[stlcity]

The media room in the basement will be prewired by the builder before finishing it. It is a 19X16X8 room. I already have paradigm speakers for 5.1. People are advising me to prewire it for 7.1 although I dont have the necessary speakers. The difference is about 200$(pre-wiring). Do u guys think that the room is too small to have a 7.1 system in there????

 

[craig john]

It depends on the seating arrangement. If your seating will be against the back wall, don't bother with 7.1. If your seating will be at least 3 to 4 feet from the back wall, it is worth considering 7.1. You need separation from the rear surround speakers in order to make 7.1 work properly. Also, they need to be behind you, not overhead.


Check out Dolby's Room Layout Recommendations. (Click on Dolby Digital EX to see the 7.1 layout). Note the space behind the seating. Also note the position of the side surrounds at 90 to 110 degrees. If you push the seating back against the rear wall, you push the side surrounds back into the rear surrounds' space and decrease the effectiveness of both sets of surrounds.


Bottom line, if your seating is against (or close to) the rear wall, stick with an optimized 5.1 arrangement.


Craig

 

[The_Canuck_1989]

I say go for it. Even if you don't have 7.1, what happens if 4 years down the road you do? It will cost a lot more than $200 to fish it through. I always tell my clients that while the room or house is still open, now is the time to run wire for anything you might think you will use later. Cause that $200 now, will turn into $2,000 later, very quickly.

 

[LowellG]

Yes, I bought a new house 2.5 years ago and they pre-wired it for 5.1. As I am crawling around in the attic I am thinking why didn't they just do 7.1 when this was all open. The room certainly has room for a 7.1 config.

 

[MauneyM]

We just finished mine, and I wired it for 7.1 plus two front ambience speakers (the Yamaha DSP model). We also wired in outlets and LFE connections for dual subs.


As has been pointed out already, it's far cheaper and easier to do it before the drywall goes on. You may never use it, but if/when you do, you'll be thankful you planned ahead.


Of course, the corollary is that with the pre-wiring done, you're probably more likely to buy stuff to connect to it........

 

[axs]



Quote:
Originally Posted by stlcity /forum/post/0


The media room in the basement will be prewired by the builder before finishing it. It is a 19X16X8 room. I already have paradigm speakers for 5.1. People are advising me to prewire it for 7.1 although I dont have the necessary speakers. The difference is about 200$(pre-wiring). Do u guys think that the room is too small to have a 7.1 system in there????

Yes. You should get it pre-wired for 7.1. Craig has already given you lot of good advice and pointed you in right direction with layout etc.


Are you planning for one row or two rows of seating? This may have some impact on where to place surround speakers. Plan for at least 4-5' behind the listening position.


You should finalize your seating arrangements now (on the paper of course), so that it will be easier to get the speaker wires terminated at right places.

 

[stlcity]



Quote:
Originally Posted by axs /forum/post/0


Yes. You should get it pre-wired for 7.1. Craig has already given you lot of good advice and pointed you in right direction with layout etc.


Are you planning for one row or two rows of seating? This may have some impact on where to place surround speakers. Plan for at least 4-5' behind the listening position.


You should finalize your seating arrangements now (on the paper of course), so that it will be easier to get the speaker wires terminated at right places.

Thanks for all the advice. I plan on only one row of seats now. The room is about 19ft long. Will probably have the seats placed at about 15Ft..which will probably put the backend of the couch almost against the wall....

 

[axs]



Quote:
Originally Posted by stlcity /forum/post/0


Will probably have the seats placed at about 15Ft..which will probably put the backend of the couch almost against the wall....

In that case, I would suggest staying with 5.1 setup. With no (or very little) space behind the listening position 7.1 will not be optimum.

 

[louthewiz]

Go for the 7.1 because maybe in the future you might want to decorate again or get an hd/bluray dvd player and the 7.1 DDplus is 7.1 channels and the wiring will already be there

so it's better to plan ahead.

 

[The_Canuck_1989]

I still say pre-wire. Even if you don't use it, its a nice selling point to any potential buyers down the road that might be into the HT.

 

[MauneyM]



Quote:
Originally Posted by stlcity /forum/post/0


Thanks for all the advice. I plan on only one row of seats now. The room is about 19ft long. Will probably have the seats placed at about 15Ft..which will probably put the backend of the couch almost against the wall....

Seats at 15 ft? How big is your screen? (For reference, I'm putting my seats at about 12 ft from a 100" screen....)

 

[craig john]



Quote:
Originally Posted by MauneyM /forum/post/0


Seats at 15 ft? How big is your screen? (For reference, I'm putting my seats at about 12 ft from a 100" screen....)

MauneyM makes a good point. If you can move your seating forward a few feet, you'll be at a better viewing distane *and* you'll be able to take advantage of 7.1. Here is a Viewing Distance Calculator to help you determine the optimum distance from your screen.


Best,


Craig

 

[stlcity]



Quote:
Originally Posted by MauneyM /forum/post/0


Seats at 15 ft? How big is your screen? (For reference, I'm putting my seats at about 12 ft from a 100" screen....)

Was planning on a 92 inch screen(thats what I was told is the optimal distance for veiwing from 12-15ft). Today was at my friends watching football....he had a screen painted at almost 158" and the couch was 15ft away. Now I think I will get a bigger screen........bigger the better eh????????