[NovaBandit]

I started this out as another thread about installing surrounds into soffits... but after reading the responses, I think I need to get the entire theater figured out a bit better!


My unfinished basement is demanding I put in a home theater. I've been reading here for years now, and I'm finally in a house where I'm going to be for a while. The entire basement is unfinished with 9' ceilings.


My plan centers around:

• 132" Wide (55" H) 2.4:1 Scope AT Curved Screen (Will build myself)
• Possibly a JVC RS35 with a anamorphic lens... and leaning towards a DVDO iScan Duo
• Klipsch RF-7 fronts, RC-7 center (already own)
• I'd like to get HT seating for 7, probably a row of 3 in front, 4 in rear.
• I really want a bar top behind the rear row

This is the empty floor plan of the basement:

This is the initial idea that I've been working on:

Here it is with the soffits that I'm thinking about in the white checks. The gray checks are HVAC ductwork that would be very difficult to move:

And some other views from a different angle:

My main concern right now is just getting all the main components (screen, speakers, seating, projector) laid out. The side surrounds are the ones that have been giving me the most trouble, as it seems however I lay out the room, there is a wall opening exactly where the surround needs to be.


Any thoughts?

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

Any chance of flipping the theater room putting the screen on the other end and then moving the entrance door into the utility space a bit? The advantage is you can incorporate that bay window area better into what you have planned for the back end of the theater.


Or is the furnace in the way?

 

[NovaBandit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/18112699


Any chance of flipping the theater room putting the screen on the other end and then moving the entrance door into the utility space a bit? The advantage is you can incorporate that bay window area better into what you have planned for the back end of the theater.


Or is the furnace in the way?

No. The furnace is at the top (on that drawing) of the utility room.


I've been tossing that idea around, but the whole center wall is load bearing. The opening from the stairs has a microlam header.


I do think I'm going to talk to a builder to see costs of framing in a new header. I really want to know all my options.

 

[3fingerbrown]

You don't want those large bay windows right near the seats, it presents sound and light issues. If I were you:

• I'd flip the design 180 degrees, so the screen is on the opposite wall.
• This will allow you to use the rectangular shaped part of the basement as the theater, and the more open space in back as gaming/bar area.
• Wall over the existing door to the basement, and put the new door farther back
• Also wall over the window so it stays darkest near the screen. The other windows can be covered with some really good shades
• This will also allow you to mount side surrounds on the walls. Maybe the rear surrounds will still need to be in the ceiling. Put them in some rock solid backer boxes to give some sound isolation.
• Replace your existing HVAC duct with flex duct
• DD + GG

 

[3fingerbrown]



Quote:
Originally Posted by NovaBandit /forum/post/18112713


No. The furnace is at the top (on that drawing) of the utility room.


I've been tossing that idea around, but the whole center wall is load bearing. The opening from the stairs has a microlam header.


I do think I'm going to talk to a builder to see costs of framing in a new header. I really want to know all my options.

It really shouldn't be too hard to frame in a new header. Its a day's work, at max. Flip the theater and put the door exactly where those exposed 2x4s are located.

 

[NovaBandit]

Here are a few photos of the room:

And a better sketch of how the area on the other side of the center wall is currently laid out. The Red box is the furnace, and the red cylinder is the main drain stack:

This is the sketch of how I want to finish the rest of the basement. This layout would still work well with moving the HT opening down maybe 4 feet or so:

The only thing that catches me then is that the theater entrance looks right into the side of the rear row of seats and their riser. But I could probably mess with the distance from the screen a bit...

 

[NovaBandit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by 3fingerbrown /forum/post/18112728


wall over the window so it stays darkest near the screen. The other windows can be covered with some really good shades

Yup. I was already planning on walling over which ever window is nearest the screen.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 3fingerbrown /forum/post/18112728


Replace your existing HVAC duct with flex duct

Not sure if that would work. I have silent floor trusses that run perpendicular to the HVAC lines. These are also the main trunk supply and return, so I need to keep them as big as they are. I also have the flex lines for the air exchanger that run next to the tin trunks... but those would be less of an issue to move.

 

[Tedd]

Is there room for a door between the furnance and the main drain? Flip the room, close off the current entry, and use double doors for furnance access.


How deep is the windowed alcove? It might make a nice office or craft space if it is deep enough to allow you to extend the 17 11.5" wall another five feet or so. This would give you side walls for dipoles.

