[mutchumbo]

G'day all,


I've just moved into a new home that features a room my wife (the boss) and I wish to dedicate to a home theatre. Trouble is, the dimensions, the shape, the features etc. aren't working in our favour. I've searched many threads and have been beyond impressed with many theatre builds, but nothing comes close to what I have to work with.


Firstly, I've attached an image so you can see what I mean.


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Firstly, the room is 6m x 5m (Yes, I'm Australian) which I think is around 20" x 16"5'. The entry corner is on an angle as you can see in the image. On the screen end of the room, there are two floor to ceiling glass areas both are glass opening doors for external access. The boss wants to keep these in tact and has outright refused to plaster them up.


To top it off, the room features a cathedral style ceiling which meets at a point directly in the centre of the room. The ceiling axis is around 25 degrees.


Am I kidding myself here to think I can make a decent HT out of this? Has anyone seen anything remotely close to what I have to work with? I'm absolutely puzzled what I should be doing here... Any advice is appreciated!

 

[warrenP]

There have been plenty of rooms with such challenges, and with the creative bunch here can be solved. A very important question up front is how do you plan on using the room? How many people do you plan on normally having in the theater at any one time?

 

[mutchumbo]

A purchase that I have already made for the room is for a 3 piece leather reclining lounge sweet. I've deliberately steered away from theatre style seats as it's only my opinion that they're not as comfortable as the lounge that I have purchased. Although I like the look of them and they help suit the theatre look, I will not compromise on comfort.


In saying that, the theatre will seat up to five. A row of three and a row of two. A seat riser is something that will need to be implemented.


Thanks for your reply.

 

[warrenP]

Is the room already framed? What is on the other side of the angled entry door?


My initial thought is to lose those doors, square off that corner, and have a standard door to enter from the "bottom" wall of the new squared corner. Your screen could then go on the "left" wall, hang curtains over the windows, etc...

 

[warrenP]

BTW, the glass doors, do those need to remain functional? You said you can't get rid of them, but are you planning on using them?

 

[usualsuspects]

It does not look that bad to me. I would put your screen on the right side wall. The glass doors are near your first reflection points - so just cover them up with curtains for a start. After the wife watches a few movies in there, you can push harder for "semi-permanent" window plugs with absorption for treatment. This is a common story: wife says all the usual stuff: "can't do this, that, etc..." Theater gets to watchable point and suddenly wife forgets all about the "can't do" list. Might need some unusual projector mounting because of the high sloped ceiling, but nothing that is not available from Chief (angled mounting plates and extension poles might be needed).

 

[mutchumbo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by warrenP /forum/post/0


s the room already framed? What is on the other side of the angled entry door?


My initial thought is to lose those doors, square off that corner, and have a standard door to enter from the "bottom" wall of the new squared corner. Your screen could then go on the "left" wall, hang curtains over the windows, etc...

Yes, the room is framed and was used as a living area by the previous owner. I'm lucky in a sense that the previous owner who had similar dreams to mine did some acoustic work with the insulation and plaster. The other side of the doors is our family room - the main living area for us. At this stage, we wont be considering a modification to the room as much as I would like to square the room off.

Quote:
Originally Posted by warrenP /forum/post/0


BTW, the glass doors, do those need to remain functional? You said you can't get rid of them, but are you planning on using them?

I guess I want to keep the option. Both doors lead to outdoor entertaining areas.

Quote:
Originally Posted by usualsuspects /forum/post/0


It does not look that bad to me. I would put your screen on the right side wall. The glass doors are near your first reflection points - so just cover them up with curtains for a start. After the wife watches a few movies in there, you can push harder for "semi-permanent" window plugs with absorption for treatment. This is a common story: wife says all the usual stuff: "can't do this, that, etc..." Theater gets to watchable point and suddenly wife forgets all about the "can't do" list. Might need some unusual projector mounting because of the high sloped ceiling, but nothing that is not available from Chief (angled mounting plates and extension poles might be needed).

Excuse my ignorance, what are these window plugs you speak of? Any link you could post that would give me a better idea?

As far as projector mounting, shouldn't be a problem. There's a massive beam that runs down the centre of the ceiling at the point where the roof reaches its peak.

 

[mutchumbo]

Just further to my original post, to give an indication of the type of setup I'm looking to run, I already have this hardware:


- Yamaha RX-V663 receiver running 7.1

- Rotel RB 1080 power amp running fronts

- Whatmough P32 front speakers

- Whatmough P6 centre speaker

- Canton Karat R4 speakers for rear surround (They're a dipole speaker so don't know whether they will be surrounds or rears at this stage.

- Samsung PT-AE3000 HD projector

- Rel Q400E subwoofer


That's it at this stage, still have 2 x more surround speakers to buy as a minimum.

 

[usualsuspects]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mutchumbo /forum/post/16827425


... what are these window plugs you speak of? Any link you could post that would give me a better idea?

Here are some rigid ones:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1146396


Another way to do them is just cut a piece of foam slightly larger than the opening, sound treat one side - press fit into opening.

 

[ilsiu]

I can't offer any advice on acoustical treatment, but I think you can get a pretty good home theater in there. Here's a quick and dirty layout proposal (note - not drawn to scale).


long skinny green box = screen; should be able to fit 10 ft wide no problem, maybe even bigger


green square = projector wall mounted on wall opposite of screen wall.


blue boxes = 2 rows of seating; 2-seater is on a riser


yellow boxes = riser steps


red rectangle = equipment rack/dvd shelf. or you can move it next to/under the screen and use this area for a popcorn/snack bar.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

Reverse the swing of the doors and make it 2 rows of three.

 

[whumpf]

It would help if you posted a drawing of the rest of the house and how the other rooms relate to this room. You may not want to make any changes, but once you get suggestions you may change your mind.


Even without structural changes, I think it will be much easier to control light and first point reflections by putting your screen on the left wall. It sounds like you only want the one row of seats you already have which could be 10 - 12 ft from the screen and still not block either of the glass doors.

 

[mutchumbo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by whumpf /forum/post/16828100


It would help if you posted a drawing of the rest of the house and how the other rooms relate to this room. You may not want to make any changes, but once you get suggestions you may change your mind.


Even without structural changes, I think it will be much easier to control light and first point reflections by putting your screen on the left wall. It sounds like you only want the one row of seats you already have which could be 10 - 12 ft from the screen and still not block either of the glass doors.

Apologies for the poor quality.

I've probably seen build threads for dozens of DIY home based theatres in the past few months. I haven't seen any that feature cathedral style ceilings. If anyone's seen anything remotely close, I'd be interested to see some photos.


I particularly like the look of bulkheads of columns, I just don't see how they're going to feature nicely in my room.


Oh, one more thing. I ordered a fixed 120' screen for the room today.