my journey building a custom home theater (1 Viewer)

[chadaga]

Hello Everyone!!

Glad to be here and excited to share my journey in building a home theater.

My name is Srisha, and I am currently based in Orlando, Florida. We moved to the US in August last year from Singapore. My work has taken me to different places and hence have experienced different cultures and places. We lived in Singapore for over 12 years, in Germany for a few years and now to the United States of America. Hopefully to stay here for many years to come.

I have been an audiophile for over 20 years now and have always loved great speakers, music and movies. Whether it is listening in the car or at home, or at work, I have always enjoyed good equipment.

My journey with dedicated home theater started in 2007, when I built my first dedicated home theater, that was a great learning experience with humble beginnings…. My set up then just included a simple Wharfedale 9.6 diamond series and a Yamaha received, including a Optoma HD65 projector. This was my set up in Bangalore, India

I moved to Singapore in 2011, due to lack of space, I had to settle with a living set up that included SVS ultra towers, center, surrounds and Atmos speakers, powered by Marantz 8012 AVR and Cyrus monobloc firing the LCR speakers, and XTZ A2 300 firing the surrounds, and a SVS SB 3000 sub-woofer.

I recently purchased a home in Orlando, and I have a loft area which is 20ft x 15, which I am planning to build a home theater. It has walls on 3 sides and on the other side it has stairs that are not going to be fully closed, I don’t like to completely close this but keep it open, so that it looks spacious and not cluttered with walls on all sides.

I have to now decide on the acoustic panels, bass traps, dampeners and other treatment to make it sound nice, and also aesthetically look. The following design elements are considered –

• Darker shade for the front wall, where the fixed screen is going to be placed
• Darker shade and some elements for the ceiling, including a starry sky (fiber optics?)
• Acoustic panels on the sides, and rear to diffuse sound deflections.
• Flooring will be carpeted.
• Seating – haven’t decided yet whether recliners or just some cozy couches.
• Riser for the second-row seating, this will be 5 ft from the rear wall
• Choice of Audio and Video equipment are yet to be finalized; however, the following is considered and I would seek your advice on the right choice of equipment-
• Loft area is already pre-wired for 5.2.4, I might add side surrounds later, all speaker wires and video cables are going to terminate in a separate room for the media center, I plan to use this to control and house all the equipment’s for the home theater and living room speakers

Equipments

• LCR – yet to decide if I am going to have a in-wall speakers or tower speakers – I am considering JBL Synthesis, Revel, Paradigm or KEF speakers as some options.
• Subwoofers are going to be SVS Ultra PB16s
• Projector & screen – yet to decide, I am going to look for a decent 4K laser projector. Would appreciate any recommendations for the projector and screen. I would also love to get a fixed screen size of 150”, how would you measure the size based on my room size of 20x15 ft? Ceiling height being 9-10 ft. How big can I go with the screen?
• AVR Processor – I am keen on getting separates, and not an integrated receiver. Since I am going to be using some powerful speakers, I would definitely power them us with 250-300 watts power amps, especially for the LCR and some minimal power for the surrounds and Atmos speakers.

Happy to be here and looking forward to engaging with the forum members to learn and avoid some pitfalls, from your experience….

Finally, some pictures of the loft area, where the theater is going to be….

PS: I would appreciate if you had any recommendations for custom home theater builders in Orlando area, I would need some help with design elements and installation.

Cheers!! Srisha

 

[chadaga]

Some pictures of the loft area under construction

 

[JohnRice]

Personally, I wouldn't do in-wall speakers. They are far too much of a compromise.

I also tend to hesitate regarding installers. They want to sell you the equipment they offer, and usually are not very concerned about the performance of the system. People hire them for "invisible" systems. Not good ones.

I also find the pre-wired setups are rarely done correctly. A 5 channel surround setup should have side surrounds, then you add rears for 7 channel. Not having any side surrounds doesn't produce a good soundfield.

Finally, don't overlook sealed subwoofers. I have dual SB-16s in a room a bit larger than yours, and they are capable of plenty of output, with a lower cost, smaller footprint, and without the possibility of port noise when stressed.

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Hello Srisha, welcome back to the US and glad you joined us on Home Theater Forum!

I like everything you said and are planning. The 150" 16x9 aspect ratio screen is a perfect size for your room size and the overall picture quality and performance.

I do agree with JohnRice's suggestion to go with the floor standing speakers and not go with recessed speakers. No labor with tower speakers and the best performance.

My personal favorite long throw projector brands are Sony and JVC and they have several choices starting at $5,000 and going up to $25,000, with several models in between. Considering all of the other items you will be purchasing for the audio what price range is best for you to spend on the 4K HDR projector?