[tranzlucent]

Hey there,


I'm a noob here to AVS but have been into home theater for years. I'm designing a theater in the small warehouse here at my company and wanted to get some suggestions on what the audio setup should be. Up until now my experience with audio has either been with small room hi-fi stereo (home system has NHT speakers, Rotel and Adcom components) or large space high output PA/DJ systems with a mixer and self-powered speakers. But what about the in between? Our warehouse (small for a warehouse) is 40' long, 24' wide, and 20' tall. If we want to watch movies and give presentations in a space this size, what kind of an audio system should we be thinking of? For example, what kind of audio system does a really small independent movie theatre have? I guess the big decision would be whether to go with self-powered speakers or separately amplified speakers. Our budget needs to stay under $5000 (not including projector and screen). Any advice would be really helpful.


thanks!


tranzlucent

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Well, the speaker decision rests heavily on how far the seating will be from the screen. If it’s 10-15 ft then that will rule out PA speakers, since they usually don’t get their full dispersion that close.


If you use highly efficient speakers like Klipsch you might get away with using the built-in amps of a good-quality receiver. The Heresy and LaScala are good models for a situation like this – I’ve even seen them used as PA speakers.


You might want to audition a pair or Heresy’s in the warehouse before you plunk your money down. What I see as a potential problem in a room this big is is getting enough bass from the mains to blend with the sub. If the Heresy’s seem bass shy, you might move up to La Scala’s for the L/R and use the Heresy’s for center and surrounds.


Speaking of subs, that’s a big problem in any 19,000 cu. ft. room. Don’t even think you’re going to get down to 20 or 25 Hz. I suggest a pro-audio horn-loaded sub powered with a pro amp. With a little EQ you could probably get 35 or even 30 Hz.


Other issues you’re going to have will be getting the speakers up high enough to cover the seating area – you won’t be able to just to throw them on the ground. This will really be a problem with the center speaker, since the screen will be in the way, and above the screen will probably be too high. You’ll probably need a perforated screen.


Another big issue will be acoustics. Concrete walls do not make for a good listening experience. Hopefully there will be high shelves with lots of stuff on them between the speakers and the walls, to absorb and diffuse the sound.


Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[tranzlucent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne A. Pflughaupt Well, the speaker decision rests heavily on how far the seating will be from the screen. If it’s 10-15 ft then that will rule out PA speakers, since they usually don’t get their full dispersion that close.

Wow, didn't realize that. Thank you. The Klipsch are an interesting idea, but upon thinking further, in-walls painted with white grills would make a lot of sense as the room does double-duty as a kind of gallery space (all walls are white).


I have been doing more research on line, and the flexibility of passive speakers, amplifiers and a surround sound processor is making a lot of sense. Hopefully this will give the sound quality that we want (self-powered PA speakers aren't known for audiophile fidelity I don't think...), the only concern is whether we can get enough volume out of the speakers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne A. Pflughaupt Speaking of subs, that’s a big problem in any 19,000 cu. ft. room. Don’t even think you’re going to get down to 20 or 25 Hz. I suggest a pro-audio horn-loaded sub powered with a pro amp. With a little EQ you could probably get 35 or even 30 Hz.

Right, good point. I have a custom built 12" passive sub in a very large downfiring enclosure (built for my old home system) that I want to try to use. I think if I couple this with a pretty meatty Hafler bridged mono amp (400 - 500 watts or so), I can get some bass out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne A. Pflughaupt Other issues you’re going to have will be getting the speakers up high enough to cover the seating area – you won’t be able to just to throw them on the ground. This will really be a problem with the center speaker, since the screen will be in the way, and above the screen will probably be too high. You’ll probably need a perforated screen.

Yes, I'm worried about the center channel too. I'm just now starting to learn about screens, but I would imagine a perforated screen wouldn't "look" as good as a regular screen. Is this true?


The floor and 2 walls are concrete, the ceiling and the other 2 walls (including the main wall where the screen will go) are wood. So the acoustics won't be terribly good. We are hoping to put down some kind of either industrial carpeting, rug, or cork tile floor. This might help a little.


Thanks so much for your thoughtful and insightful comments. This is a big help.


tranzlucent