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Dedicated theater vs. More people

post #1 of 19
9/29/08 at 11:35am
Thread Starter 
I'm really torn right now. I've managed to setup a nice little(emphasis on little) dedicated home theater/gaming room in one of the spare rooms in the basement. Because of this I have my surrounds exactly where I want them, speakers set up for main seating area and just an all round tight setup:I currently have an Epson Home 10+ projector(about to be upgrade to the HC720) throwing an 80" screen and some nice matched c-series energy speakers, basically when the new projector arrives I have the setup I've been working towards.

HOWEVER, it only seats four comfortably...six UNCOMFORTABLY. So my issue is I have this fantastic equipment that makes for a great theater experience but I can only share it with one other couple at a time. Our core group of friends is 8 which means we usually end up at someone else's house for movie night. I have the best equipment by far but host the least amount of movie nights. Now, I have a second room that i could set up in that could fit 6-8 comfortably but it is not ideally shaped (one surround would be way off) and would double as the main family room(coffee table, regular tv etc.). So there goes any audio sweet spot, my movie posters in the theater room, darker wall color etc-it would basically be a living room with a projector.

So do you keep the dedicated theater and watch movies solo or do you compromise the theater experience and have more social events. I relize this is very subjective but I'm sure others have dealt with this and am curious to hear their thoughts.

Thanks
JASON
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post #2 of 19
9/29/08 at 12:50pm
I find myself in the same position as you. Right now I can sit 5 comfortably but we would like it increase it to 8. What we decided to do was to move one of the walls giving the theater another 5-6 feet, giving us plenty of room for 8 guests.
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post #3 of 19
9/29/08 at 2:54pm
Thread Starter 
I would love to do the same thing, especially considering there is another room behind the screen that would double the length of the current theater...HOWEVER that room is my wife's scrapbooking/barbie collection room and there's no other place to set her up, so that was a resounding NO.
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post #4 of 19
9/29/08 at 3:47pm
add 2nd row, (3seats 1st. row, couch 2nd row and 2 more foldable chairs on both sides of the couch). I'll be moving soon, but will put sectional in so we could see each other and watch movie/ ufc etc. Not 100% shure on sectional seating, but leaning that way.
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post #5 of 19
9/29/08 at 3:50pm
I think this is a pretty common problem. I could have put my theater in a different location than I did to increase its size. It would have compromised other areas and the over all feel of the basement would have been different. I think it comes down to how much you socialize. I didn't want to design my entire basement around a once a month event. We realized 99% of the time there would be 2 people in the theater room. In fact our main floor is the best place for us to entertain. We ended up going the opposite direction of most and designed our basement to be a more personal get away for us.
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post #6 of 19
9/29/08 at 5:59pm
Take the epson outside and get yourself a gemmy 150" screen. Now you invite all (and even more) of your friends and still have the best theater in the group

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5044023
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post #7 of 19
9/29/08 at 6:11pm
Hello. What are the exact dimensions of your room? After my 6th theater build I can tell you that to sit 8 people comfortably you need a minimum room size of 14'x19'. Any smaller means compromise which is a word I always hated.
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post #8 of 19
9/29/08 at 6:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by frank456 View Post

Hello. What are the exact dimensions of your room? After my 6th theater build I can tell you that to sit 8 people comfortably you need a minimum room size of 14'x19'. Any smaller means compromise which is a word I always hated.

Yup, I would like to hear what your room dimensions are as well.
I'd hate to see you give up your theater and go to a media room and get into a bunch of compromises, but sometimes a media room is the best option. It all depends on what is important to you. Each has there purpose.
How often do you have these movie nights?
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post #9 of 19
9/29/08 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by victor-eyd View Post

Take the epson outside and get yourself a gemmy 150" screen. Now you invite all (and even more) of your friends and still have the best theater in the group

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5044023

This is certainly something we do(as I have a portable screen and a stereo outside) and is one of the reasons I have the itch to please the masses indoors. Everyone raves about 'drive in night'. Only problem is that it doesnt work so well in the winter...brrrrrr

As for room size it's tiny...11' by 10' but it's all I had. As for the option B media room, its a twisty turny beast that is hard to measure. If I can I'll post a drawing.

"We realized 99% of the time there would be 2 people in the theater room"

Very valid point and one I keep coming back to.

As far as how often do we have movie nights, it varies but it comes down to the fact that I'd like to have more...I'm a movie guy that doesn't get to see enough movies. And it's not always movies --'the gang' has Heroes night, Survivor Night and the biggest kicker is all this gear and I can't host a Superbowl party--it's those things I keep coming back to.

