# Home Theater Setup for an apartment



## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

Hey Guys, 

I was wondering if you could give me some advice. Attached is a floor plan of my living room, with my 65” Plasma TV mounted on the wall. To the right of the TV is my front door. On the wall opposite to it is a sectional. My question is how would you convert this setup to include a projector + screen? Where would I mount the projector? What the maximum size screen will I be able to use for a 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio? I was looking at a 138" Screen. Will I have the required throw distance to pull it off? I will have to get a pull down/electric screen as a fixed frame screen would be ruled out. 

Thanks again for all your input


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

For a home theatre set up using a projector and screen, I would first re-orientate the layout..Put the screen where the couch is now..
This gives you two benefits..Firstly it gives you two solid side walls (no openings) to place your L&R speakers..and the projection is not disrupted with people coming in and out of the room..

Before you decide on a screen size, place your front row seating approx. 60% of the total length, back from the front wall..Then you can mark off different screen sizes on the wall with tape to see what suits you..


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

138" is WAY too big for that room - both from a viewing angle perspective as well as just purely how much width it will take up and how far it will shove the speakers to the side wall. Something more along the line of maybe 100" would be better. You don't want to be sitting at the rear wall so figure you're going to be 10' from the screen.

Bryan


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

Prof. said:


> For a home theatre set up using a projector and screen, I would first re-orientate the layout..Put the screen where the couch is now..
> This gives you two benefits..Firstly it gives you two solid side walls (no openings) to place your L&R speakers..and the projection is not disrupted with people coming in and out of the room..
> 
> Before you decide on a screen size, place your front row seating approx. 60% of the total length, back from the front wall..Then you can mark off different screen sizes on the wall with tape to see what suits you..


Unfortunately on the other end of my room, I have only one solid side wall. The other ends up going towards the dining area/kitchen. As for moving the from row seating forward by 60%, that would make the distance to the wall 9 feet. I'll be sticking with the sectional so is there a way I can pull this off without decreasing my viewing distance?


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

bpape said:


> 138" is WAY too big for that room - both from a viewing angle perspective as well as just purely how much width it will take up and how far it will shove the speakers to the side wall. Something more along the line of maybe 100" would be better. You don't want to be sitting at the rear wall so figure you're going to be 10' from the screen.
> 
> Bryan


Hmm, so I will have to move my couch forward, but will I have to move it by 5 feet? surely I can fit rear speakers and the projector at the back within 1-2 feet? As for the screen size, you are correct 138 would be overkill. I talked to a guy and he said 120 would work. I have to figure that out


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

If I understand Bryan's point, if you go with 120" 2.35 screen, the length would be 111". Add it the width of a border and you are looking at roughly 115". With a room width of 156", you are leaving roughly 20" on either side to put your towers.

Most towers I have seen are between 9" and 13-14". That puts the edge close to the wall and makes you have to deal with quick boundary reflections. Also, you want your seating at least 2' from the back wall. As far as the distance you end up going for the seating, I would say base it upon where you sit when you go to the theater.

How is the room for light control?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

To properly set up a space you don't let the screen size drive the seating position. You put the chairs where they need to be for best acoustic performance and then get a screen that fits that distance based on your preference. Less money, brighter picture, better black levels, and better performance.

Bryan


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

bpape said:


> To properly set up a space you don't let the screen size drive the seating position. You put the chairs where they need to be for best acoustic performance and then get a screen that fits that distance based on your preference. Less money, brighter picture, better black levels, and better performance.
> 
> Bryan


Oops - I should have remembered that Bryan as that was one of the first thing you told me in my build thread! :doh:


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Still applies what you said about pushing the speakers out too close to the side walls. Another pitfally of trying to shoehorn too big a screen in a room.

Bryan


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> If I understand Bryan's point, if you go with 120" 2.35 screen, the length would be 111". Add it the width of a border and you are looking at roughly 115". With a room width of 156", you are leaving roughly 20" on either side to put your towers.
> 
> Most towers I have seen are between 9" and 13-14". That puts the edge close to the wall and makes you have to deal with quick boundary reflections. Also, you want your seating at least 2' from the back wall. As far as the distance you end up going for the seating, I would say base it upon where you sit when you go to the theater.
> 
> How is the room for light control?


The room is great for light control - the window faces a patio; and the patio has these walls that block mos of the light. I can install a curtain and completely go dark during the day if I need to. 

As for where I sit in a theather, I tend to sit in the middle section or further back depending on available seats


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

bpape said:


> Still applies what you said about pushing the speakers out too close to the side walls. Another pitfally of trying to shoehorn too big a screen in a room.
> 
> Bryan


I momentarily forgot about my front speakers. The way my living room is setup, the front right one may end up being quite close to the front door


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> If I understand Bryan's point, if you go with 120" 2.35 screen, the length would be 111". Add it the width of a border and you are looking at roughly 115". With a room width of 156", you are leaving roughly 20" on either side to put your towers.
> 
> Most towers I have seen are between 9" and 13-14". That puts the edge close to the wall and makes you have to deal with quick boundary reflections. Also, you want your seating at least 2' from the back wall. As far as the distance you end up going for the seating, I would say base it upon where you sit when you go to the theater.
> 
> How is the room for light control?


What if a transparent screen was used? Then speakers could be placed per best sound behind the screen and he could run a larger screen if he wants. Also... Does anyone make a pull down transparent screen? If there is one then he could put his tv on the same wall.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

saliv1215 said:


> Unfortunately on the other end of my room, I have only one solid side wall. The other ends up going towards the dining area/kitchen. As for moving the from row seating forward by 60%, that would make the distance to the wall 9 feet.


