Hi all,
I am the the stages of designing a home... I am looking forward to having my HT in a dedicated room! The limitations are few except perhaps dimensions. It will either go above the garage or in the basement. The home will be a rambler with a main level and a basement and staircase leading to the room above the garage where the theater may go.
1. Dimensions - Given the roof pitch - I anticipate the room can be ~ 16 feet wide with an 8 foot ceiling. The room length can be large - 25 feet if needed. I will try to follow the golden ratio's for these dimensions. If the HT is placed in the basement, I will probably need to have a smaller room size. If above the garage, I will try to use green glue and perhaps a strap wall system to decouple the room from the rest of the house.
- I worry that there will be less acoustical dampening if placed above the garage and more acoustic energy loss due to the absence of concrete walls. Is this a valid concern?
- Is it acceptable to cheat with respect to ceiling height via use of a soffit on the sides of the room? I could probably get 9' ceilings if there was a soffit in the ceiling corners due to the roof pitch. Does this adversely affect room acoustics?
2. Layout. I have a few questions:
- If placed above the garage, I'd like to build a window into the room in the event the room is converted into a play room or party room. I'd prefer to not have the window interefere with the acoustics of the room and so I'd like to find a way to hide the window. Has anyone found a clever solution to hide a window or part of a room via use of a semi-permanent wall or something along those lines? I do not need the window when the room is used as a HT room now. Another through was some sort of pocket door system or hidden door in the wall that reveals the window. Has anyone done this before me?
- Stage - is it best to fill a stage with sand after construction to eliminate resonance?
- Speaker placement - I have an Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1/Center/AV Surrounds setup and may upgrade to the Reference 5LS. In either case, I was not thinking of hiding the L/R speakers in the stage. Aside from asthetics, is there any reason to hide the speakers behind grille cloth? Can I get the same 2-channel performance if I hid them?
In general - is there a good set of books or online webpages that would be considered required reading? I have the basics down but I want to educate myself further before finalizing the plans. I'll probably finish the theater after building but I want the dimensions and windows done properly before proceeding. Here are the general ideas/items I plan to do:
- Conduit in all walls to run cabling at cieling height and ground height.
- 20 Amp dedicated circuits
- 2+ rows of seating
- Thinking of a cool celiing treatment like a starry sky (I now, that isn't too novel
). If I do it it will be done properly following the night sky with (somehow) nebulae and galaxies (M31) showing up properly (I'll cheat and give them more color than we can percieve with our eyes
)
Thanks for your help.
Bob
I am the the stages of designing a home... I am looking forward to having my HT in a dedicated room! The limitations are few except perhaps dimensions. It will either go above the garage or in the basement. The home will be a rambler with a main level and a basement and staircase leading to the room above the garage where the theater may go.
1. Dimensions - Given the roof pitch - I anticipate the room can be ~ 16 feet wide with an 8 foot ceiling. The room length can be large - 25 feet if needed. I will try to follow the golden ratio's for these dimensions. If the HT is placed in the basement, I will probably need to have a smaller room size. If above the garage, I will try to use green glue and perhaps a strap wall system to decouple the room from the rest of the house.
- I worry that there will be less acoustical dampening if placed above the garage and more acoustic energy loss due to the absence of concrete walls. Is this a valid concern?
- Is it acceptable to cheat with respect to ceiling height via use of a soffit on the sides of the room? I could probably get 9' ceilings if there was a soffit in the ceiling corners due to the roof pitch. Does this adversely affect room acoustics?
2. Layout. I have a few questions:
- If placed above the garage, I'd like to build a window into the room in the event the room is converted into a play room or party room. I'd prefer to not have the window interefere with the acoustics of the room and so I'd like to find a way to hide the window. Has anyone found a clever solution to hide a window or part of a room via use of a semi-permanent wall or something along those lines? I do not need the window when the room is used as a HT room now. Another through was some sort of pocket door system or hidden door in the wall that reveals the window. Has anyone done this before me?
- Stage - is it best to fill a stage with sand after construction to eliminate resonance?
- Speaker placement - I have an Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1/Center/AV Surrounds setup and may upgrade to the Reference 5LS. In either case, I was not thinking of hiding the L/R speakers in the stage. Aside from asthetics, is there any reason to hide the speakers behind grille cloth? Can I get the same 2-channel performance if I hid them?
In general - is there a good set of books or online webpages that would be considered required reading? I have the basics down but I want to educate myself further before finalizing the plans. I'll probably finish the theater after building but I want the dimensions and windows done properly before proceeding. Here are the general ideas/items I plan to do:
- Conduit in all walls to run cabling at cieling height and ground height.
- 20 Amp dedicated circuits
- 2+ rows of seating
- Thinking of a cool celiing treatment like a starry sky (I now, that isn't too novel


Thanks for your help.
Bob