photo album and a bunch in the link in my sig. Here's one of the seating:

http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php/photo/4320/cat/500/ppuser/29645

Makes it easy for me to have a 28" riser since my room has a 12 foot ceiling. If you are building with a permit, check with your inspector before building your riser. Some inspectors won't allow a very high riser with a low ceiling. You might be able to do it if the seats are on a higher riser than the walkway in front of the seats. Or make the risers "removable" and don't attach them to anything.

Thank you Toxarch for providing a link to your theater pictures. It gives me an idea of what can be done in my 23' long theater. Your theater looks very nice.