[sunspot]

I am trying to put together my dedicated HT room and need some help from all you knowledgeable people here. This is an existing room so I don't have the luxury of designing it exactly the way I would like to. It is however a dedicated, light controlled room.


First off let me apologize for these extremely crude plans. All I have available to me at this moment is MS Paint

This is quite obviously not to scale and some of the stuff isn't placed exactly but I think it conveys enough information about the room to get some feedback about the layout and any potential problems with the room.


A few notes about the room:

The current plan is for the screen to be about 88" wide.


The stairs on the right are mostly open to the room.


The thick partition 18' back indicates where I would like the room to end, but I cannot make any permanent changes to the room.

Any ideas for some way to partition the room off?


How will the length of the room affect the sound?


THANKS!!


Top Down view

 

[sunspot]

Here is the view from the back of the room.

 

[Fireball]

Can you use the back half of the room for the theater? What are you using for seating? Your limited width will affect the type of seating you choose.

 

[sunspot]

Quote:

Originally posted by Fireball Can you use the back half of the room for the theater? What are you using for seating? Your limited width will affect the type of seating you choose.

Do you mean use that section as well or use the entire room?


Theoretically I can use the back of the room as well, but we have a weight machine and stairmaster there that we really don't have room for elsewhere. Actually that is the front of the room. The stairs come down on that side. Again, I really apologize for the terrible drawings.


The front row is 2 Berkline cinema chairs. I would like to build a 6" riser and put a futon in the back row for now until we can get a couple more chairs.

For the most part we only need the 2 chairs in the front row. The back row is for the occasional guests. And if we need even more emergency seating we can probably move a couple mobile chairs in on either side of the front row chairs. Not ideal, but we don't have a lot of width to play with.

 

[Fireball]

OK. I thought the stairs went the other direction. Seems like you have a good layout. The only limiting factor is the width but you could use some 088 berkline or sofa style units with no arms for the 2nd row. You could build a front stage and move the screen out from the wall since you have the depth. The upper right area could be used for an equipment room assuming you have ventilation, etc. If you want the room enclosed, you can you build a rear wall for the room. Are you willing to do some contruction? For an enclosed room, ventilation will be important.

 

[sheidt]

I like your layout, but you might want to consider a couple of changes to help your acoustics. You should consider putting up a wall with a door behind where your seating would be. You mentioned that the stairway was partially open on the way down to the back of your space. You should consider putting up a wall along the stairway as far back as the new wall behind the seating. This would give you a nice enclosed space that would make a nice dedicated theater. Plus, it would give you a place to mount your rear speakers, since you would want your rear speakers behind you instead of beside you as in your current drawing. These are just a couple of thoughts. Good luck and enjoy your new space!

 

[sunspot]

Thanks a lot for the feedback! I appreciate it!

Quote:

Originally posted by fireball You could build a front stage and move the screen out from the wall since you have the depth. [/b]

I have thought about building a stage, but haven't yet decided if I am going to do it. It would definitely be nice.

Quote:

Originally posted by fireball The upper right area could be used for an equipment room assuming you have ventilation, etc. .[/b]

That is exactly what I plan on doing.

Quote:

Originally posted by fireball If you want the room enclosed, you can you build a rear wall for the room. Are you willing to do some construction? For an enclosed room, ventilation will be important.[/b]

Quote:

Originally posted by sheidt I like your layout, but you might want to consider a couple of changes to help your acoustics. You should consider putting up a wall with a door behind where your seating would be. You mentioned that the stairway was partially open on the way down to the back of your space. You should consider putting up a wall along the stairway as far back as the new wall behind the seating. This would give you a nice enclosed space that would make a nice dedicated theater. Plus, it would give you a place to mount your rear speakers, since you would want your rear speakers behind you instead of beside you as in your current drawing. These are just a couple of thoughts. Good luck and enjoy your new space!

This is the tricky part. This is the ideal solution, but there are a few problems. First off, I have very little construction knowledge. I'm not even sure how to go about adding walls to this situation. I would be more than willing to learn though and I know people who could help me.


This is in a finished basement and I am concerned that putting up walls in the middle of the room could hurt re-sale value (we are going to be here for a couple more years). The WAF may also limit what I can do.

I would much rather have the walls there, but is there any type of temporary hardwall room divider I can use as a backup? What about drapes?


sheidt, my surrounds are Klipsch Reference surrounds. They claim that the best position is along the side just behind the listener, but they can be mounted on the back wall as well. So I think they will be ok on the side wall.

 

[sunspot]

Ok, here is a more accurate top-down view of the room:

http://home.comcast.net/~jesturtz/ht/ht_room_1.jpg

 

[Fireball]

Much better drawing. Do you really want four seats? If three was enough, you could turn your the screen 90 degrees to the left and place your seating where your equipment rack is located. You can fit 3 Berklines in a wedge config in the 10' space you have. Just a thought.

 

[sunspot]

Quote:

Originally posted by Fireball Much better drawing. Do you really want four seats? If three was enough, you could turn your the screen 90 degrees to the left and place your seating where your equipment rack is located. You can fit 3 Berklines in a wedge config in the 10' space you have. Just a thought.

That is very similar to what we are doing now with our 57" RPTV seen here:
http://home.comcast.net/~jesturtz/ht/ht_room_old.jpg


The bigger screen would obviously allow a wider seating are, but we need at least 4 seats. If we have guests it is rarely just one person. It is already pretty cramped in there. I also feel like the sound would benefit from being spread out a little bit. Maybe I am wrong there.


If that room was a little deeper then it would be great.