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HT Design - 14' x 19' 5" : Circulation!

999 views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  RedStripe88 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I managed to get my architect to extent the room to its maximum available size - it's now 14' 1.5" x 19' 5".
I am now struggling with three things:


  1. Layout of HT Seating (trying/want 8 if possible) - and the entry way seems to make this an issue.
  2. How to provide A/C to the room (it's in Jamaica - no heat required),
  3. Given the lack of spacd behind any of the walls, what should I do about speaker positioning. the projector will of course, be ceiling mounted.

You will note a work station (music production) in an alcove on one side and teh entry on the alcove on the opposite side. I *COULD* move the entry door up to about 10' to the left (west).
Thoughts? Ideas? Jamaicing me crazy! A diagram is attached.

s.
 

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#2 ·
Great to see someone building a theater in Jamaica.

I'm not an expert by any means, but here are a few thoughts on rough placement for your layout:


The LCR speakers could go behind an Acoustically transparent screen. The side surrounds could be put in columns. And the rear surrounds could be in a rear soffit or rear columns.

Disclaimer, I didn't check dimensions, seating distances, aisle widths etc. For example, depending on the seats that you choose, you may or may not be able to fit four across on the brown riser in the picture.

I'm guessing someone will weigh in on whether the alcove creates any acoustic issues that are difficult to solve.

On the ventilation / AC, you could consider using a couple dead vents to avoid putting an A/C unit or fan in the theater. The first dead vent would pull air from an adjacent room where you have an oversized A/C unit into the theater to cool the room. The second dead vent would pull warm air (say from the back of the room and dump that into an adjacent room (not too close to the location where you're pulling air into the theater because that would create a short circuit).

In the room I'm building, I have a dead vent to pull air from an adjacent hallway into the front right column. Then, I will have a fan in the rear soffit that pulls air from the rear of the theater and dumps it in a large rec room.
 
#3 · (Edited)
With the tag "RedStripe" we clearly have a connection!
Thanks for your thoughts. One idea I was playing with (well, actually, my architect) to ease circulation at the rear of the room - was to lower the front (South) of the room by 7", so the platform wasn't in the way.
The one challenge with your thoughtful plan, is circulation to the South part of the room...which is kinda tough with the columns.

1. Is Wall mounting the sides an option?
2. And what about floor standing speakers (and sub) either side (and under) the projection screen?

Attached is a revised diagram...the entry space and access to the workstation area - are still very tight. Is there a 4-unit seating pod that is 1' smaller?
 

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#4 · (Edited)
I would work on keeping the seating off the walls which also would work in your favor
with circulation space.


I would skip floor standing speakers and go with three identical bookshelf speakers and a pair of subs
using an acoustically transparent screen.


A (low noise) minisplit like a Panasonic would handle the cooling requirements but you still need to consider
how to attain 3 air changes per hour, for air quality.
 

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#6 ·
1) No, but going three wide has some advantages. Four 30" wide seats eats up rom width fast. Leaves you with
two foot wide aisles which are just adequate, before you take into consideration the side surrounds which will also eat up
circulation space. The outside seats are also right on top of the side surrounds now, and you haven't taken into consideration
about how you will set side surround volume levels.

2) Again, you are right on top of the rear surround speakers. And being that close to the back wall also is going to mean
issues with boomy bass. Six of your eight seats are audio compromised. I'd go for less seating, with better audio, and put the
seating budget savings elsewhere, where it'd give better returns.


With a tighter seating arrangement, the circulation space at the back of the room gives moves the rear surrounds off the seats.
Bar stool aren't great for a two hour seating, but I'd look at upholstered swivel chairs for the second row.


So is eight seats a real world" need", or simply a "want" ?
 
#8 ·
1) Doesn't really help with aisle space to the front seats...


2) The needed riser height is determined by the seats and where they are planted. Then you know where you eyes are
planted. Add in screen size and mounting height, and a side elevation drawing will tell you if the second row can see
the bottom of the screen.


3) Ceiling based surrounds will help get the surrounds further away from the nearest seats. In wall surrounds would help
with the aisle space.
 
#9 ·
Yes, I'm 50% yardie, and grew up in Miami with a ton if Jamaicans.

If you cannot do inwall side surrounds and you want to preserve aisle space, you could either mount the side surrounds on the wall which many people do. Or, you can build a slim column and use shallow speakers if you want the side surrounds out of view. I plan to use Triad speakers which are 4 inches deep.

Check out Moggie's Saga of the Old Vic build. He built very nice columns that are very shallow at the bottom and curve out near the top. A column like that would preserve some aisle space.


 
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