The two rooms are adjacent so I'm toying with a split idea as well.

thanks to all for the feedback.
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post #10 of 19
9/29/08 at 9:20pm
Why not an HT in both rooms done over time as finances allow? I currently have a living room setup and previously owned a small dedicated room (12 x 23). Both have pros and cons.
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post #11 of 19
9/29/08 at 9:40pm
definitely a con for the dedicated room... it tends to contain your best sound system.. and this week it is your turn to host LAMBADA NIGHT. There is no way in heck you are gonna disappoint everyone after what happened three weeks ago. And that big drum that Rico brings over keeps bumping into the Berklines. Is this a common problem for anyone else here?
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post #12 of 19
9/30/08 at 3:11am
Sounds like your priorities are for having an open room.
If I were you, I'd shoot for both if having these parties were that important to you.
Me, I like to be able to go down to my home theater and have the ability to turn the volume up to insane levels at any time day or night with out worrying about bothering the rest of the house.
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post #13 of 19
9/30/08 at 6:56am
Right now, I do the folding chair thing when there are more people wanting to watch the movie and I can squeeze more in. I got lucky though, when I told the wife about making our theater a bit wider and taking a bit from the opposite room, she was all for that...

Turning up the volume to insane levels does put excitement into the home theater experience, even with all the sound isolation that I put in, you can still hear that subs thumping along. We have a rule at our house... after 11PM, the subs get turned off... we don't want to annoy the neighbors too much (and we have great neighbors).
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post #14 of 19
9/30/08 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by William Seaward View Post

Right now, I do the folding chair thing when there are more people wanting to watch the movie and I can squeeze more in. I got lucky though, when I told the wife about making our theater a bit wider and taking a bit from the opposite room, she was all for that...

Turning up the volume to insane levels does put excitement into the home theater experience, even with all the sound isolation that I put in, you can still hear that subs thumping along. We have a rule at our house... after 11PM, the subs get turned off... we don't want to annoy the neighbors too much (and we have great neighbors).

Yup, I currently use bean bags and folding chairs for extra seating. But it sounds like the OP doesn't have room for folding chairs. I am pretty blessed. My room is pretty big.
I currently have an SVS PB12 Ultra/2. I have never had a complaint from the wife or kids during late hours.
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post #15 of 19
10/1/08 at 5:54am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the great feedback guys...I've been browsing both the dedicated theater forums and the general media room forums and I must say that there is a fine line sometimes. One specific popped out--RobZ...that's a sweet setup and still feels 'dedicated' to media just not rows of theater seats and that theater feel. Very cozy, yet still focused on the big screen-I certainly like this alternative to full on theater. Right now I'm leaving it as is but am measuring out the main room in the basement and will start planning a conversion option. I'll have to give up our giant comfy couches for an L-shaped sectional and nothing happens until the old 32" tube beast gets swapped out for a wall mount flat screen. Once those are in place I may follow the concept of media room, with flat screen for everyday viewing and then a drop down screen for event viewing.
This won't be easy as the missus likes the current setup but the galleries on here could help to sway her.....always comes down to WAF doesnt it?

Thanks again all.
JASON
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post #16 of 19
10/1/08 at 7:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by suffolk112000 View Post

Yup, I currently use bean bags and folding chairs for extra seating. But it sounds like the OP doesn't have room for folding chairs. I am pretty blessed. My room is pretty big.
I currently have an SVS PB12 Ultra/2. I have never had a complaint from the wife or kids during late hours.

I'm running 2 SVS PB12 Ultra/2's...

But we try to think of the neighbors also.
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post #17 of 19
10/1/08 at 10:10am
To me, I enjoy the experience more with people than without. I may only have the "gang" once a week, but that's when I get the most pleasure out of the room. To me, the technical comprimises in audio are minor.

I would quickly loose interest if I didn't get to entertain for the larger events.
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post #18 of 19
10/1/08 at 10:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by William Seaward View Post

I'm running 2 SVS PB12 Ultra/2's...

But we try to think of the neighbors also.

I live in the country.
I am surrounded by corn.
Except the deer... I don't know who I would bother.
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post #19 of 19
10/1/08 at 11:43am
The next house I build is going to be in the country, even though I have great neighbors and they don't complain at all... even when both subs are pounding...

I do love it when we have people over for movie night, but most of the time its just my wife and I. Making the room a bit bigger will allow me to install a new larger screen and to put curtains around the screen.
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