Hi I am in the middle of construction of our new dream house and we our having a dedicated HT room, but due to architects design of house the HT room was not an optimal shape and size please see attached drawing for specs and info. The room has a 9 ft in ceiling height.

The projector I am more than likely go to go with is a Sony Model Number: VPL-VW60 link for specs

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665192796

First I would like to have two rows of seating with a riser but I think I do not have enough distance or length in the room at 15'2". Can anyone please advise either way on this if it is possible. Or should I stay with just one row of theater or recliner chairs or a couch. I am am open to any suggestions for furniture sizes that will work best to fit my room.

Secondly what size screen can I go to match the room perfectly. What is the optimal size I should go with. I want to have a stage built around the screen too. I think this will add to the overall effect to make room more theater like. And with that in mind what then what would be the optimal viewing distance. I do prefer a wider screen ratio too if possible if the room size allows it.

Thirdly where would be the best possible position for the speakers? I would like to run a 7.1 set up. I will have floor standing tower speakers for the front and rear. However I could go with wall mounted rear speakers if the room layout requires it. To optimize the shorter length in the room for better sound quality.

Right now the room is just been framed I am about to wire it up so any ideas would greatly help.

Thank You very much in advance

Oil Country

Is there any possibility of moving that door in the bottom right down then moving the equipment closet door to the left. If it were my room I would do that then put a speaker column for the left surround there and then on the opposite side taking up some of what is now in the plan for the media closet. You would be able to access the equipment closet with the door to the entrance closed. Your equipment area looks good on the drawing for an ir repeater or otherwise. A couple columns in the front of the room and you can still fit a nice size screen there. I would go with one row of seating.

Here is a thread about riser height calculation that is also a sticky in the top of this forum area.

http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=505237

Here is nice page about screen size calculations

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Thanks Steve for the links. I am not 100% folllowing what you are suggesting to do. What side do you think the screen should go on? The 14'7 or 23'7 side?

And I do think I will go with one row of seating. Do you think it is possible to seat more than 3 people? Maybe 2 chairs at diagonal location to other 3?

Thanks

Oil Country

I was suggesting to add columns in the rear of the room to make your sound stage larger. If you are not going with columns but instead hanging them on the wall that would work well also. It may be difficult to fit a three seat otherwise. If you are moving your couch back further that is a little far from the screen and then maybe some speaker stands would be in order. What couch you like will depend on how much room you have. My 3 seat berkline 88's are only about 79 1/2" wide and have a cup holder on each side. I like them allot. There are ones that recline automatically but I just do it manually. It is less expensive and lower maintenance for me. I edited some of your drawing to show you what I mean. The couch is not to scale but is just an example to show you where a good place to position it could be. Just my 2 cents. Do you have any more details on your design like equipment you will be using? The rear channels placement is something that is sort of personal preference. I would recommend reading about that here by doing a search.

Hi Steve thanks for the idea, now I see what you are trying to accomplish. However I am curious why you put the screen on that wall instead of the south wall. I keep changing my mine on this. Can you explain why you did this?

Thanks

Oil Country

Hi Steve thanks for the idea, now I see what you are trying to accomplish. However I am curious why you put the screen on that wall instead of the south wall. I keep changing my mine on this. Can you explain why you did this?

Thanks

Oil Country

I choose to put the screen there for a couple reasons.

1. Acoustics

Most of your sound is coming from the front of your room and it is best to not have an area where a door will be swinging open and shut effecting your sound field drastically. The door should not be precisely in a corner also as that is not good for acoustics. I could look this up in a book I have or search to confirm that but I am pretty sure this is correct. Moving it down some would be alright I think.

2. Lights

It can be bothersome when someone walks into the room and light is cast onto your screen. I have seen several people on different occasions (no joke) whether it be customers or employee's exit a commercial theater using the emergency exits in the front before and it is very distracting to me even if it is just the previews playing.

Edit: You can fit another row of seats but you may want to or may not want to do room treatments for the rear row if so. It is possible.