Small Budget & First HT Q

FIRST AND FOREMOST, thank you to all the posts on this forum that helped us so far buy a projector, receiver, speakers, GG and cables at a really affordable (and seemingly great) prices. I feel like its a crash course on home theater building, since we did not know that there was a wealth of information here on this website until a few months ago.

We are in the process of building our first home theater, with the help of a general contractor. Our electronic budget is limited (hoping in the future we may upgrade) so we have tried as best we can to read all the various forums and posts, but we are stuck on speaker placement, screen size and projector mounting (I guess we read different ideas on how to do but not so sure those ideas apply to our situation). I have tried not to post any new questions until I did read all the posts I can find on the same problems.

We have a 12x18 basement room with no issues on ambient light. The screen will be viewed on the 12' wall, but there is a two foot soffit hanging on one of the 18' wall (left side of room), which limits the screen size. We decided last minute to build a riser to give us the ability for two rows of seating (10' and 15'). Our plans are to have 5.1 now (but wire for 7.1)

Questions:
1. Speaker placement (Energy Micros) - should I hang the front speakers on the wall with screen (which appears to be what most people do) or near the corners, about a foot away on the side wall and towards the listening area (recommended by someone with experience on HT)? Does it matter that the center channel is mounted on the wall, above the screen and not on same plane as front left and right?

I had called Energy and the guy was not too helpful - he said it would work either way but sounded very noncommittal.

2. Screen size: Original thought was 92", but considering 100". Will this be too much for viewing? I have looked at the calculators and it appears we are fine with going as large as 100", but again someone suggested that it is too big for room and seating position (he suggested 80"+). I like to seat far, my hubby and kids like to sit close.

3. Mounting projector (Viewsonic Pro8100): Because we are mounting on ceiling and the location will be where the riser is, we want to mount as close as possible to ceiling (maybe 3-4" to not bump any tall person's head). Using the lens shift, I believe we can still view the screen about 3' off the ground and 1 foot from the ceiling. Is mounting the unit this close to the ceiling a problem?

I am sure there are alot more questions, but I hope you all can help. Sorry, I have no pics, but could try and draw the plans. THANKS for any input!

Thanks Queen and Oman. I presented the idea to my hubby about the false wall and he thought it was not necessary...I imagine, if we ever build another HT, we would probably research for a few years before diving in again and go this route. I wanted to build a bigger HT room (12x20 or 21) and he nixed the idea. He also prefers to have a couch instead of HT seats, which surprised Roman when we were considering purchasing seating for the room. But I figure we live and learn and with a bigger budget NEXT time, we would build things differently. As for now, we are trying to maximize our space and equipment with our small budget. With all the posts and different forums, this has been a very helpful site.

My "biggest concern" at the moment (changes every few days) is speaker placement because an HT guy saw my space and recommended corner speaker placement for both front and rear, which opposes everything I have read to date, so now, I am really perplexed. I just have not seen anyone's HT with that arrangement on a 5.1.

The "HT friend" was recommended by the electrician. He told me he worked on other HTs before, but I was worrying about his advice after he said our proposed screen size of 92'' was too big given that our first row was about 10-11'.

So, is placing all four speakers on the side walls at 6'5" feet up mounted and pointed towards the "ideal" seating position the best way to arrange the 5.1?

We did test Berklines and found them very comfortable, but we are leaning towards Berklines reclining couches, not HT (losing the convenience of cupholders...wonder if we will regret this...we have not totally committed on any seats yet).

Our original plans prior to talking to HT guy was to have the front all on projection wall at the sides and below the screen for the center. We are probably within one week of wiring before drywall.

He did say with 2 rows, the sound will not be ideal for the second row since the first row will block the travel of the sound. It seems to make sense to do his suggestion because of the 2 row set up BUT when I read all the posts here, I have not found one in that arrangement. I tried looking at other forums tailored towards speakers and audio, but no luck in finding another recommendation similar to ours. Hmmm.

For the surrounds on the 5.1, I have been told to do one of the three options from various people:

1. Back Wall (there is a door on one side of the room leaving the back wall with only 8 feet of room)
2. Side Wall between two rows
3. Side wall behind both rows (my preference at the moment)

I will wire for 7.1, but still in a quandary about wiring.

Finding a place for the snacks and drinks is an important decision too! I was looking into easy portable nesting tables in lieu of no cupholders.

Thanks for the suggestions on speakers - but we don't have the budget to add the Axioms or Klipsch (over $400 for the pair). Maybe when we upgrade...