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Media room help

478 views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  JVoth 
#1 ·
Building a media room 11.5ftwide x 22 ft long. Looking at putting in epson 5030 with a 100" screen. Was being sold a 7.2 sound system but wondering if thats the best choice. I have a dennon avr 1613 reciever that im not opposed to using but need help with speaker choices. Im thinking towers in front with the sub woofer and in walls behind the listening area wich is 10 to 16 ft.
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Any help is appreciated.
 

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#2 ·
you have plenty of room length to use an acoustically transparent screen and use three identical speakers behind the screen. Tell us more about your theater layout plans for seating. Number and seat back to screen distances.
 
#3 ·
The entrance into the room is through a pair of 36" barn doors on the rear right hand side of the room. Planned seating arrangement is to have 1st row of three at 9-10 ft and a tiered row of 2 directly behind the first row. We want to have the ability to have the doors open to allow folks to wander in on game day.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Knee jerk response, a 100 inch screen is too small for a two row theater. I did that in my first theater, and regretted it, if you watch a lot of 2.35 format material it will look too small.

7.2 is the right choice unless you want the newest feature which is ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos. What speakers are you "being sold" and at what price?
 
#6 ·
Ok, I've attached the quote. My main issue is that I DONT WANT TO SPEND $6K! I'm comfortable installing and setting this up myself but I need some help making sure I get the right components. My budget all along has been $3500 to $4000. I've found the projector and screen for under $3K @ Visualapex and using my Dennon 5.1 receiver should allow me to purchase a decent speaker set up to complete the room. Any help you guys can give is apreciated.
 

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#9 ·
I can't help you decide on brands of speakers, but I second BigMouthInDC that a 100" screen is far too small for two rows of viewers. You have 22' total depth to work with, so I would build a baffle wall for an AT screen that goes wall to wall at that end of the room with 2' of space behind it for your front speakers. Black velvet 3" on each vertical and then from the top of the screen to the ceiling and bottom of screen to floor ($50). It looks like you have 6.5' on the sidewall to the slope in the ceiling. Build a spandex AT screen 132"x74" ($150) and it will go almost to within 6" of the floor. But so what ? You have 9' ceiling height so a 2' tall riser from 11' back from the screen to the 20' remaining in the room will give plenty of room for a second row that can (probably) still see the bottom of even 16:9 content even with recliners. When watching cinemascope movies, there will be a 9" black bar at the bottom of the screen, so the second row will have no trouble at all seeing the bottom of the actual film area. Actually, the 5030 has vertical lens shift so you could shift a cinemascope movie up to the top of the screen if you wanted to -- just be sure the ceiling slope area is a dark enough non-reflective surface to not notice the "black bar" that will spill onto it. You are paying a lot for a projector with lens shift, so why use it only during initial setup, after all ? If the second row was table/bar seating, you wouldn't need as tall a riser for them to see the bottom of the screen -- because they would be closer to the screen and sitting more upright than recliners. Comfy office chairs or club chairs are much cheaper than theater recliners, too, which helps your budget.

The only caveat to going with a larger screen (and an AT screen at that) is that you really want the 5030 to be mounted close to its shortest throw to maximize its brightness -- which would be 15' from lens to screen for the 150" screen I suggest.
 
#10 ·
Three identical towers behind an AT screen in front, bipolar or in-wall speakers 18" in ahead of first row viewers' heads, second surrounds bipolar 12" behind the second row viewers heads. All speakers with tweeters at seated front row head height. One sub behind the AT screen just right of center and a second in the left rear corner.

That would be my stab at 7.2
 
#12 ·
the cables are overpriced, look at the Redmere cables for that long run at Monoprice.com

One of the highest reviewed speaker packages available around what you want to spend is the internet direct vendor HSU. They offer a variety of packages at various price points.

I'm still lobbying for an acoustically transparent screen and three identical speakers behind the screen.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Lost&confused,
I have a room close to your dimensions (19x12). I went the route you're going first. Visual Apex package, receiver, I had a pretty nice speaker package already (M&K, a tad over priced but still nice) that I had put together over the years and then I bought seats, slapped them in the room and really enjoyed it for about 6 weeks. Then I realized that I didn't want a media room. I never did. I wanted a home theater. I gutted the room and completely re did everything. Now I'm happy. Very happy.

My question to you is, do you want a theater? Because this thread on AVS is full of guys that have unhealthy obsessions with building theaters. If you want a media room, and you think you will be happy with that for years to come, and you think that $6,000 invested into that room is going to provide you with the experience you want, then by all means, Visual Apex, a Denon receiver and a HSU speaker package is perfect. And I mean that. If you don't feel that you will be victim of this bug that the rest of us caught, then you already have everything you need. Unfortunately, asking advice in here is no different than taking a V6 Mustang to some gear head at a speed shop. He's just gonna tell you to go get a V8. However, if you have the slightest doubt that you'll want more in the future, I'm gonna suggest, from personal experience, to follow the advice from these guys and

1) design your room first i.e., lighting, seating distance, colors, columns or no columns, etc. etc. I designed my room with no stage, no soffit and no columns. I just wanted a clean look and I didn't want to spend money on all that lumber and crown and all that.
2) buy an AT screen.

I'll recommend HSU speakers as well if you wanna stick to a tight budget. Great bang for your buck.

Your budget may get stretched and it may take much longer doing it this way, but there have been many a nice room built little by little over the course of several years due to budget constraints. Hell Tom Logan pioneered the practice.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for all of the replies. I think what we want is a room that is somewhat versital. I want to mainly watch sporting events with the occational movie. My understanding is we cant get a tv as large as the projectorso go ing with a projector. Definately want to feel like in a theater when watching a movie. Not sure if thats enough description...
 
#15 ·
Well, any projector and screen can be used to watch sports and TV. If you want to feel like you're in a theater, then you'll want an acoustically transparent screen. The room itself is the most important part of the equation and I don't mean just acoustical treatments and all that. I mean, how the room looks in general. The decor of the room makes all the difference. My old crappy room has the same equipment as my new room, but the "feel" of the room is so much better now that it's got the look that I want. You can get the room you want for $6K, I think. It may be difficult if you go with an integrator though. They will sell you everything at full MSRP along with overpriced Audioquest cables. Stick with Monoprice or Bluejeans Cable. They sound no different than Audioquest. That's because they are copper wire, much like Audioquest. All that cable marketing stuff is a gimmick. As far as receivers go, check out Accessories 4 Less They are B Stock dealers and everything they sell has a warranty. For speakers, I would stick with HSU, SVS or Axiom. They are internet direct dealers with excellent reputations. Don't forget about planning for seating, flooring, lighting, painted walls or fabric, and HVAC. It sounds like soundproofing may be out of the question for a $6K budget and that's okay too. I didn't soundproof my room and I'm still happy with it. Next time, I will allot money in the budget for soundproofing but it just wasn't in the cards this time and I'm still happy with the result.
 
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