HT room (1 Viewer)

[Hank_B]

Greetings everyone. This is my first post.

I am building a HT room that is 13'w X 21'L. The rear wall is going to be the enterance door, equipment racks, and shelves.
What ceiling height should I use?
Should I go with a 5.1 setup with bi-poles on either side of the seating area?
Or is a 7.1 setup superior to 5.1 and then were would I place the rear surrounds?
I am planning two rows of seating with a 7" riser for the second row.
Also concerning subs - should I go with two subs located on either side of the screen?

Thanks for any insight as I continue my reading of the tons of info on this site (amazing)

Is there also a way of attaching pics on these posts? I have a floorplan jpg of the HT room.

 

[Travis_R]

Personally I would go with as high a ceiling as possible, nothing crazy but in my opinion 9 feet is optimal, as far as the stereo, once again I personally would get a 6.1 or 7.1, Yes I know that the majority of movies are still 5.1 but nonetheless I think that a 5.1 soundtrack sounds better on a 6.1 or 7.1 system. On your Riser for your second row, from what I have read you want to be more around the 10 inch region and in doing some measuring of my own by setting one couch behind the other, I think that 10 is a better choice

 

[Mark McGill]

Riser height really depends on factors such as screen height, distance from the screen and whether or not the seating is the reclining type or fixed back.

Simple way is to find out the bottom of your screen, then have someone sit in your first row and now take a string from the bottom of the screen over the head of the first row person and at the distance where the second row will be, measure height. Now measure height of first row persons head and subtract that from the second row measurement. The diff is your riser height.

As for the subs, you will find almost as many opinions as people. Personally I went with one sub in the front tuned to 20hz and one in the back tuned to 16hz. This was due to a uniquely shaped room. In an optimal room I would go one on each side of the screen for starters. I know some people say they will cancel each other out but I would still try.

As for sound go with the 7.1. If you don't like it you can always just put plates over the rear jacks. I use all bi-poles for the rears but most people say bi-poles for the side and direct for the rear. It is all up to interpetation. Good luck.

 

[FredBI]

That seems to be a nice project. You should try to have a 6.1 or 7.1 system.
Good luck!
Fred