New Small Home Theater Room 9x11 - 80% done

Your closet will get warm, too hot maybe. One potential fix is to install a silent bathroom exhaust in the ceiling running the duct to an approved location which does not include the attic.

I would center the screen and the seating in the room.

What are you planning for speakers, projector and screen?

You've got minimal equipment, and you'll probably never have them all running at the same time...I doubt you'd ever have a catastrophic melt down, but heat is your enemy especially over time.

A simple fix would be to put a cold air return type vent above the closet door and make sure there is a gap under the door. The natural convection should keep things cool enough with that you are running...the safest solution would be to do what Big said and add a powered vent that you could vent into an attic space or somewhere it won't hurt to have the extra heat.

I have all my equipment in a "closet" but I actually removed the door and built a rack to fit into the door frame, so the entire thing isn't enclosed and I've not had any issues with heat.

I would proceed as if heat will not be a problem. If you discover it is a problem you can go crawling in the attic an install some kind of exhaust just don't vent directly to the attic unless you can handle the formation of ice under the roof during the winter.

I have the Polk Monitor series and like them a lot. I would skip the PSW10 sub though. It doesn't dig deep enough for home theater. Take a look at the PSW505 if you want a Polk sub. I've also heard good things about the Bic F12 as a budget subwoofer. I personally use an Energy S10.3.

Good luck on the build! I also worked on a small space and absolutely love it.

If you go with an acoustically transparent screen, and a false wall then consider getting three matching front speakers rather than that center channel offering.

To save money on an AT screen a lot of guys have gotten a Jamestown frame and added the SeymourAV center stage fabric.
Edited by BIGmouthinDC - 12/8/12 at 4:02pm

You seem pretty open ended as far as equipment goes...would you mind giving us a budget for AV equipment? There are lots of options out there, if we know what you are willing to spend we can suggest much easier.

If you like the Polk speakers, I'm with aaustin, skip the sub. That sub will be underwhelming for HT use. Save your pennies and look elsewhere for sub solution. Nothing says HT more than nice low clean (loud) bass.

Onkyo makes really good value for dollar receivers...at least that's good place to start.

I really like monoprice.com for my interconnect needs. They've got good deals on plenty of other stuff there as well. I bought all my cables, wires there, plus an HDMI switch, and wall mount.

If you are only looking to spend 100 bucks for a sub, then yeah probably just get the matching Polk. I was suggesting for HT use, bite the bullet and spend a bit more. A lot of people can't hear the difference between a 100 dollar speaker and a 1000 dollar speaker, but almost everyone notices the difference between weak and bone crunching bass.

How are your wood working skills? If you've got the tools and the talent, on a budget, i doubt you could do better than a set of plans from Bill over at billfitzmaurice.com You could look at the Table Tuba or if you've got the room the THT

If you aren't up for DIY subs, in my opinion, you will be much happier for something like the Klipsch for the sub vs. that polk sub. I know its a 200 dollar difference, but personally low end impact is really important to me in HT. And you're looking at a 12" driver with 340w of power vs, a 10" sub with 100w of power. 300 bucks is a steel for the Klipsch IMO.

Looking at projectors, you might look at a second hand Panasonic AE2000u. I just saw one in the classifieds for 900. They are only a couple years old but the new AE8000 is out, so you might find folks selling of their old ones to upgrade...If i had the money i would have already bought that one.

Like Big said, I really like the screen wall approach with an AT (acoustically transparent) screen. If you've got tools and know how you can build a great looking setup for cheap. Check out my signature for my build, screen wall is on page 33 or something, but i was on a super budget and managed what i think is a pretty nice looking product.

What Big was explaining about the 3 identical speakers across the front, vs the traditional 2 mains and the vertical center is...deep breath...Is having three identical speakers is ideal for the soundstage. Speakers are oriented vertically for a whole bunch of complicated reasons, BUT due to the size of floor standing speakers, center channels have been developed horizontally, strictly because most people dont want to have to mount their video displays far enough up to clear the height of a large floor standing speaker and its as simple as that. They aren't smaller and horizontal because its better, but because it was pretty much essential.

SO how do you get around this problem? You build a false wall with an AT screen. With your speakers behind the screen you can use 3 identical speakers across the front. With the added bonus that your sound is coming from directly behind the screen vs. off to the sides and below traditionally.

Big is THE authority on the minimalist screen wall design BTW.

