Building a home, need your thoughts. (1 Viewer)

[Joshua Hintze]

Hello everybody,I'm new to these forums, but I've been searching and reading them for quite a while. I'm in the process of building my house and I have a dedicated 20x20' theater room in the basement. I've drawn over the architecture plans my thoughts on how it should be built, but I'm coming to you guys for suggestions or gotchas or what the heck where you thinking I'm attaching the drawing to this post but I'm looking specifically right now for:1. Speaker system - I plan on using closed box bookshelf speakers built into the columns/pilasters with speaker grills. Potentially the Klipsch RB-61 II for both the front L/R and side L/R. I'm also looking for the center to be built into the wall/ unfinished window opening using the Infinity Primus PC351. Finally for the back I'm looking at doing Bipolar Surrounds such as the Klipsch RS-42 II. I plan on throwing a sub in one of the corners, I'm thinking initially the back left corner. I "think" I'll be ok with just one sub, let me know if you think otherwise.2. Projector and Theater Seating - I plan on having a 1' riser with a set of Pallisar theater chairs. The front row I'm estimating to be about 9' away from the screen. The screen will be a cinescope 2.35:1 screen I'll DIY build with acoustic screen material. The back row will sit about 16.5' away from the screen. The back row will be at about a 38° field of view angle, while the front row will be at a staggering 68°. I'm a little concerned this will be too much but look to you guys for thoughts. If I shrink the screen size the back row gets even smaller.3. Atmosphere - I plan on including a star field and "crazy led" rope lighting in the tray ceiling and also in the riser lip.Anyways lets start here and see what suggestions you have.Thanks!Josh

 

[Type A]

Welcome to the forum Josh, glad you finally joined us!


First gotcha I see is speaker selection......

Have you auditioned Klipsch? Horn loaded speakers have a kinda 'in your face' presentation and its definitely a design you want to listen to first before purchase. All speakers should match in tonal balance, if you like Klipsch you should be getting a Klipsch center and not a Primus.

Speaking of Primus, great speaker and I still own a couple of pairs of 162s set up in bedrooms. However the Primus line can be fatiguing, at least that was my experience with a 362, 350 and 162 system I put together. Lining their cabinet with a sound dampening layer greatly helped the systems performance but ultimately I still found them a little fatiguing for home theater, for my taste anyway.

 

[Joshua Hintze]

Thank you for the feedback on speaker selections.

I have not auditioned Klipsch, I wish there were stores in salt lake city area that I could listen to lots of different speaker selections.

I noticed the horns and wasn't sure.

Do people have other suggestions for speaker types? I'm willing to go between $2-3K in speakers.
Are bookshelf speakers going to be enough for front's?
What about mounting of the surrounds on the rear wall's, any issues there?

Thanks again,

Josh

 

[Type A]

$3k not counting the sub? I spent $1200 on my modest pair of Hsu subs, so thats why I ask. Speaking of, I highly recommend dual subs if your budget permits. When talking dual subs its not so much about your room size, and the power required, but more about proper room response. In your sub selection you will want a good name (SVS, Outlaw, Epic, Hsu ect...), a model that reaches down below 20 Hz and has the strongest amp you can afford (the stronger the amp the faster and more impact a sub will have). Dont be drawn into a 25 Hz sub with a 500 watt amp, spend properly and get a under 20 Hz sub with a 1000+ watts on tap, its definitely juice that is worth the squeeze.

I think this should be required reading for all those building a new system. Dont neglect the additional four articles at the bottom....
http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/get-good-bass/subwoofer-connection-guide

Absolutely bookshelves will work (especially with good subs) as youll likely be crossing over all speakers at 80 Hz anyway, so a good linear response to 80 Hz is really all you are looking for. As for manufactures my favorites are PSB, Paradigm, Martin Logan Motion, and Axiom. Dont get me wrong, Klipsch is a good speaker, as long as you know what a horn-loaded speaker sounds like. You might want to post another thread in the speaker area for more specific advice and maybe owners of more modern offerings than an old av123 owner like me...

 

[Joshua Hintze]

Thanks for thoughts, I will post in the speaker forum section soon.