Constructing HT/Music Room (1 Viewer)

[Akilesh]

Hi there. I'm helping my brother build a home theater room/media/music room in a new house. The house is just in the planning phase, and it looks like there will be about 300 sq feet to play with.

I've looked through a lot of the archived threads on this topic but haven't seen any basic guide that covers all the requisite topics. Could someone please help us out? What are all the different things we need to consider?

We're looking for a plan and all the criteria we need to consider for a system:

* that will be used to play TV, movies, and music
* is able to seat 15 comfortably (is that reasonable for the space we have?)

We're thinking of a projector and a surround-sound system. Is that a good idea? What's the most painless way of going about this to get an comfortable, acoustically-superior room? How should we decide on room dimensions, layout, wiring, materials, damping, etc.?

We (I'd) rather not spend 7 lifetimes learning this stuff if at all possible , so simple consensus answers to otherwise complicated questions are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Akilesh,

> How should we decide on room dimensions <

I'll let others here comment on your video questions, but you'll learn a lot about acoustics and room dimensions in the Acoustics FAQ, second in the list on my Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

In particular, see the section that explains room modes, and also the sidebar that describes the ModeCalc program you can download (free) to see how the dimensions of a room affect its low frequency response.

--Ethan

 

[Dave Milne]

Akilesh,
Some idea of a budget will be necessary to give you much meaningful feedback. The easiest way to go about theater-building would be to call theo and order up whatever you want. Plan on about $150K for an entry-level system - complete with acoustic design/treatments. Since you're on this forum, I'm guessing that's not what you are planning to do. Still, even with DIY, you can end up spending a few $K or a few hundred $K, depending on your tastes.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

The media room we are building is roughly 370 sq ft and will seat 8. Use the information that Ethan provided, along with the plans to see what the room shape will be. That will dictate seating. Ceiling height will also play a role. Do you have the height to allow for three rows, or only two? The type of seating you use will also limit the amount of people who fit. The newer, larger theater recliners available are big seats, especially when you add the thick arm rests. Traditional theater seats are smaller and would allow more people. Couches are the cheapest option and alow people who are comfortable with each other to squeeze in.

 

[Pus Suchre]

The more I learn about this stuff, the more I realize I need to learn. Seems to me that your question, while seemingly simple, is in reality not. You might want to check out a book or two. amazon.com has a few.