I just looked at your plan again, and I think you'll run into issues with a false wall design. If i read your plan correctly your door is just to the left of your screen? Depending on how much room you have between the corner and the door, you probably wont have room for one on that side. And if you flipped the room, if you are putting the AV equipment in the closet, then your AV stuff would be behind the false wall...which would work if you had an RF system...minus it would be a huge pain switching out things like DVD's etc, plus you'd have to black out all the lights so they didnt show through.

If you can't go with the AT screen its really not a huge deal, you'll still be more than pleased with a standard setup. BTW, i bought a PJ and Screen Combo package from visualapex.com for my brother and was really pleased with it. The screen was great for the price and was super simple to put together.

Also...budget Sub Sticky.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1364182/list-of-budget-subwoofers-300-and-less

Worth a look if you want to shop.

Having your speakers very close to the false wall and the back wall are not "ideal" but if that is the route you'd like to you its definitely do able. My setup is like that and its fine.

If there is ANY doubt in your mind that you won't be able to make the AT screen and false wall work, I'd go a head and get the regular center channel "Just in case", infact i may lean that direction anyway. Identical LCR's, again falls into the "ideal" category, and you are already working with a non ideal situation....so maybe the "safer" bet is the regular center. If you ever ditch the AT screen, or upgrade speakers and use these for another setup, with flat panel TV the horizontal center will be more flexible. Its really up to you though and doing whatever you are most comfortable with.

Other than those considerations, I think you'd be hardpressed to find better bang for buck in the new category. That Klipsch sub is a GREAT deal. You'll be super happy with it.

Onkyo is a solid company. You can get really lost in all the details, but with your setup, getting into the nitty gritty, really isnt as important as just pure functionality of the AVR (audio video receiver).

That Onkyo has plenty of HDMI inputs, a nice 1080 on screen menu display, Audyssey 2EQ room calibration, network connectivity....etc. Without doing tons of research myself I'd say that's a good buy, especially at 300 bucks and a good pair to the speakers you are buying.

As far as projectors go, I'm out of the game. They've changed so fast over the last year, I'm not sure whats available at what price. Along those lines, I keep meaning to ask you...are you planning on just doing a 16:9 screen or a scope 2.35 screen?

Or did i lose you there?

Also dont forget to budget for your screen material. Depending on the size figure at least a couple hundred dollars.

seymourav.com is the one of the favorites around here and who i was going to go with until i ran out of money. Its about $22 per lnf

Ah yeah...only 9' wide...I forgot.

Here is any easy to use size calculator. With 11' depth, minus screen wall, minus the back of your seating, I'm guessing you eyeball to screen will be somewhere around 8-9 feet? Which is similar to my first row of seating, at 16:9 my screen is 96" which is just about right for me at that distance and at 2.35 that screen is 120"....which is 110" wide, which would be wider than your room...

If you went with the widest 2.35 screen you could fit, I figured only leaving 6 inches of clearance on either side, you'd have a 104" 2.35 screen, which translates into an 83" 16:9 screen...which for my taste might be a tad small...So you need to ask yourself what will your main video media be?

HDTV, Counsel gaming? Only movies? I'd probably lean towards a larger 16:9 screen in this case, but again...its all relative. If you knew you were only going to be watching 2.35 movies 95% of the time...might be worth going that route, I know it give me the giggles pulling those masking panels off.

Projector Central has a great tool for checking just that thing.

And to tell you the truth...I really like your idea of the odd shaped screen. I kind of wish i would have thought of that. Kind of best of both worlds. If you were doing DIY screen with masking panels anyway..... It would increase the difficulty of the screen build quite a bit though.

My suggestions to everyone that is really struggling with what to do with their screen is to just buy their projector and set it up. Just get some really cheap fabric and thumb tack it to the ceiling where your actual screen would be and watch some stuff on it...and live with it for a week or so. When you first set it up EVERYTHING is going to seem huge, but I promise after a few days it will start to "shrink" on you and you'll get used to it. If you had your PJ ahead of time you can then decide confidently in screen size and aspect ratio.

Just beware....you'll need to take the PJ down again...otherwise you'll never get any work done!

All great buys!

You'll be infinitely more pleased with the klipsch sub vs the polk. Its like comparing a geo metro to a corvette. Good luck with your cross screen. I've never seen one before, should be interesting. Just something to think about, you'll need two sets of masking panels, and the top panels for masking down the 16:9 to 2.35 is going to need some way of staying in since it wont have anything to actually sit on.

