I'm building a new home...

I have a small room that is 9'7" wide x 12' long that "could" be used for a mini-home theater (for two)... it's just me and my wife.

The problem is the 10' ceilings and that it's upstairs.

I've looked at some optimum room size calculators and have determined that the ceilings really need to be 8' to be optimal.

Since we are still framing, I guess I could put a riser on the floor and drop the ceiling a little?

As far as A/V setup...

Marantz SR8002 receiver. I have two B&W 602S3s for the front, with a B&W center channel, and B&W 12' sub. I am thinking of getting a pair of B&W DS3 dipoles for the sides.


Questions...

1. Is this room too small to even mess with?

2. Insulation... The room has two framed walls (not yet framed) which I can have them stagger frame. One wall is exterior for the house (concrete block). Most of the house is being insultated with icynene. Is that good for HT noise insulation as well?

So, what should I put underneath the floor riser? Rolled insulation, icynene?

Floors will be carpeted with good underpadding.

3. Screen size... I'm thinking of a 52" Sony Bravia XBR LCD will let me sit about 5'8" optimally from the front of the screen which should place the HT loveseat about middle of the room. Should be perfect.

Or should I consider 60" I don't want to get a projector and screen setup.

4. Should I even attempt 7.1 in this room, or are the small room dimensions not worth it? If so, I can stick another pair of DS3s on the rear of the room, centered, and connected to the ASA circuit. Thoughts?

5. What choices to I have for wall treatments on the sides to reduce reflectin without a) looking like a recording studio or b) looking like an ornate Paladium from the 1920s"


I'm drawing all this to scale and I should have 2' of clearance on either side of the loveseat in the room.

There are a few folks around here who have built small rooms (similar dimensions) so I think you can make it work. I'm not sure about the ceiling height, but there are folks who have similar ceiling heights who seem to be happy. Most importantly, this forum ("Dedicated...") is VERY predisposed to projectors. You might get more bites in the "Media/Game Room" forum regarding the 60" TV. Heck, I'm watching the NBA in HD right now at 150" in my living room. My 46" TV is puny and barely gets turned on anymore...oh the luxuries we enjoy! :)

A smaller room tends to sound more dry.

1. No

2. If you mean sound isolation, yes. Otherwise, not sure.

3. This depends on your budget mostly

4. ASA uses 7.1 very similar but no stereo imaging.

5. I recommend having a look at http://www.rivesaudio.com/

There are also others here with similarly sized rooms. Hopefully they may chime in with some good info for you or you could search and see what others have done. Welcome to the forum.

Good info here...we're currently in the process of house hunting for a new place and my wife has her heart set on a place that has no basement, so for a new HT setup I'd be relegated to one of the spare 12x12 bedrooms--quite a shift from the 14x23 space I've currently got. I was afraid I'd have to ditch the PJ and go with a more modest HDTV but this gives me hope that might not necessarily be the case. If anyone has any other thoughts I'd love to hear them.

mine is just 12'x15' with a 100" screen sitting about 11' away. with a 12'x12' room size, I think it's still be fine if you gonna sit against the rear wall or a foot or two away, you should be fine with a 92~100" screen.

see my sig for pics.

Room looks great, LS. Glad to see it can be done. Have you gotten finished yet?

Room looks great, LS. Glad to see it can be done. Have you gotten finished yet?

pretty much everything is done. just waiting for the replacement sofa and the ottoman. the projector has already logged 27+hrs usage in this two weeks! :D

I'm almost done my small HT room. It's approx 10x10 82" ceiling. Used 1 corner of my basement. Bit small, but it'll do for now.

Any pics, Joners?

We're heading up to MI to look at the dozen or so houses we've bookmarked online...if we decide on one I'll definitely be posting pics of what will become the HT room for suggestions.

Good info here... so for a new HT setup I'd be relegated to one of the spare 12x12 bedro,ms--

I had a space in a square room, and honestly I hated the sound. Ended up using all 24 bands of the BFD for controlling Bass and STILL had issues.... it may have been my room in particular, but I'd plan LOTS of traps.

OK... here' what I've decided.

9-8" wide, 11'-10" long, 9' ceilings.

Double drywall, overlapped, with green glue in between
Sound channels on the studs
Walls, floor, and ceiling, insulated with Roxul flexibatt
Impact barrier-plus underlayment on the floor, with carpet on top
Bass traps on the side walls. and two corners
Twin sconce lighting on each side with a few can lights in the ceiling, all on dimmers.

It's about the best I can do as far as soundproofing/isolation.

I've CAD drawn it out and I can do a reclining home-theater loveseat at the ideal viewing spot for a 60" flatscreen, and still have 20" on either side for walking.

Thanks!

A small room can have a big theater. Of course if you want a really big theater you go outside

Very nice, Victor. Gives me some more inspiration. One question--what happened to the closet in there? Of course I'm still hoping that we'll wind up with one of the houses with a finished basement that I can convert or one that I can finish, but I'm trying to prepare myself...and this is much more fun to do at work than actual work. : )

There was a provision for a closet but I had the builders not proceed and just left it a niche for my audio rack

Any pics, Joners?

We're heading up to MI to look at the dozen or so houses we've bookmarked online...if we decide on one I'll definitely be posting pics of what will become the HT room for suggestions.

Not at the moment, I'll try to get some tomorrow.

I've put up drapes to kind of close off the room, rather than building walls. Also it keeps everything open when I decide to sell, I doubt the new owners would have HT in mind.

Here we go.

Room is almost 11x12 actually. 92" screen. Just need to hem the drapes to close off the room and hem the valence for the screen, which I should be able to get done later tonight.

http://members.shaw.ca/joners/screenup.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/joners/screendown.jpg

Very cool, Joners. Thanks for the input.

What I would do is move the left and right speakers to flank the screen at the centerline point and reposition the center to be below the screen, possibly slightly tilting up to the listeners ear. Move the sub closer, maybe to the left side betwen the dvd rack and the stand (or even laying horizontally below the dvd rack) so you show less clutter.

Remember, space is at a premium and nothing makes a small theater feel smaller than unneccesary clutter.

Victor

I'm not done the speaker placement yet. The stand was from upstairs when I was using the pedestal mount for my plasma, which is now wall mounted. It's a bit higher then I'd like, because when the speakers are on top, they interfere with the image. I was thinking about making custom stands for them, making them higher and spaced out more.

I've got big screen in the basement with a cheapo Pioneer HTIB, which sounds pretty good for what I paid for it, and upstairs I've got a 42" plasma with a good sound system, it's just that the speakers and such would take over too much space in the basement.

I've got big screen in the basement with a cheapo Pioneer HTIB, which sounds pretty good for what I paid for it, and upstairs I've got a 42" plasma with a good sound system, it's just that the speakers and such would take over too much space in the basement.

isnt that what a basement is for?

What paint did you use on your walls?

Not the thread that I was looking for, but it does show what can be done in a small space, if you have realistic expectations.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=919657

Size shouldn't matter. They say it's all about the experience :)