And at 9-10' viewing distance, a 96-100" screen would be a more appropriate size! giving you enough room to the sides of the screen for positioning your speakers..
You can't have your sectional on the back wall and still have good audio..
It's all a balance if you want the best possible audio and video reproduction in that room..


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

ellisr63 said:


> What if a transparent screen was used? Then speakers could be placed per best sound behind the screen and he could run a larger screen if he wants. Also... Does anyone make a pull down transparent screen? If there is one then he could put his tv on the same wall.


Very interesting thought - the only potential issue I could see is that you probably would not want to pull it to the floor which means that your speakers would be visible under the screen as well as anything else lower. That could be distracting from the image IMO - worth checking into though.


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

ellisr63 said:


> What if a transparent screen was used? Then speakers could be placed per best sound behind the screen and he could run a larger screen if he wants. Also... Does anyone make a pull down transparent screen? If there is one then he could put his tv on the same wall.


I think pull down transparent screens are kind of a rarity owing to the act that they are a fair bit more expensive to produce than standard screens. Also, i doubt if they make them in cinemascope format


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## Gregr (Nov 2, 2010)

Silva, You've gone quiet I hope you are considering Bryan' suggestions carefully. Joe is doing and incredible job on his theater and has a ton of experience and ideas..., very thoughtful, very knowledgeable. The Prof is on track with Bryan he has a very broad knowledge of HT building; Bryan has done this a-hundred times and knows already what will work and what you need. 

I believe you want a living-room/theater but what you asked for is a "theater" Bryan and Joe and the Prof. are going give you a Home Theater. Unfortunately for you I think your living room is going to look a little more like a theater than a living room..., unless your furniture is on wheels.

Silva I believe you can have a true HT with all of its acoustic and visual benefit with optimum placement of everything and still manage to keep the living room atmosphere. 
I am not sure how exactly how right now but am I on the right track? Because you have the people to do either idea right now, this can happen.


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

Gregr said:


> Silva, You've gone quiet I hope you are considering Bryan' suggestions carefully. Joe is doing and incredible job on his theater and has a ton of experience and ideas..., very thoughtful, very knowledgeable. The Prof is on track with Bryan he has a very broad knowledge of HT building; Bryan has done this a-hundred times and knows already what will work and what you need.
> 
> I believe you want a living-room/theater but what you asked for is a "theater" Bryan and Joe and the Prof. are going give you a Home Theater. Unfortunately for you I think your living room is going to look a little more like a theater than a living room..., unless your furniture is on wheels.
> 
> ...


I am considering bryan's suggestions as well as Prof.'s. I am changing the layout of my room, swapping the couch with where the TV is. I am going to keep my current plasma and I'm going to install a drop down electric 2.35:1 screen of 110" wide, 115" diagonal. but you are right on the fact that my living room may end up looking more like a Home Theater and I'm ok with that. I just need to see how to pull it off. With the speakers I'm going with, I need to change my layout in order to fit everything in. I'll be using the Klipsch rf-82 II as my main fronts


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## Gregr (Nov 2, 2010)

I really don't want to change your mind since you seem set on a super large screen size. I will simply say Bryan and the the Prof both suggested a 100" screen from about 9 to 10' away as appropriate viewing screen size and audio distance. These are the men that know will know. 

My guess is it is a distraction to have a screen size so large and close you need to turn your head to follow the action. In a movie where you are constantly asked to imagine or suspend judgement, it would be a distraction to have to follow the action by turning your head and refocusing you eyes. 

You know when a bad actor reads a line..., it just throws you out of the scene and makes the whole movie unbelievable. I could be wrong what doesn't work for some does for others. Just a thought


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

saliv1215 said:


> I am considering bryan's suggestions as well as Prof.'s. I am changing the layout of my room, swapping the couch with where the TV is. I am going to keep my current plasma and I'm going to install a drop down electric 2.35:1 screen of 110" wide, 115" diagonal. but you are right on the fact that my living room may end up looking more like a Home Theater and I'm ok with that. I just need to see how to pull it off. With the speakers I'm going with, I need to change my layout in order to fit everything in. I'll be using the Klipsch rf-82 II as my main fronts


OK..If you're going with a 9' wide 2.35:1 screen, you're MINIMUM viewing distance will be 11'..If it was a 16:9 screen you would have to sit even further back for that size screen..
If you sit any closer than that you will find that any close up fast action scenes in a movie will be difficult to see and follow..

With a viewing distance of 11', that only leaves 4' of spare space to fit the sofa and the mounting of the screen! Not practical!! as it leaves little space between the sofa and the back wall and certainly no room for a screen wall!

The length of your room is exactly the same as mine..I have a screen wall fitted 18" out from the front wall, with a 106" 2.39:1 CIH AT screen..I sit 9' from the screen, which just leaves enough room behind the chairs to the back wall..
That same set up would be ideal for your room...


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## saliv1215 (Sep 3, 2012)

Prof. said:


> OK..If you're going with a 9' wide 2.35:1 screen, you're MINIMUM viewing distance will be 11'..If it was a 16:9 screen you would have to sit even further back for that size screen..
> If you sit any closer than that you will find that any close up fast action scenes in a movie will be difficult to see and follow..
> 
> With a viewing distance of 11', that only leaves 4' of spare space to fit the sofa and the mounting of the screen! Not practical!! as it leaves little space between the sofa and the back wall and certainly no room for a screen wall!
> ...


Well I've ended up going with an electric drop down screen and I am going to have it installed on the same wal where my TV is at about 6 inches from the back wall. The peojector is going to go on a wall bracket on the other wall 15 feet apart and that would be another say 6 inches; so the distance from lens to screen would be 13-14 feet, and my couch with it against the back wall gives me a viewing distance of roughly 13-14 feet. I think I can pull it of, I'm having th estuff installed tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again to everyone for their valuable input.


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