Best Room in the House - Page 2

Makes sense, thank you I will do that tonight.


Where were you when I was getting made fun of for wanting a bigger screen?

Believe it or not, this is my second theater and my first was a 100" screen with a room about the same size. I always wished for a bigger screen at that one, I hope I don't do the same here in this one..

I went down and made some measurements - The front of the platform is almost dead center in the room, about 9 1/2 feet from the back wall and the screen. first there is the entrance problem. Here is a pic of the entrance



That's a 4' rough opening for a custom built hidden door (we're doing a double 1/2" plywood door with GG or foam board sandwiched in between, and then the front of it like the picture in my first post). The finished size will be a 3' 6" door.

Anyway, there is about 2 feet between the swing of that door and the platform. It swings towards the screen. Making the main platform 5 feet deeper would mean I would need a step into the room and then the door at that new height. I'm not sure it would work now with the image I'm going for.

Possibly a better solution for my needs would be just to take the curve out of the platform and use the main level in front of the platform the first row of seats. My only concern with that would be whether the screen is too high if the seats are that low. Screen starts about 30" from the floor.

One more questions about the center speaker too - my original plan of placement was just for aesthetics (in the middle of the stage) and I planned to 'angle' the speaker up right to my ears at sitting level. Do you still recommend moving it up?

Here's a pic of the screen wall drywalled with a water bottle on the stage for reference size. The black and gold are me testing my paint colors

Thanks, I will probably go this route.


Not nitpicking - I appreciate the help big time! (helps me learn what to do next time too )

I did think of another option - maybe doing the first platform only in the middle 8' of the room with the corners on 45's. The only problem with this is it limits me to only 2 chairs on the first row. If I moved the riser back and was able to curve the other way I could fit three chairs in that first row, but it would be on ground level. From simplicities sake I think this makes the most sense for me at this stage.

I have the theater equipment set up in a spare bedroom and I adjusted the screen to the same height as it would be on ground level for the first row and it wasn't bad. I was comfortable viewing it reclined. I think I prefer about 5 inches down from there as the perfect spot for me, but it wasn't bad.

The bad thing about adding the first row and cutting back the riser is that it puts the second row even further back than it is currently. And if that's where I'll be sitting mostly, I just made my viewing experience worse so that I could have three extra empty seats. Haha, man so many things to think of, I don't know what to do!! I guess I could make the first row my main viewing row but then there's the non optimal screen height issue. Like I said that height is ok, just not as BigMouth called it the sweet spot.

Maybe the additional platform in the middle for two seats is the best option now. I dunno!!! lol


I thought of this, but the design of the door has this great thick frame that will really help out with sound. And if it swung the other way I'd lose that frame. Here's some pics of another hidden door I have in my study. This one is only one sheet of plywood and weighs a ton, I can only imagine how much the new one will weigh. Sorry its so bare, we just moved in

I've been reading up on accoustic panels and I'd like to try to make my own. From what I've read mineral wool or rigid insulation with fabric would work? If I go to home depot - what all do I need to buy? And what type of fabric would I use to cover it? Would a velvet type material work or?

Thanks
Shawn

So over the weekend I masked out the screen placement and set up a chair down there. It is not as bad as I thought - both the seat on the platform and in front of it was a very comfortable placement. And the screen didn't seem small. I talked to the contractor and he has everything glued down like crazy and said it would be extremely hard to redo the platform at this point. He did say we could add an additional one on top of it or in front of it. I have a few days to think about it, but I think I'm probably just gonna stuck to what I have now. And the hidden step at the bottom of the door he felt would feel wierd and thinks people would trip on it and figured it wouldnt pass inspection especially if the inspector tripped Thank you very much for the advice on it.

Thanks, I found some decent tutorials online to help too. Where do you recommend placing them (height wise). I plan on doing them in between the trim (flat) columns. Should I do them a few inches below the crown molding down to a few inches above the baseboard (entire wall), or just the upper 2/3 of the wall or?


Sure! This one just uses 4 standard hinges, but with 3" screws. The theater one will either need several more of these hinges or a piano hinge instead.

Thank you - my head hurts from reading all the info on this. So up to ear level is best? I'm assuming that means from floor to ear level?

I found the answer, apparently it's from floor to ear level. So I guess I should eliminate the chair rail from the room in case I do acoustic treatments?

Thanks - I do see the advantages of doing what you recommended now. The good thing is, and I'm just assuming, that I can always add a false wall and do this in place of my current one if it doesn't turn out the way I had hoped, but I hope I don't have to go that route!

The treatments on the wall - well I could wrap the front wall still and the stage, and then for the treatments on the side walls, I read somewhere that using painters tape to hold up a tshirt or something on the side walls to see if it makes a difference and if it does, put a panel there. No idea if that would actually work?

One more question about this - I've got 2.5 feet behind my current screen wall, totally just curious here if I went that route, but would it work to remove all the drywall from the front wall and leave the framing and put all the speakers and such in that 2.5 feet of empty space and then wrapped the framing of the front wall, stage etc in GOM instead of the drywall. Would that work, or would all the 2x4's from the framing of the stage and such ruin the sound?

Wow that really is a great help - I wish I had seen that earlier. I especially like how he didn't even have to paint the walls, just put the fabric up. Almost makes me want to tear down what I have and start over But I dunno if I can stomach that.

So the past couple days we've gotten the stage and rack built and they are going to start the hidden door tomorrow. I'll take pictures of the progress. I also have been looking at fabrics to do on the acoustic panels.

A couple things have come to mind - I'm feeling the urge to "upgrade my system". I'm thinking about upgrading either some or all of it.

If I had to buy these things again (and didn't already buy anything I probably would have bought:

paradigm studio 40's for fronts
" Studio CC-590 for center
Studio ADP-590 for surrounds
Denon 4308 amp
and JVC RS20 for projector

I also would have done the AT screen and hidden all my speakers behind it, but I live and learn.

Anyway, given my current setup - would upgrading to any of these items make a noticeable impact on my outcome? I'm thinking the studio 40's would help a lot for the fronts because they are not rear ported and because I have the recessed cavities. But the other items I am not sure about. Like would I need the more powerful amp? Would I see a huge impact by going to the RS20 over the VW40 etc?

Thanks for the help

Just wanted to update - I bought the Paradigm Studio 40's for my fronts and a CC-570 for my center. The 590 was available, but I got the 570 at almost half price so I jumped at it. Actually, I got the 40's at a great price too since they're going out. I compared them at the store with the monitors and center I have now and they are so much clearer. I can hear the dialog so much better, and better sound overall. I think I'm gonna be very happy with these

Finally got some pics taken. Today they worked on the columns, the rack and started some trim. It's coming along!! The rack has a removable back and the corbels are for the projector shelf.

One more update - I ended up contacting Jason at AVS and bought a JVC RS10. I thought it would be a great upgrade from the VW40 while not breaking the bank. I figured the features of the RS20 weren't worth the extra price (to me) especially since I'll probably upgrade in a year or two. So when I get it, I'll post my opinions on the comparison of the two.