 

[Johnsteph10]



Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/18112699


Any chance of flipping the theater room putting the screen on the other end and then moving the entrance door into the utility space a bit? The advantage is you can incorporate that bay window area better into what you have planned for the back end of the theater.


Or is the furnace in the way?

I agree -- flip it!


You can turn the window bay area into a cool wet bar!

 

[NovaBandit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedd /forum/post/18114113


Is there room for a door between the furnance and the main drain? Flip the room, close off the current entry, and use double doors for furnance access.

Not really enough room. I'd have to frame a wall right against the furnace.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedd /forum/post/18114113


How deep is the windowed alcove? It might make a nice office or craft space if it is deep enough to allow you to extend the 17 11.5" wall another five feet or so. This would give you side walls for dipoles.

The bump-out is only about 5.5' deep. Not enough to have it be a room on it's own.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnsteph10 /forum/post/18114161


I agree -- flip it!


You can turn the window bay area into a cool wet bar!

That's what I'm leaning towards. I'll have to cut a drain into the concrete across to that main drain stack, but I think it's doable.



I'm going to try to throw something together in SketchUp with the theater flipped, and see what moving the doorway will look like.

 

[ArmyMan]

I still think you should look at rotating 90 degrees.

Put an AT screen where the bumpout is.

A projector with a short throw lens would work here. Could even hide it in the HVAC soffit you are planning as an option.


Paul

 

[NovaBandit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ArmyMan /forum/post/18114829


I still think you should look at rotating 90 degrees.

Put an AT screen where the bumpout is.

A projector with a short throw lens would work here. Could even hide it in the HVAC soffit you are planning as an option.


Paul

I thought of that... but it would keep me from having a bar behind the rear row. Plus it would divide the room into 3 smaller spaces, instead of 2 bigger spaces.

 

[NovaBandit]

I threw together a rough plan of the theater flipped 180 degrees:

I will have about 3'1" clearance between the edge of the bar and the wall by the entrance... do you guys think that is enough to not feel constricted?


This layout does solve my side surround issue, and I like how the bump out becomes more apart of the area behind the theater, instead of cut off by the theater. It's going to be a perfect place for a wet bar.


Now, how should I tackle the rear surrounds? I was always planning on in ceilings in a sealed, DD+GG+insulated soffit above the bar (or maybe slightly behind.

 

[3fingerbrown]

3 feet should be plenty of room to walk by IMO.


You'll have to go with in-ceiling speakers for your rear surrounds. Jut plan on making some backer boxes out of MDF, and two layers of MDF for overkill.


You could probably trim down the width of your false wall up by the screen, which would allow you to move the seating closer. Some theaters have found ways to build very thin areas behind the screen.


Looking good

 

[NovaBandit]

I'm thinking about building pillars that go up from the edges of the bar. I could then either build in rears, or externally mount rears on the pillars.


They wouldn't be close enough per THX specs, but would they work there?

 

[NovaBandit]

I've got my virtual soffits and pillars built.


What do you all think about this?

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

I like, does that soffit on the left have to be that big, I didn't see a need in the pictures.

 

[NovaBandit]

No, it's completely empty, but I have a thing for symmetry.


The outside wall is block half way up, and framed the rest of the way up. This leaves a 10" step back in the wall.


I have the screen centered between the inside wall, and the innermost part (the block part) of the outer wall. Right now I'm planning on building some hidden storage in the front half of the theater to make the outside wall flush all the way to the ceiling at that part.


With the empty soffit built that way, everything is symmetric above the screen.


And the gap between the soffits should make for a really nice starfield.


Hmmm... that was kind of tricky to explain in words. Does that make sense?



Also, even with framing and DD, I still have 7'8 of clearance under the soffits.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

As I look at this picture it looks like the duct closest to the center of the room is a return duct and may not have that many connections upstairs.

If that is the case a buddy of mine had a similar situation and he was able to move it to the opposite wall with minimal effort (although he built a checkbook theater). If you could do that you could skinny down the soffits and open up the feeling of the room a bit. It looks like it uses the space between the joists already to go up over the beam. What you would do is do the same thing to get it over to the other side of the room.


You need to do some planning for what looks like a sump pump on the far end of the room. Sumps have been hidden many times in stages and screen walls on builds here.

 

[NovaBandit]

Wow. you're absolutely right!


I had never noticed, but that outer duct doesn't actually go anywhere. It just connects the joists that are enclosed as air returns.


I'm going to have an HVAC buddy come over and see if we can't move the air return "lateral" somewhere else, even at worst to the outer wall where I'm going to have a (hopefully now smaller) soffit anyways.