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Dream Theater Build 200" screen with 9.2.6 Dolby Atmos

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Hey everyone! I built my house last year with a dedicated theater room that we left partially unfinished with the idea that I will take the time to properly design it to the specs I always dreamed about. I am now ready to move forward.

Following is the layout.
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The room is 16'8" wide, 24'7" long and ceiling is 11' high in the middle with 1' deep x 2' wide box around the ceiling perimeter with recessed lights. I have a 6" high stage in the front and 1' high second row riser. I would like to install fiber optic star ceiling in the box inset. Height of the wall on the screen side is 9' 6".

Room is finished with double walls and insulation all around and it is prewired for 9.2.6 with location of the speakers as marked in the layout drawing above.

The walls are going to be covered with fabric panels with acoustic padding inside them. When finished, the theater is going to look like this below (this picture is for inspiration only, my color scheme is slightly different and my ceiling is boxed layout with star panels in the center instead of the coffered ceiling).
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I already bought a 200" diagonal acoustically transparent curved screen with 1:2.35 aspect ratio. My goal is to have a full immersion imax theater kind of experience.

I am now at a point where I need to buy the electronics. This is where I need your help!
I am looking for a projector that can light up this massive 200" screen and have 9.2.6 Dolby Atmos sound to match it.

My thoughts so far:
Projector - I want to get a native 4K laser projector with enough lumens to power the massive screen. Budget: less than $10K is ideal, i can stretch up to $15K.
  • I read that I would need a min 5000 lumen lamp brightness, is that true? It is a dedicated room with no ambient light. Please give me your thoughts what is the ideal projector.
  • Should I get a short throw 4K laser projector? Can it be ceiling mounted? Do you have any recommendation?
Speakers - Budget $10K for all 9+2+6 (is this enough?)
  • In-wall speakers is my preference so that i can completely hide them behind the screen and into the columns and ceiling respectively (please see the layout picture above for speaker placement).
  • I would like to get very good ones for the front speakers and decent ones for the rest. Please suggest the possibilities. I had Polk LS series speakers years ago and loved them.
  • The Dolby setup guide is suggesting to put the speakers at an angle, is that necessary? How to angle an in-wall speaker or a ceiling mounted speaker?
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Processor: Emotiva XMC-2 16 Channel 9.1.6 Discrete Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Cinema Processor $3K
- This one supports 9.1.6 with the 1 being the subwoofer but I want to have 2 subwoofers. How to go about this?
Power Amps: Emotiva XPA-DR3 Differential Reference™ Three-Channel Power Amplifier for front 3 speakers $2.1K
Emotiva XPA Gen3 Modular Amplifier with 8-6-1S configuration to power the rest of the speakers and atmos speakers with one stereo channel $2.1K

Any recommendations for star ceiling panels would be great as well.
Thank you so much in advance!!
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B
My initial thoughts are that the front sides may be better suited in the front columns to get them separated from the side surrounds. The rear surrounds could also be pulled in some in my opinion. Check out Anthony Grimani’s layout, which is controversially different then Dolby’s. My other thought is that it’s a large room for 2 subwoofers, depending how much bass you want. It sounds like it’s to late to run wire to the back of the room for 2 subs back there? Maybe 2 in the riser? As far as hooking up multiple subs, a single rca from the receiver to a mini dsp 2x4 will give you individual eq over each sub, up to 4. Then cables from mini dsp to the sub amp. Depending on how soon you will be ready for speakers, the DIYSG speakers could be a good fit if you are willing to build the enclosures. Titan 818’s for LCR duty, HTM-12s for the surrounds, and Volt 10s for atmos. Availability has been scarce since Covid though.

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Aiming your speakers at the listeners is the ideal. Very hard to do with in-wall and in-ceiling speakers unless they have movable or angled drivers - but good quality ones start to get expensive.
Dolby recommend all the speakers should be identical - which is the ultimate but not always possible due to budget and installation constraints.
So my recommendation is to buy the best 15 identical bookshelf speakers you can afford and mount them aimed at listeners. Its a dedicated theatre so having speakers on show is no big deal IMO.
And your Front Wides should be on the vacant column. AFAIK they should be placed halfway (by distance, not angle) between surrounds and fronts.
Thats a good sized room but be mindful of having the rear seats against the back wall as this will give boomy bass, and also keep front seats away from centre of room (lengthways) as this will give low bass. 1/3 room length is best for the main seats and then as far off the wall as you can for the rear seats.
With your 11' ceiling I would build a riser for the front seats, install some sub woofer divers in it and get lots of Tactile Response - this is just about the best thing Ihave done to my theatre - see this thread for more info : The Tactile Response Thread for BASS :))
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BIGmouthinDC
I'm not aware that the ultra short throw laser projectors can be used with curved screens due to image distortion so scratch that off the list.

Yes you will need a lot of lumens to light up that screen. Finding a native 4K laser with that brightness within your budget of $15,000 will be a challenge.