You do not need a lens to watch 2.35 material. When you see people using masking panels on the left and right sides (like in my theater) they have whats is called a CIH theater (constant image height). What that means is the height of your image never changes, only the width.

There are two ways of achieving CIH. I'll use my theater for example. My screen with the masking panels ON is 83" wide and and 47" tall (16:9 or 1.78:1) with the masking panels OFF its 110" wide and 47" tall (2.35:1) All of these numbers are approx. The way I do CIH is called the "poor mans CIH" or the "zoom method"

Lets say the projector is set to watch 16:9 I pop a movie in that is in 2.35 the projector plays the move just fine, but there are black bars (space with no picture) at the top and bottom of my screen, with the zoom method, its as simple as i remove the masking panels, and use the zoom feature on my projector to zoom the image in, until the black bars are being projected off of the screen. To make this work, you must make sure that your projector has sufficient zoom AND lens **** capabilities.

The major draw backs to this method are that you are increasing the pixel size by zooming in (which may or may not be an issue), and also you are "wasting" part of your projectors display by projecting "nothing" outside of the screen area, which is a potential loss of lumens.

The plus side, is its cheap and doesn't need a curved screen to avoid pincushioning. (more on that later)

The second method is the use of an anamorphic lens. In this case what happens, is a video processor stretches the 2.35 image to use the entire display chip (all projectors display chips are native 16:9) So the image makes everything look tall and skinny, and then you put an anamorphic lens in front of the projector that corrects the image so that it displays correctly at 2.35.

The disadvantages of this method are most notably cost. A good lens will cost more than what you've budgeted for your projector. And secondly using a lens like that can cause whats know as a pincushion effect. As shown here



The combat that, some folks will use a curved screen.

The advantages to this method are the ability to use the projectors entire display and its most generally agreed the best picture quality with this method. (not that the zoom method creates a poor image)

In my setup i have to manual zoom and shift my lens. A couple years ago Panasonic came out with a projector that can auto sense 2.35 images and "remember" your zoom and shift settings, and it will do them automatically for you.

imho, your situation the realistic options I see are

A: If you plan on watching MOSTLY (I mean like 90% or greater) 2.35 material Max out the largest 2.35 screen you can fit and just deal with having a smaller than you could have 16:9 screen when its masked down.
Advantages: True cinematic feel with the 2.35 screen.
Disavantages: You'll limit your projector options, not all projectors will have the zoom and shift capabilities you'll need to do this. With a DIY screen you'll be manually removing masking panels to switch between formats.


B: If you are going to watch equal to or more 16:9 stuff (EI HDTV, Counsel gaming ETC) Go with a slightly over sized 16:9 screen and like you said if you wish make masking panels for your screen.
Advantages: Lots of projector options, almost any projector should work, Simplicity. Literally point and shoot. One setup focus in and you're done.
Disadvantages: A smaller 2.35 image than whats possible. You lose some of the cinematic "feel"

Again, if its at all possible to buy your PJ and make a temporary setup, that's ideal. Then you can make your decision confidently.


Hope I helped more than confused!

BTW, you may have trouble trying to get 110" screen with such a short throw distance. But a couple projectors that come to mind to look at in your price range are the Optoma HD20 and maybe a refurbished Epson 8500UB. Also look around for a second hand Panny AE-2000u. I'm seeing those for right around 900 dollars, and that's a really solid projector.

If I understood you correctly you were talking about using a 16:9 screen and making masking panels for the top and bottom? If thats so, yes you can do that, but its not necessary. If you build a 16:9 screen you wont be zooming or shifting the image, 2.35 movies will will just play like regular except with black bars top and bottom (just like on a regular flat panel TV) If you wish, you could mask those black bars if you wanted.

According to the projector calculator i linked earlier, with the viewsonic pro8200 you need to be 11' back and at full zoom to get 110" 16:9 screen. Realistically you are going to be looking at more like a 9' maximum throw distance with the width of the projector and your screen wall. To get anywhere near the size screen you want, you probably need to be looking for projector with a 2x zoom. I have a panny AX200U which is a very versitale PJ and it can't throw 110" from 9' either. Or just settle with a smaller screen. 110" is really big only sitting 9"ish" feet away.

I have about a 96" screen and from the front row (about 8.5 feet) it seems plenty big. Almost too big for gaming, but fine for TV and movies.