[jsm1434]

Hey everyone, first off, I am brand new to the forum, so be gentle! I just moved into a new house and have a challenging home theater area and would like your thoughts on speaker selection. I know speaker preference is very subjective, but I am really just looking for any brand that might fit my room specs better than others. That said, here goes:


The room is in a finished basement and is one half of a two room section separated by a wall with a 10 ft wide opening. So, basically, the theater room is 11 1/2 ft wide with a concrete wall on one side and sheetrock wall with a 10ft opening on the other. Then, the room is 22 ft long with sheetrock walls on both ends. The adjoining room has a tile floor while the theater room has carpet.


Obviously, this creates a bit of an acoustical nightmare with the tile floor in the adjoining room and the one concrete wall opposite. I know some speakers tend to sound more "harsh" while others more "soft" and I am just wondering what you all would recommend for this particular room. My budget is a max of $3500 for 5.1 including sub.


Oh, yeah, it is exclusively for movie watching, not music.


Thanks, in advance, for any help!


Jim


Duluth, GA

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Some pictures of the room would help. I would also strongly consider framing, insulating, and drywalling over the concrete wall. Otherwise, the proportions of the room look good (no high integer multiples) so some basic wall-treatments at the first reflection points should go a long way in taming the room.


From there, for speaker recommendations... go listen! I'm a strong believer in ID brands usually offering the best bang-for-buck, but going out and listening to retail/boutique brands and finding some brands you like will help us recommend ID brands that will likely line up with your tastes.


Also, if you need any setup/calibration/build help, or want to come check out my theater, just PM me... I'm located on the west side of ATL (a little past Six Flags on I-20), not all that far from where you are.


Good Luck!

 

[Knucklehead90]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen Hopkins /forum/post/15495520


Some pictures of the room would help. I would also strongly consider framing, insulating, and drywalling over the concrete wall. Otherwise, the proportions of the room look good (no high integer multiples) so some basic wall-treatments at the first reflection points should go a long way in taming the room.


From there, for speaker recommendations... go listen! I'm a strong believer in ID brands usually offering the best bang-for-buck, but going out and listening to retail/boutique brands and finding some brands you like will help us recommend ID brands that will likely line up with your tastes.


Also, if you need any setup/calibration/build help, or want to come check out my theater, just PM me... I'm located on the west side of ATL (a little past Six Flags on I-20), not all that far from where you are.


Good Luck!

+1 on the room treatment.


+1 on the ID brands.


More bang for the buck with both of these suggestions/solutions.


Otherwise good sounding speakers are a waste of money in that echo chamber. For openings into other rooms a movable sound deadening panel will help immensely. This serves to block the sound from traveling into that adjoining space and traveling back as sound delayed echoes. A panel only needs to block most sound waves, not all, to be effective. However, the more you block the better. Bass traps in the corners will help with the low frequencies.


Well placed panels along hard walls will also help if you can't/won't otherwise cover the concrete walls. Placement will need to be trial and error. You will hear the differences when you place them right.


As for speakers, these are ID companies and get very good reviews from others on these forums:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/index.html

http://emotiva.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=25


And there are hundreds of others just as good, some better, some so-so.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

While Axiom makes some great speakers, I wouldn't recommend them for what might already be a fairly live room.

 

[jsm1434]

Thanks for the suggestions! While I can't really frame out the concrete wall, I could ad some panels or treatment to help. This is probably a dumb question, but what exactly are "ID brands"? I got the examples, but wasn't sure what the term meant. Thanks, again!



Nevermind, Internet-direct... Google is my friend... I just should have used it before posting that question! :-/


Jim