Planning new Home Theatre project, need some advice/input

Ryan_AS · 08-20-2005, 11:09 PM

Hello everyone,

First time posting so I can't post any URLs. My profile has links to my site with pictures.

I've got the HT bug real BAD, especially since I found this forum. I'm so glad I found this site before I started tearing into anything, great info here. I new to HT construction so please forgive me if I butcher some of terminology.

My plan is to finish a large room in my basement for a HT (along with a bathroom, hallway and other small areas). I've taken some pictures and drawn a simple layout on what I plan to do with the area.

I've been reading posts on just about every topic in this forum. For starters I'm looking for feedback on my plans.

For equipment I'm looking at:

Pioneer 1015
Axiom:
Pair Millennia M60ti Towers
Pair QS8 Surrounds
VP150 Center
SVS 20-39CS Subwoofer
Lutron Lighting Control
Marantz Universal Remote
Xantech IR System
BenQ PE7700 Projector
No screen selected yet but maybe a 92" size

Two of the walls are concrete along with the concrete floor. Both of those will be built out with 2x4 construction. The rear (future) wall will also be 2x4. The right wall is a 2x6 load bearing wall. All four walls will be insulated and covered with sheet rock. The floor will be covered with Berber carpet (double padding). The ceiling will be a drop ceiling and should give a clearance of about 7'-10".

The AV rack will be in that back of the room to eliminate any distraction during viewing. The rearmost seating are will be about 16' back. Behind that area there will eventually be a poker table. The room will have multiple uses but I plan to optimize it for Home Theatre use

One area of concern is the bathroom door located just to the right of the screen. I was going to go with a solid core door with some weather stripping or something like that to eliminate vibration. Possible acoustic issues?

The shape of the room also concerns me. Probably perfect for some type of acoustic problems. Any thoughts?

Will this audio equipment (especially the sub) be powerful enough to fill this room with quality sound? Overall the space should be pretty tight.

I was planning on a dedicated power feed to the A/V rack. Should the audio and video each have a dedicated feed?

Thanks, more to come.

Jim Mcc · 08-22-2005, 12:59 AM

Ryan, what size is the room going to be?
My only concern would be the bathroom door in the same room as the home theater. Can't you have the bathroom entrance in the other room(outside theater room)?
Also, I would go with a bigger screen with your 16' seating distance. 2X screen width = 106" diagonal(54"X96").
You don't need a separate circuit for audio and video, but you should use a separate circuit for lights and outlets.
I think your audio components will sound great.

Cees Alons · 08-22-2005, 02:27 AM

Ryan,

Welcome to the forum!

It's even better to use the same group for your video and audio equipment, because it will ascertain using the same ground for both.

If you do need to split for any reason, still make sure for them being connected to the same ground.

Cees

Ryan_AS · 08-22-2005, 08:35 AM

Sorry about that,

I guess I left out the most important parts. The room will be 12 X 26 with a ceiling height of 7'-10". Pretty much a perfect rectangle. I came up with these calculations by using a viewing distance calculator optomized for THX viewing angles.

Unfortuantely there is really no other practical solution for the bathroom door. From a design perspective the doorway should be in the right front corner of the room. I've decided to move it 3 feet away from the screen wall to give the front speaker some room. This involves some additional framing but it's not a big deal.

chris_everett · 08-22-2005, 12:40 PM

There is a room mode calculater online (search for it) that you can input the dimentions of your room and it will tell you what frequncies will be problems for you. If you have any bit problem freqs, then you might want to consider changing the size of your room a bit. I would agree that the bathroom door seems very...odd... Can you post some drawings of what you have in mind? Someone else may be able to provide some alternatives. (Different set of eyes, and all that)

**HTF Ads**

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 08-22-2005, 07:36 PM

Here’s the link:
http://groups.msn.com/MyHomeTheatreP...sandplans.msnw

Quote:

One area of concern is the bathroom door located just to the right of the screen. I was going to go with a solid core door with some weather stripping or something like that to eliminate vibration. Possible acoustic issues?

None. There’s really no reason to solid-core and weather strip it unless you’re trying to soundproof. Not commonly done for bathrooms...

No need to be concerned about vibrations either. Even in the unlikely event that does happen, it would only be during high-volume scenes. There’s no way you’ll hear it over the sound system.

Quote:

Unfortuantely there is really no other practical solution for the bathroom door.

Any reason why it couldn’t open to the storage area, or why you couldn’t reverse the room lay out?

Quote:

The shape of the room also concerns me. Probably perfect for some type of acoustic problems. Any thoughts?

I see you have a rectangular room. I’ve found the worst problem with those is that you get the best bass sitting near a wall, and the further you move towards the center of the room, the weaker the bass gets. Some bass traps might help with that. You might want to make the opening to the hallway larger. Openings in the walls seem to help smooth out bass response in many situations.

Quote:

I was planning on a dedicated power feed to the A/V rack. Should the audio and video each have a dedicated feed?

Some people like to, but I don’t see any good reason for it, unless your amps are so powerful that they tax the limits of the circuit.

Don’t know how “up” you are on dedicated circuits, but some people think it means a single outlet. You can actually have as many outlets as you need. I’d rather people did that than have a single outlet and then plug everything into cheapie power strips.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Jim Mcc · 08-23-2005, 12:29 AM

Ryan, I'm still confused about the bathroom door. Why does the entrance have to be in the HT room? What am I missing?

chris_everett · 08-23-2005, 10:40 AM

I would extend the hallway through the storage room, and have the bathroom entrance there, if possible.

Ryan_AS · 08-23-2005, 12:28 PM

Thanks for all the replys.

Regarding the power supply to the AV rack, I was thinking a dedicated 15A circuit to a few outlets. Looking at my equipment list, how much power do you think it will need at peak levels? Will 15A be enough? How do you determine peak power requirements for HT equipment seeing as how they may vary depending on use?

As far as the layout goes, let me explain. The large HT room adjoins a smaller 9x15 room stubbed for a bath at the far end. This room is such a mess with pipes, ducts and vents that finishing it is not really an good option. Access to the restroom would be through an unfinished space, practical but ugly. I want my finshed areas to blend in seamlessly (stairs, hallway, HT room, restroom). I think building a doorway to a small hallway will be the way to go.

I believe a previous post stated that acoustics would not be a an issue. How far back from the projection wall should I build the entrance? Is 3 feet enough?

Reversing the layout it would solve several problems, but then I've got a large opening to the left of the screen wall. Will this adversly affect the acoustics, and if so how?

Thanks everyone.