We have a bonus room in our home which we are in the process of converting to a home theater. While I've begun purchasing the equipment, and have the furniture, it would be great to get some feedback and suggestions from this forum before I get too far down the road. Below is a photo of the room and a plan and section drawing I did in CAD (I'm an engineer for a living, so I like to draft).

The room is a little unusual in that it's totally open on one side. We are not prepared to do a lot of major carpentry this time, so we're looking into blackout curtains.

We are also planning to keep the tan colored walls and carpet for now. I know this is not optimal, so I will get a grey screen. One day we will do a Phase 2 and really turn this into a true theater.

Generally we're trying to keep the room modifications to a relatively low budget. I'm going for higher-end (but not top of the line) equipment.

Let me know what you think! Any words of warning or advice?


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Turn the room around and use the closets(nooks) at the back for your equipment. You could switch the seating as well with the seats in the front row and the couch in the back in the narrower section. Would leave more room for speakers and screen on the bigger wall.

Nate

I think it would work either way, but I'd agree with nasty and flip the room with the seats in front. If it were me, I'd prefer the relining seats over the couch, and I'd like to sit closer than 15'5" from a 92" wide screen. (YMMV)

I'd also look into rear shelf-mounting the projector. I think that looks better and if there is any light/sound leakage, it bothers me less to be behind me.

One other word of warning - be prepared for scope creep/upgraditis. It happens...

Yup, I would definitely flip it around and go with a much larger screen. I haven't seen any posts on AVS saying, "I wish my screen wasn't so big", but I've seen lots of the opposite. I think Kevin was bang-on with his observation on "upgraditis" - I haven't even finished my build yet and its already happening. Also, if you are planning to watch mostly movies I would also HIGHLY recommend going 2.35. It makes a huge difference and you have the width for it. Those nooks are also a great place for a rear sub. You could get one in the middle front behind the screen and in a nook at the back, which should be a good setup.

I agree with the other posters - go with the larger screen. I sit 12' from a 110" screen and I wish I had gone bigger.

Really? Bigger screen at 10' viewing distance? I was worried that 106 was already getting too big. How big would you go?

Regarding flipping the room around, that's originally how I had it. But for a couple of reasons we reversed it. First, my wife really wanted a couch she could lay on to watch movies. That means the couch has to be in front, and given the width of the recliners, we had to reverse the room to fit them. The ol' wife acceptance factor (WAF) strikes again! At this point I'm thinking that, once we actually put a movie on such a big screen, watching it while laying down may not be as appealing as she thinks. She just wouldn't be looking at it from a good angle.

Other than that, we have the issue of the fireplace. That angled wall in the lower left corner is a gas fireplace. I don't think we'd normally use it during a movie (very distracting), but we might use it while playing music or watching sports during the winter. Who knows. If I flip the room around, the leftmost chair would be pretty close to it.

Finally there's the issue of the surrounds. I went with ceiling mounted ones. If I flip the room, how can I position them so that everyone hears good spacial separation? Any ideas?

Don't get me wrong - part of me wants to flip it back as you suggest. Mounting the screen would be a lot easier. But there are aspects of that which I'm not sure how to resolve. Appreciate any feedback.

Really? Bigger screen at 10' viewing distance? I was worried that 106 was already getting too big. How big would you go?

Regarding flipping the room around, that's originally how I had it. But for a couple of reasons we reversed it. First, my wife really wanted a couch she could lay on to watch movies. That means the couch has to be in front, and given the width of the recliners, we had to reverse the room to fit them. The ol' wife acceptance factor (WAF) strikes again! At this point I'm thinking that, once we actually put a movie on such a big screen, watching it while laying down may not be as appealing as she thinks. She just wouldn't be looking at it from a good angle.

Other than that, we have the issue of the fireplace. That angled wall in the lower left corner is a gas fireplace. I don't think we'd normally use it during a movie (very distracting), but we might use it while playing music or watching sports during the winter. Who knows. If I flip the room around, the leftmost chair would be pretty close to it.

Finally there's the issue of the surrounds. I went with ceiling mounted ones. If I flip the room, how can I position them so that everyone hears good spacial separation? Any ideas?

Don't get me wrong - part of me wants to flip it back as you suggest. Mounting the screen would be a lot easier. But there are aspects of that which I'm not sure how to resolve. Appreciate any feedback.My wife and I sit about ~12' from a 127"W 2.35 screen (~138" diag) and love it. So, to answer your question, go as big as your room and PJ output will allow.

If you want to keep the existing room orientation, you could build a bulkhead where you currently show your screen and use a retractable screen a bit further forward from where you currently have it. That would give you the ability to go wider without compromising your design goals. It looks like you could get a decently wide screen in there if you did that.

If it were me I'd also lose the couch, but I understand that's more of a personal choice.

My wife was the same way with the couch, I considered it too, and thought a sleeper sofa or loveseat front row could turn the theater room into a extra spare bedroom in a crunch. I also had thought of my back going out, and recooperating in the comfort of the theater:D However, I figured it best to go all recliners, and told her we could change it later if she wasn't happy, and she agreed. Now she understands about optimal viewing and wouldn't go back.

I'll have to echo the comments of others regarding reversing the layout. Bigger screen=:D^2 x :eek:

Good luck, and have fun with the build.
Chip

Not necessarily bigger screen just wider Trust me you will want it and the other way gives you room for your speakers they will be quite close to the fire place if you keep it. My screen is only 92 wide now but my room is only 11.5" wide so I do not have room to go wider till we move and i get to build my all out theater. I still use it as CIH now except for sports I use the full 106" 16.9. I have a fire place at the back of my theater also and it is great for sports there is also a poker table there.

Nate