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Double B Basement Build

933 Views 8 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Silva741, Jul 10, 2021

double_b

Discussion Starter · Jun 28, 2021

We are in the process of building a new home. In our previous home we had a spare bedroom above the garage that served as our home theater. We had a Sony HW45ES with a 110" Cinegrey 3D DIY screen. We loved it. Movie night every weekend and sports on the 110" screen.

While planning the house we are building we were thinking we would go UST in the living room and that would be our HT. Well, after months of researching and soul searching that isn't going to happen. The idea of building this house was to make it what we want from now into retirement. The more I looked and researched and planned how to make the best of having the main living area double as our HT I realized I am just not going to be happy. What would make me happy is a dedicated theater. I always wanted one and I just love seeing them on here.

That being said, ours won't be as elaborate as some of the awesome ones here on AVS but it will be effective and work for us no doubt.

So, I want to start off looking for suggestions, opinions, ideas, etc. and have a discussion as I plan for the theater. I am thinking maybe this winter I can start on it, but I will have a lot to do until then plus I am waiting out the ridiculous lumber prices.

So for specifics on the theater. I will attach shots of the basement floor plan from the builder plus a quick layout I did. The ceilings will be a little less than 8'. I am thinking it will probably end up around 92"-ish inches. For the WxL we're looking at 12W x 21L. That layout is pretty much set in stone. There is a beam running down the middle of the basement that is a foot lower than the joists, plus the is duct work running next to the beam that extends toward the steps side of the basement. The other end of the basement is a daylight end with a patio door and window. That end is reserved for my gym and bike storage/work area. So I am pretty set on the spot/layout for the theater.

I want to do a false wall and an AT screen. 90% of the time it will just be me and my wife. A few times a year we may have family over to watch and that will be 6 to 7 people. We are going to forego the standard theater seats and most likely go with a sofa in first row.....second row is open to debate(we currently have two HT Market Pembroke chairs, was thinking maybe second row would be those and add a third to it. If we do two rows of three I will just do a beanbag for the 7th(me lol).

For now I will most likely use the Sony because I would like to keep the budget down as much as possible right now(I do still have to buy a TV for the main living room).

For screen size I want to go as big as possible. 16:9 or 2.35:...I love the idea of the wide 2.35 but the Sony won't do it. I do really like the idea of 2.35 because movie watching/experience is the top priority of the theater. But again, budget and sticking with the Sony is probably what is going to have to happen.

For speakers and receiver I still have to decide. I have Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600 and RP-650 that will be in the main living room, I thought about just going soundbar in LR and eventually using the Klipsch. But I also have the desire to do DIY subs and speakers(I have a full woodshop and the ability to do it easily).

I plan on black or very dark gray/navy walls and ceiling. No windows. I know sound insulation is crucial for lowering the sound floor, and I will do some within reason, but really, it's just my wife and I so what I would need to block out would be furnace running and not much else. I don't want to get bogged down in creating the perfect sound room. I want to build a room relatively inexpensively, and get to watching movies in a blacked out room on a giant screen and really good sound(doesn't need to be perfect).

Have a look at the floorplan and my long a$$ explanation and let me know your thoughts so I can start to plan.

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BIGmouthinDC

· #2 · Jun 28, 2021

You've been put on notice that that they can run a big a$$ HVAC trunk line through the middle of your dream theater without notice. Or put the furnace or water heater in that space.

It is probably too late to put language in your contract about unencumbered ceiling height in the space you have designated but you could have.

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double_b

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 28, 2021

BIGmouthinDC said:
You've been put on notice that that they can run a big a$$ HVAC trunk line through the middle of your dream theater without notice. Or put the furnace or water heater in that space.

It is probably too late to put language in your contract about unencumbered ceiling height in the space you have designated but you could have.

View attachment 3149008

Yea. It’s too late. That’s fine. We initially did not intend to finish the basement but have since changed our minds. Well, at least finish enough to get a theater down there first. The furnace is pretty much where you see it in the plan. They just put it in today.

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double_b

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 6, 2021

A question on the general layout of the room itself. I had laid it out as seen above with the 45 degree corners in the rear so I could have the entry door enter from that angle. Then put the 45 in the opposite rear wall corner so acoustically it would "match" and thinking maybe I could use that corner for A/V area.

Do 45 degree corners in the rear help or hinder acoustically? I could lay it out that I don't have the 45 degree corners in the rear.

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Silva741

· #5 · Jul 6, 2021

double_b said:
A question on the general layout of the room itself. I had laid it out as seen above with the 45 degree corners in the rear so I could have the entry door enter from that angle. Then put the 45 in the opposite rear wall corner so acoustically it would "match" and thinking maybe I could use that corner for A/V area.

Placing the door in that corner at 45° is problematic if you want to make 2 rows. Is there any reason why you can't put the entry door on the side wall? If you have complete freedom, my suggestion is to place the door between the screen and the first row. Easier access, and you could make the riser without having to worry with the entrance door access.

Regarding the back corners, you could still have 45° corners, making 2 triangular best traps, floor-to-ceiling. Unless you are planning to make 4 subwoofers, in that case it's probably better to keep all corners 90°, to have the possibility to place the subwoofers there.