Looking at your inspiration photo If all the fabric panels are stuffed with abosption materials you will have too much absorption in the room, You may need professional help with your acoustic treatment plan. You can still make a room that looks like that but behind some of the panels will be more diffusion and reflection than absorption.
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BIGmouthinDC
Food for thought. stack a couple of mid priced native 4K projectors from Sony or JVC and come in under the 15K cap. I haven't personally done such a set up but I've read about them.
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DougUSMC
I love the design, looking forward to seeing it happen!

I'd consider the fact that you have a pretty large room, and with a screen that large you're likely to need to sit a ways back to have proper viewing angles. That being said, I suspect 2 subwoofers will have a hard time giving you the LF you find acceptable.
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With those requirements, the only projector that would be suitable is the lk990. Do you have the anamorphic lens yet? You’ll need to make sure it is compatible with the projector you buy.
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DougUSMC
catinthehat85 said:
With those requirements, the only projector that would be suitable is the lk990. Do you have the anamorphic lens yet? You’ll need to make sure it is compatible with the projector you buy.
Click to expand...
At least it's "reasonably priced". For a laser...
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sirjaymz
If I were you , I would reach out to other AVSFORUMS members that are close to you to check out their setups.

Gear , projectors, amps and such to power your room is going to be pretty significant, so it’s always a good idea to see what others have done and experience those. It’s very helpful. By doing this , it will help you determine the things you like/dislike.

200” screen is pretty large screen to light up. This becomes expensive at this large of a screen to get a projector to output those kind of lumens. $15k is not enough.
If you are into DIY speakers, they are the best bang for the buck and outperform several name brands easily.
Subwoofers is no brainer, you should build yourself. Plenty of designs on the forum for those.

I would re design your room a little bit , as your screen is up against wall. I would pull that forward about 36” and build goalposts for screen to mount to and make it an AT screen. I’d also maybe adjust the screen a little smaller to get the correct viewing angles. (45-50 degrees for MLP). By moving the screen towards MLP, this will provide plenty of space for the wall of speakers id recommend. Look at @Jk7.2 system as a reference. As others had mentioned, DIYSoundGroup Titans18’s would be in order for L/C/R as well as the Volt 10’. Not sure for the base layer that I would go HT12’s , but if you have the room and are able to make them look elegant, they could be a really good choice.

As far as your acoustic plan, I’d reach out to one of the many good designers here on the forum for this size of an effort.
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Here's a projector to check out that would meet your requirements. I was able to find an open box/new unit on eBay for 30% less, but I've been happy with my choice to this point.

www.christiemarketplace.com

4K7-HS 1DLP laser projector - certified refurbished

The Christie DHD700-GS projector features laser illumination eliminating the need for lamp and filter replacements reducing maintenance and consumables. With its small footprint and quiet operation, the DHD700-GS is ideal for boardrooms, higher education, houses of worship, and smaller...
www.christiemarketplace.com www.christiemarketplace.com
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DougUSMC said:
At least it's "reasonably priced". For a laser...
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It’s the only option in the price range he mentioned haha. The second option is the 50k sony. The remaining options are north of 100k. I spent the better part of 6 months researching this issue to death and was truly shocked at what you get for such astronomical prices. I’m just worried he didn’t factor in the cost of an A-lens or his curved screen may be a bit disappointing. Fingers crossed, this would be a very cool setup to see if done properly.
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bartl007 said:
Here's a projector to check out that would meet your requirements. I was able to find an open box/new unit on eBay for 30% less, but I've been happy with my choice to this point.

www.christiemarketplace.com

4K7-HS 1DLP laser projector - certified refurbished

The Christie DHD700-GS projector features laser illumination eliminating the need for lamp and filter replacements reducing maintenance and consumables. With its small footprint and quiet operation, the DHD700-GS is ideal for boardrooms, higher education, houses of worship, and smaller...
www.christiemarketplace.com www.christiemarketplace.com
Click to expand...
That’s a nice option too but still out of his price range. I’ve researched this area more than I care to admit. Even at the refurb price, it doesn’t come with a lens which he will have to probably buy new, which now puts the cost over his budget. Great projector though. This one or the identical optoma was going to be my choice if i ended up using a 200 inch diagonal screen. I decided my screen didn’t need to be over 160 inch diagonal so I went down another path.
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DougUSMC
catinthehat85 said:
It’s the only option in the price range he mentioned haha. The second option is the 50k sony. The remaining options are north of 100k. I spent the better part of 6 months researching this issue to death and was truly shocked at what you get for such astronomical prices. I’m just worried he didn’t factor in the cost of an A-lens or his curved screen may be a bit disappointing. Fingers crossed, this would be a very cool setup to see if done properly.
Click to expand...
Oh, sorry, my post was only "half snark". I intended it to be a two-part:
1) Hey, look, 4k lasers really have come down to below $10k
2) Hey, look, if your budget for a PJ is $10k, what do you think that does to the budget for the rest of the room?

