[Anthony1]

I have a room that is roughly 9.5 feet by 19 feet. It might actually only be about 9 feet wide. Somewhere between 9 feet and 9.5 feet.



The good news is that if I decide to do this, I can make this room my dedicated Home Theater room. The downside, is that with such a narrow room, I'm not sure that I would want to.


Ok, my plan is to have a Front Projection unit. The screen will either be 96.329 inches diagonally 16:9 or 89.493 inches diagonally 16:9. That will depend on whether the width of the room is 9.5 feet or 9 feet.


Inbetween the screen and the side walls of the room will only be 15 inches. My front main speakers are 10 inches wide. So that means 2.5 inches of space between the speaker and the screen, and the speaker and the side wall.



There will be two rows of seating. 3 seats in the front row, 3 seats in the back. The back row will be elevated. Now the dilema that I have with the seating is that the back row will actually be the "correct" distance from the screen, and the front row will be closer than they should be, but that's the way it goes. Obviously the distance will depend on which screen size I'm going with. Most likely one row will be about 14 feet from eyeballs to screen, and the other row about 17 feet from eyeballs to screen.


The 4 back surround speakers will be mounted from the ceiling in the back. Two of them centered behind, and one to the left and right. The left and right surrounds will be closer than I would prefer, and they will be elevated and angled somewhat downward toward the listeners.


The rear center surrounds, will be behind the two rows of viewers, mounted from the ceiling and angled down toward the listeners. The downside is that these will be very close to row 2, closer than I would like, but a decent distance from row 1.


I'm not sure where the subwoofer would be located.



But basically, what I'm asking, is that a room with dimmensions like these, would it even be worth it to make this into a dedicated Home Theater, or would the room be too narrow, and the sound would be way less than idea.


I wouldn't want to do it if the sound is going to suck.

 

[Max Spivak]

Quote:

Originally posted by Anthony1 I have a room that is roughly 9.5 feet by 19 feet. It might actually only be about 9 feet wide. Somewhere between 9 feet and 9.5 feet. Ok, my plan is to have a Front Projection unit. The screen will either be 96.329 inches diagonally 16:9 or 89.493 inches diagonally 16:9. That will depend on whether the width of the room is 9.5 feet or 9 feet.

Are you sure it's not 89.494 inches? Go measure your actual room width -- you're messing around with thousands of an inch for screen size, yet there's half a foot margin or error for room width.

Quote:

Inbetween the screen and the side walls of the room will only be 15 inches. My front main speakers are 10 inches wide. So that means 2.5 inches of space between the speaker and the screen, and the speaker and the side wall.

You can get a THX Perforated screen and mount your speakers behind the screen.

Quote:

There will be two rows of seating. 3 seats in the front row, 3 seats in the back. The back row will be elevated. Now the dilema that I have with the seating is that the back row will actually be the "correct" distance from the screen, and the front row will be closer than they should be, but that's the way it goes. Obviously the distance will depend on which screen size I'm going with. Most likely one row will be about 14 feet from eyeballs to screen, and the other row about 17 feet from eyeballs to screen.

There is a rule of thumb for seating distance to screen, but in the end its personal preference. Personally, I like sitting closer to the screen.

Quote:

But basically, what I'm asking, is that a room with dimmensions like these, would it even be worth it to make this into a dedicated Home Theater, or would the room be too narrow, and the sound would be way less than idea.

I think you should be ok. Consider hiring a theater designer, even if you plan to do it yourself. Search threads on this forum -- topic of theaters designers have been covered extensively.


Max

 

[Anthony1]

I have to go extremely low cost with this Theater room.



Therefore, the screen will actually be a smooth wall, with Behr Ultra pure White as the screen and flat black surrounding the screen.


So I can't go with the speakers behind the screen idea.



And in regards to "theater designer" again, this is extreme low budget, therefore no money for any theater designers. Although I must admit that I know nothing about "theater designers".



This is going to have to be a "Do it yourself" type project. Luckily, my Father in Law spent his whole life in construction, and he's going to help me with the project.


This so called "room" is actually 1/3rd of my 3 car garage. 3 new walls are going to be added and a large number of Garage cabinets are going to be removed. A sprinkler system also has to be re-located. Then there is carpet and padding for the floor, and then the seats, etc, etc. So it's going to cost me quite a bit, so I have to keep everything as cheap as I possibly can.

 

[sfogg]

Anthony,


That is about my room width and mine isn't as deep and I'm thrilled with it. I went with a 104" diagonal (8' wide) 2.35 AR screen in my setup.


Some details of my room here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=440872


Shawn

 

[bapenguin]

I have a 10x15 room for mine. 9' will be fine. you'll limit yourself though in seating, like for instance you will only be able to fit 2 berklines in a row. or possibly 4 theater style seats.

 

[Anthony1]

Quote:

Originally posted by sfogg Anthony, That is about my room width and mine isn't as deep and I'm thrilled with it. I went with a 104" diagonal (8' wide) 2.35 AR screen in my setup. Some details of my room here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=440872 Shawn

I looked at your room. Very interesting. I have a number of questions:



1. Having the front left and right speakers below your screen, isn't that kinda weird? I mean, normally wouldn't you want them to be to the left and right of the screen, with the tweeters at ear level for both the front and back row?