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double_b

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 7, 2021

Silva741 said:
Placing the door in that corner at 45° is problematic if you want to make 2 rows. Is there any reason why you can't put the entry door on the side wall? If you have complete freedom, my suggestion is to place the door between the screen and the first row. Easier access, and you could make the riser without having to worry with the entrance door access.

Regarding the back corners, you could still have 45° corners, making 2 triangular best traps, floor-to-ceiling. Unless you are planning to make 4 subwoofers, in that case it's probably better to keep all corners 90°, to have the possibility to place the subwoofers there.

I had put the door on the 45 like that because the only other wall the door can go on is going to be under/along the steel beam. The underside of the beam is right around 7 foot, maybe a couple inches higher(I need to measure it). I agree with your suggestion about entering toward the front because of the riser but with the beam there I don't think I can do it plus I don't want the door too close to the front as I don't want much distracting from the view of the screen. There will probably be times where we leave the door partially open while watching so if it's in the rear of the room it wouldn't be distracting.

Another question I have is regarding soffit. I see a lot of people doing them. Is that for acoustic reasons or aesthetic? Is it for wire runs? HVAC runs? All of the above?

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Silva741

· #7 · Jul 8, 2021

double_b said:
I had put the door on the 45 like that because the only other wall the door can go on is going to be under/along the steel beam. The underside of the beam is right around 7 foot, maybe a couple inches higher(I need to measure it). I agree with your suggestion about entering toward the front because of the riser but with the beam there I don't think I can do it plus I don't want the door too close to the front as I don't want much distracting from the view of the screen. There will probably be times where we leave the door partially open while watching so if it's in the rear of the room it wouldn't be distracting.

OK. Will the door open towards the outside the theater? And how will you make the riser?

double_b said:
Another question I have is regarding soffit. I see a lot of people doing them. Is that for acoustic reasons or aesthetic? Is it for wire runs? HVAC runs? All of the above?

All of the above, yes. But I'd say most persons do it for aesthetic reasons, even when it isn't necessary to hide HVAC ducts or pipes. It's a relatively cheap way to make the room look more interesting, with dramatic lighting, placing spotlights around the room on the soffits, but also with the possibility to have strip lights.

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double_b

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 9, 2021

Silva741 said:
OK. Will the door open towards the outside the theater? And how will you make the riser?

All of the above, yes. But I'd say most persons do it for aesthetic reasons, even when it isn't necessary to hide HVAC ducts or pipes. It's a relatively cheap way to make the room look more interesting, with dramatic lighting, placing spotlights around the room on the soffits, but also with the possibility to have strip lights.

I agree if the door swings in with the 45 degree layout then it doesn't leave enough for a second row. I'm still debating on that. I am not opposed to it opening outward. Also regarding the riser if I were to do the 45 degree layout then the riser would have to start basically at the left end of the second row and extend to the far wall and to the back wall, making it that you would step up onto it to access the AV rack on the back wall.

I could do the door on the side wall it I had enough height under the beam (I may, I still have to measure). The door would be the entire height of that section of wall, and if I did a soffit (thinking I probably will) you would be walking in under the soffit but that may not be horrible.

Basically comes down to trade off between door in a better location for riser but would not look ideal(would still function fine) or the door on the 45 degree wall but compromise with the riser. Talking it through I am leaning to the door on the side wall.

As for what you mentioned regarding the subwoofers and one in each corner instead of the 45 degree walls. I don't need over the top, crumble the walls bass but I do want good bass. I listen louder than what my wife thinks I should (LOL) but that's not all the time since it's typically her and I watching together. For the size room I have I was thinking two 15" subs would probably suffice. I initially was thinking I would prefer them to both be behind the AT screen, but I realize one may need to be out in the room. If I were to do four would it be as simple as one in each corner, or would they still possibly need to be moved around depending on the room acoustics? Also, let's say two 15"s did suffice, if I went 4 could I do 4 12"s?

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Silva741

· #9 · Jul 10, 2021

double_b said:
As for what you mentioned regarding the subwoofers and one in each corner instead of the 45 degree walls. I don't need over the top, crumble the walls bass but I do want good bass. I listen louder than what my wife thinks I should (LOL) but that's not all the time since it's typically her and I watching together. For the size room I have I was thinking two 15" subs would probably suffice. I initially was thinking I would prefer them to both be behind the AT screen, but I realize one may need to be out in the room. If I were to do four would it be as simple as one in each corner, or would they still possibly need to be moved around depending on the room acoustics? Also, let's say two 15"s did suffice, if I went 4 could I do 4 12"s?

All rooms are different, but you'll almost surely get better (quality) bass with four 12'' subwoofers placed on the corners, compared to only two 15'', yes. Placing 4 subwoofers on the corners would give you smooth bass all around the room. There's one potential downside, tho, smaller subwoofers usually aren't as capable to hit low frequencies as their bigger brothers. It's a trade-off.

With only 2 subwoofers, the most recommended layouts are placing them on opposite corners, or on opposite walls, but centered. In this case, you could place one under the center speaker, and the other on the back wall, centered. But that means placing the 2nd row at least 20 inches from the back wall. Which would improve the audio for the 2nd row, so you should do it regardless of having the subwoofer behind the seats or not.

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