:D
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DougUSMC said:
Oh, sorry, my post was only "half snark". I intended it to be a two-part:
1) Hey, look, 4k lasers really have come down to below $10k
2) Hey, look, if your budget for a PJ is $10k, what do you think that does to the budget for the rest of the room?

:D
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Haha I get you, and I completely agree. Just nuts. Due to my own equipment/projector choices we are really limping across the finish line here to get things finished within what pennies are left. If I never discovered these forums I would be alot richer. At least I am no longer the bottleneck!
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DougUSMC
catinthehat85 said:
Haha I get you, and I completely agree. Just nuts. Due to my own equipment/projector choices we are really limping across the finish line here to get things finished within what pennies are left. If I never discovered these forums I would be alot richer. At least I am no longer the bottleneck!
Click to expand...
I hear that! The scariest thing IMO is when your idea of "decent budget" starts to get skewed! That's another facet to my "reasonably priced" comment. :D
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catinthehat85 said:
That’s a nice option too but still out of his price range. I’ve researched this area more than I care to admit. Even at the refurb price, it doesn’t come with a lens which he will have to probably buy new, which now puts the cost over his budget. Great projector though. This one or the identical optoma was going to be my choice if i ended up using a 200 inch diagonal screen. I decided my screen didn’t need to be over 160 inch diagonal so I went down another path.
Click to expand...
Don't be afraid to check ebay periodically and offer less than the seller wants for these lenses (even if there isn't a "make an offer" option). I was able to get a new/open box lens for $1100 that met my throw/shift requirements. had a tiny 1cm scratch on the housing that's invisible inside my hush box. Not a lot of buyers out there for these niche items.
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bartl007 said:
Don't be afraid to check ebay periodically and offer less than the seller wants for these lenses (even if there isn't a "make an offer" option). I was able to get a new/open box lens for $1100 that met my throw/shift requirements. had a tiny 1cm scratch on the housing that's invisible inside my hush box. Not a lot of buyers out there for these niche items.
Click to expand...
That’s an incredible find! Very nice.
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OJ Bartley
This is a big room, as has been mentioned, so you will want to make sure whatever speakers you get can handle the output required. DIYSG have great options and will maximize your value if you don't mind putting them together yourself. The flat packs make this dead easy.

And it's also a large space for subs to fill. Ideally, you would have some in the front and the back, but if that's not possible t this point, then I would make sure you put some very capable subs up front. Look into the Devastator designs, preferably using 21" drivers. You can get some very impressive output from something like that. Full Marty would also be worth considering. In fact, if you will be placing the subs behind the screen, give some thought to using 4 subs to make the most of your room.

With a screen that big, you really want impressive sound to match. It will be such an amazing room if you get it all dialed in nicely.
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SteveCallas
I’ll second the dual stacked projectors. Two $7k JVC’s would do the trick
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S
Thank you all for your kind responses. My notes so far:

Speakers:
  • Noted the suggestion on the Front sides to be placed in the front columns to get them separated from the side surrounds, half way between front and surround speakers. Makes sense to me.
  • Thank you for the suggestion on DIY speakers. Checked out DIYSG Titan 818’s for LCR duty, HTM-12s for the surrounds, and Volt 10s for atmos. Liked all of them and I can make those, only thing is availability. I have plenty of attic space behind the screen wall so these big boys can easily be accommodated. Are there any other popular DIY speaker kits considering that DIYSGs are out of stock indefinitely?
  • Also for angling the front sides and rear surrounds, can i build them angled into the columns? Is there a science behind the speaker cabinet shape? I mean, does the cabinet need to be rectangular/square? can I build the cabinet with the front face at an angle? @OJ Bartley seems to have tucked the Volt 6s into the drywall, I am thinking I can place them inside the columns in a similar way. Thoughts?
  • Makes sense to go for 4 subwoofers, duly noted.
  • Thank you for the pointer on Devastator design, they look awesome! They also have BSG model which are only 17" deep. Can I go with 2 devastators for the front and 2 BSGs in the back?

Room acoustics:
  • Although I am going to cover the walls with fabric panels, I can always choose not to put acoustic padding in some places and add reflectors instead.
  • Can you please point me in the right direction who I can seek advice on the room acoustics? How to find the good acoustic plan designers on this forum (probably a dumb question)? Any references?

Screen:
  • I am beginning to regret buying such a big screen :-(
  • One option I am thinking is to build a masking frame in front of the screen and cover it up with black velvet and make it smaller overall to like 166" diag. Please let me know if this makes sense.
  • If the above is a bad idea, I can get a smaller screen and try and sell this one. Would there be any takers?
Projector:
  • Checked out Benq LK990, looks promising. Need to read more reviews.
  • I like the dual projector idea as well, I am concerned it adds up the moving parts, setup effort and replacement costs in the future.
  • Do I absolutely need A lens? If I go with the screen masking idea (as indicated above), can i avoid this?
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