Opinions & Suggestions on Room Design

Greetings,

We are in the process of adding a garage to our house and are finishing the space over it as a “teen room” where the kids can hang out with friends. Since the walls are open, I ran wire for speakers and now I’m trying to determine the best place to install them. Unfortunately, there are a lot of compromises due to the shape of the room and its function. I’m also trying to keep costs within reason.

I decided to place the front and rear channel speakers in the wall to make best use of the space and keep them from being damaged. I’m using Cambridge Soundworks Ambiance 82 speakers. They have an 8-inch woofer and a one-inch tweeter that can be swiveled. Here’s a link to the speaker specifications: Cambridge SoundWorks: High Performance Speakers, Home Theater Systems, Table Radios, Multimedia Systems and More

I know there are better speakers available, but like I said I’m on a budget.

The room is approximately 12.5 feet by 12.5 feet with 5-foot knee walls that slope up to a 9-foot ceiling. The flat portion of the ceiling which is centered over the room is 4-feet wide. On the sides of the room without knee walls, one end is occupied by an open stairwell and the other has a large window in it. One of the knee walls will have a set of built-in cabinets that are about 3-feet high. I’m going to have to put the speakers in the knee walls. Due to the framing above the cabinets, I’m, going to have to mount the speakers with their long axis oriented horizontally. I’ve developed two designs and would appreciate any comments or suggestions for making the system better.

One has the speakers facing the listening area: http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...m-TeenRoom.jpg

The other switches the orientation of the couch and television to make the speakers fire from the side walls: http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...m-TeenRoom.jpg

I can move the speakers to make them closer together on each wall, but I cannot move them vertically due to the framing.

I'm thinking of buying a used receiver right now. Any suggestions for sources of used equipment.

Re: Opinions & Suggestions on Room Design

Welcome to the forum.
I would use your first example with the speakers facing and behind you. If you plan on getting a receiver, I would wire for a 5.1 system at minimum. Even if you don't get the speakers now, run the wires for a center speaker and maybe a sub woofer in the front left corner. It is much easier to run the wires now than after the walls are closed.

Re: Opinions & Suggestions on Room Design

Thanks -

I may try to add an in-wall sub while the walls are still open.

I feel a little embarrassed about the scope of my project when I look at the work some of you are doing.

Re: Opinions & Suggestions on Room Design

No need to be embarrassed. We all started somewhere. There is plenty of info and many members willing to help on this forum. Once you catch the home theater bug, you never know how it will end up - theaters are never finished!