2. Having the center channel below the screen with a second elevated row of seats is also kindof unusual.


3. I noticed that you have accoustical foam on the walls and ceiling. Doesn't all that foam totally deaden the room?



The width of your room would pretty much be the same as mine, so it's very interesting to see how you did it, but I would be going with a smaller screen that what you went with. I would prefer to have the left and right main speakers to be to the left and the right of the screen, with the tweeter at about the median point between the ears of listeners in the 1st and 2nd row. Although, again I'm worried about the speakers being so close to the side walls. But I think if I had the speakers below the screen, and away from the wall somewhat, I just think the sound would be too localized, and it would make the experience kinda screwy. As for the center channel, I plan on putting my center channel above the screen, angled down somewhat, aimed right between the 1st and 2nd rows.


Also, I have realized that I'm either going to go with 2 rows of 2 really comfortable chairs, or 2 rows of 3 mediocre comfort chairs or 2 rows of 4 really small chairs that aren't very comfortable.


I also noticed that the surround speakers are very close to the viewers in the back row. Unfortunately, this is going to be the same case for my situation. The speakers are going to be much closer than I would prefer. I assume you just have their levels turned much lower to compensate.

 

[sfogg]

"1. Having the front left and right speakers below your screen, isn't that kinda weird? I mean, normally wouldn't you want them to be to the left and right of the screen,"


Not really, since the listening position is so close I think it is better that the L/C/Rs are all the same height as differences in height would be more apparent this close to them. Besides, this is the height these speakers are, I didn't change that.Their height worked out well with regards to the screen positioning IMO. The upper range driver has I think a 60 degree vertical dispersion so both rows of seating fall within that. I may try tilting them slightly at some time but I haven't bothered with that yet. As far as driver integration between the upper horn and lower horn these speaker cross over at roughly 150dB/octave so being a little above or below them makes pretty much no difference in sound as long as I am within the horns coverage.


"2. Having the center channel below the screen with a second elevated row of seats is also kindof unusual."


Couldn't put the center above the screen as that would then put the screen on the floor and the back row sight lines would be blocked by the people sitting in the front row. I didn't want to go with an acoustically transparent screen because I was afraid the closer viewing distance would make the moire more apparent.


"3. I noticed that you have accoustical foam on the walls and ceiling. Doesn't all that foam totally deaden the room"


The room was very live before hand and sounded pretty lousy. The foam helped get it under control. It is still fairly live at the rear of the room. I will be trying out more treatments in the back half to see if I like it more dead back there or not.


" but I would be going with a smaller screen that what you went with."


Mine is a 2.35 AR screen which is why it is so wide. I use it in a constant height setup. If it was a more typical 1.78 screen it would have been about 40x71. Which I think would have made 2.35 movies too small IMO.


"Although, again I'm worried about the speakers being so close to the side walls."


Aim them in and have treatment on the reflection points near the walls.


" I just think the sound would be too localized, and it would make the experience kinda screwy. "


That hasn't been the case at all in my system. Since the L/Rs are the same width as the screen vocals track the visuals extremely well and everyone that as heard it so far has commented on how it audibly sounds like the speakers are behind the screen even though they obviously know they are below it.


"4 really small chairs that aren't very comfortable."


Mine are actually pretty comfortable as long as they are reclined somewhat. I would have loved Berkliners but I wanted more seating then I could get with those. I've had the room to capacity (and more) numerous times already so I'm glad I went with the extra seats.


"Unfortunately, this is going to be the same case for my situation. The speakers are going to be much closer than I would prefer. "


They are SPL matched to the rest of the system and time aligned too. I went with wide dispersion surrounds because of the close seating positions to get good coverage and that worked out well.


Shawn

 

[Anthony1]

Shawn:


I just wanted to say that I wasn't trying to say that your Theater is less than ideal, I'm sure it sounds and looks absolutely fantastic.


I'm new to all this stuff, and I just have lots of questions.



Thanks for all the tips on this. I will defintely try angling the left and right mains more into the room somewhat.

 

[cjd]

A HT room really should be controlled acoustically - certainly, anywhere close to live is bad. Because you want all your environment cues to come from the soundtrack, and the soundtrack only. Beyond that, you want the sources to be relatively difficult to identify.


First reflection points on the front walls, with the speakers needing to be that close, MUST be dampened well. Ideally, anyhow.


Otherwise, in general, from the ear level down should be dampened and ear level up diffused. Or something like that.


FWIW, My HT is also ~9 feet wide (though the screen wall opens up to one side at the moment). 84" screen or so, 16:9 - never actually measured it to see. It's the maximum size for the room length/PJ (13', X1). Seating is about 11' back, and that's well within recommendations. So your seating distances I suspect will be fine, from both rows.


C

 

[sfogg]

"and I just have lots of questions."


This is a great place to ask them. I spent a lot of time reading here before starting on my room and it really helped me plan it out ahead of time.


Good luck with your room.


Shawn

 

[Kenrosencpa]

Anthony, your dimensions are fine for what you want to do. I also have a similar room. Here is what I would do. You can do 3 seats across. The Berkline 88's might fit 3 across if you butt one end against the wall. They measure about 7' across so you might have a 30" aisle. The 88s are the narrowest Berklines. They can also do a single and a love seat combo which is even narrower. I would move your first row up a few feet. With a smaller screen you can put it at 10 to 11 feet. 3 feet between rows is too close for my comfort. Start you first row at 10' to 11 and the second at 16 to 16 1/2 with about 3 feet behind for walking and equipment. With your first row at 10 feet limit your screen size to 80x45 thats 92" diag. Leaving you about 17" per side. Keep your front speakers below 36"s, mine are 34" and the screen is mounted just above them. Most speakers don't like to be crammed into a corner. They sound much better a couple of feet away from the wall. Mount you screen above the speakers.