[ekinskofer]

Hey all,

New user and a newbie here. I'm currently renovating my basement and I have a designated room that I want as our media/theater room.

Here's the measurements of the room:

and here is speaker layout of the room:

Initially I was thinking that in ceiling speakers would be the way to go, however, I've read that these can yield sub optimal performance and bookshelf/freestanding speakers are the way to go. So now I'm thinking perhaps free standing speakers for front, and mounted side speakers and in ceiling rear speakers?

My wife was thinking that we should have the tv on the left wall and having an L shaped couch. However, I'm not sure how the rear speaker placement would work since the couch would be against the right most wall.

I'm also really having a hard time figuring out what to do with this left indent in the wall. I was thinking it might be a good spot for all the components to sit? It's only really around 1.5' deep.

Please critique my layout of this room and please suggest changes to speaker placements, tv, couch locations, etc.

thanks in advance!!

cheers.

Eric

 

[hoyalawya]

1. Wire more RG6 for subwoofer connections. You may want to use more than one sub in that space.
2. Why not wire for speaker outlets in the office too for Zone 3.
3. You should have at least 22" depth for component shelves. Some AVR/power amp can be 17" deep not counting the cables sticking out the back.
4. Wire 2 Cat6 to every possible TV location.
5. Wire 2 Cat6 from control location to the bar. You may want to retire your old TV there some day. With Cat6, you can use HDMI-over-Cat solutions to share HDMI sources.
6. Move the ceiling mounted rear speakers as far back as you can to help improve the angle.
7. Move the ceiling mounted surround speakers as wide as you can to help improve the angle.
8. Run a flexible hollow conduit to the projector location. Run high speed HDMI wire outside the conduit to the projector location. Reserve conduit for future use.

 

[ekinskofer]

1. Wire more RG6 for subwoofer connections. You may want to use more than one sub in that space.
2. Why not wire for speaker outlets in the office too for Zone 3.
3. You should have at least 22" depth for component shelves. Some AVR/power amp can be 17" deep not counting the cables sticking out the back.
4. Wire 2 Cat6 to every possible TV location.
5. Wire 2 Cat6 from control location to the bar. You may want to retire your old TV there some day. With Cat6, you can use HDMI-over-Cat solutions to share HDMI sources.
6. Move the ceiling mounted rear speakers as far back as you can to help improve the angle.
7. Move the ceiling mounted surround speakers as wide as you can to help improve the angle.
8. Run a flexible hollow conduit to the projector location. Run high speed HDMI wire outside the conduit to the projector location. Reserve conduit for future use.

Hey hoyalawya,

Thanks a lot for the response, I appreciate it. Great suggestions. I have a few follow up questions.

1. Do you think that the configuration of the speakers (other than your corrections) works best for that space?
2. Great point on number 3. In this case, would it be best to have the components in the front of the room? Perhaps I'll get a component stand.
3. I have a giant roll of cat5e sitting around, is it worth while to just upgrade to cat6? Excellent point on HDMI-over-cat, that has got me thinking. Also while the basement is exposed, I will be running another wire upstairs.
4. Regarding speaker choices, I will poke around with this, but since I have walls on each side, it would be better to use mounted speakers?
5. Excellent point on the projector, I will do that. I wasn't planning on a projector, but I am now thinking about it more.
6. For the rec room/wet bar room, where do you see the best spot being for a tv? I was thinking middle of the room? Should I be wiring any additional speakers in this room? I think it would be primarily just used for watching the game while sitting around a table. Was thinking of an arcade/mame cabinet in this room. In the bottom left corner.

Awesome points, thanks for sharing.

cheers.

Eric

 

[hoyalawya]

Speaker configuration: I don't like ceiling speakers especially for the fronts. In your room, it seems like you cannot avoid it for the rears. However, I think that it is possible to wall mount the surrounds if you keep the TV/screen where it is. Another option to consider at is Dolby Atmos. Instead of 7.2, I think that you can do 5.2.2 or even 5.2.4 with proper speaker locations.


Equipment location: it is up to you. Some people prefer to have everything hidden (will be the storage room at the stairs in your case). Some people like to display their equipment.


Cat5e vs Cat 6: It is worth it to upgrade to Cat6 just for future proofing. Wires are cheap. The cost of redoing them once 10gb network comes around will be much more expensive.


Bar location: I don't know how you are going to set up your counter. But the outside wall at the bottom of the pic seems to be a good place so that there are screens on each end of the space.


HDBaseT: HDBaseT works only on point-to-point connections only. I.e., cannot have a switch in between. In my house, I have a central video distribution rack in the basement. All my video components for the entire house will be run from that rack except for the game consoles. For audio distribution, I opted instead for an audio distribution closet/cabinet on each floor. Otherwise, I will have some run that are more than 75' long. The audio will sync through Cat6 wires terminated as RCA and by Sonos Connect.

 

[ekinskofer]

Speaker configuration: I don't like ceiling speakers especially for the fronts. In your room, it seems like you cannot avoid it for the rears. However, I think that it is possible to wall mount the surrounds if you keep the TV/screen where it is. Another option to consider at is Dolby Atmos. Instead of 7.2, I think that you can do 5.2.2 or even 5.2.4 with proper speaker locations.

ok, thanks for confirming that, good points.

Equipment location: it is up to you. Some people prefer to have everything hidden (will be the storage room at the stairs in your case). Some people like to display their equipment.

Interesting, I never thought of putting the AV equipment in that room due to potential heat issues, I might just consider that though. I would also think that it might become a PITA if you wanted to configure stuff, you'd have to be walking back and forth to the media room.

Cat5e vs Cat 6: It is worth it to upgrade to Cat6 just for future proofing. Wires are cheap. The cost of redoing them once 10gb network comes around will be much more expensive.

Agreed, will do.

Bar location: I don't know how you are going to set up your counter. But the outside wall at the bottom of the pic seems to be a good place so that there are screens on each end of the space.

Cool.

HDBaseT: HDBaseT works only on point-to-point connections only. I.e., cannot have a switch in between. In my house, I have a central video distribution rack in the basement. All my video components for the entire house will be run from that rack except for the game consoles. For audio distribution, I opted instead for an audio distribution closet/cabinet on each floor. Otherwise, I will have some run that are more than 75' long. The audio will sync through Cat6 wires terminated as RCA and by Sonos Connect.

Very cool, sounds like an awesome setup. I'm going to read up more on this. I'm trying to rapidly learn as I'm finishing my basement, there's just not enough time in the day for this all between work, construction work at home, and family life.. I want to avoid (as much as possible).. "damn, I wish I had done X before putting up the drywall".

thanks again for taking the time out of your day to reply, much appreciated.

cheers.

Eric