I've debated a build thread for a while, but finally decided to pull the trigger. My room isn't anywhere near many of the amazing theaters folks have documented. However, most of us have to work with what we've got, so this might help some folks out .
First off, I suppose some general info would be helpful. We built this house in 2009 and moved in on 1/1/2010. One of the reasons we chose this floor plan was the large "Texas basement" upstairs. I always wanted to turn it into a proper theater, or at least as proper as I could make it. The room is not a perfect rectangle, but is at least rectangular with no odd wall angles or vaulted ceilings.
24.5' long. 16' wide on the entry door wall. ~14.5' wide on the bathroom door wall. ~20' wide where the equipment rack is located. 8' ceiling height. Being on the second story, the room is on a suspended wood floor, that (mostly) overlaps with our garage.
The seating shows our recliners fully retracted and fully extended for comparison. We're still waiting on the 4th seat to show up.
The most obvious challenge is our home office situation. We need to keep a guest bedroom free for family visitors. That forces the theater room into a multi-use room with the office at the back. It's not the end of the world, though. There's only 4 of us, so we have zero need or desire to have more than one row of seating.
What's not obvious now is that the entry wall with the door didn't exist when we moved in. That wall was originally a banister and railing leaving the room open to the downstairs. This was less than ideal! Our ground floor at the time was about 80% tile outside of the bedrooms. If someone dropped a pin, you could hear it upstairs from all the hard surfaces. It was really the same for sound from the theater. We took advantage of a pretty large remodel in 2020 to remove the railing and add the wall and door you see now. It was well worth the expense!
They layout you see here is actually a pretty recent change. Originally, the room was flipped 180° from the current orientation. I flipped the room in anticipation of changes later this year that I'll get into in a min. Because of the recent change, a lot of things are in temporary places (particularly the acoustic treatments).
Here are some photos as it sits as of today:
Looking up the stairwell. I need some acoustic art panels here to tame the reverb. No idea what that shadow line is. Not there with the naked eye ...
View into room from entry door (back left to front right) ...
View from my office (back right to front left) ...
View from front right speaker ...
View from front left speaker ...
Equipment rack ...
Rough view from MLP ...
First off, I suppose some general info would be helpful. We built this house in 2009 and moved in on 1/1/2010. One of the reasons we chose this floor plan was the large "Texas basement" upstairs. I always wanted to turn it into a proper theater, or at least as proper as I could make it. The room is not a perfect rectangle, but is at least rectangular with no odd wall angles or vaulted ceilings.
24.5' long. 16' wide on the entry door wall. ~14.5' wide on the bathroom door wall. ~20' wide where the equipment rack is located. 8' ceiling height. Being on the second story, the room is on a suspended wood floor, that (mostly) overlaps with our garage.
The seating shows our recliners fully retracted and fully extended for comparison. We're still waiting on the 4th seat to show up.
The most obvious challenge is our home office situation. We need to keep a guest bedroom free for family visitors. That forces the theater room into a multi-use room with the office at the back. It's not the end of the world, though. There's only 4 of us, so we have zero need or desire to have more than one row of seating.
What's not obvious now is that the entry wall with the door didn't exist when we moved in. That wall was originally a banister and railing leaving the room open to the downstairs. This was less than ideal! Our ground floor at the time was about 80% tile outside of the bedrooms. If someone dropped a pin, you could hear it upstairs from all the hard surfaces. It was really the same for sound from the theater. We took advantage of a pretty large remodel in 2020 to remove the railing and add the wall and door you see now. It was well worth the expense!
They layout you see here is actually a pretty recent change. Originally, the room was flipped 180° from the current orientation. I flipped the room in anticipation of changes later this year that I'll get into in a min. Because of the recent change, a lot of things are in temporary places (particularly the acoustic treatments).
Here are some photos as it sits as of today:
Looking up the stairwell. I need some acoustic art panels here to tame the reverb. No idea what that shadow line is. Not there with the naked eye ...
View into room from entry door (back left to front right) ...
View from my office (back right to front left) ...
View from front right speaker ...
View from front left speaker ...
Equipment rack ...
Rough view from MLP ...