# Ideal Home Theatre Room Dimensions



## silntwing (Sep 27, 2013)

Hi All, 

My first post here and newbie in HT. Firstly I must say that this is a fantastic space and material that everyone is sharing!

So basically we're hoping to build our own home and have a dedicated HT room which I will gradually design and furnish with time as funds allow. As such determining the ideal room dimensions is tough given at the moment there are no (theoretical) constraints. 
:huh: So the fundamental questions are: 

1. Are there optimal room dimensions in addition to the ratios commonly published? 

2. What height should the ceiling be and is a slanting ceiling (ie. higher at the rear) desirable? 

3. Is a trapezoidal room (isosceles trapezoid) better than a rectangular one? Or one with curved walls? 

4. Given the choice, where should door/windows be positioned? Front vs. rear? Or side walls at a particular distance from front? 

I am leaning towards a room (as in diagram) for around 5-10 people with the following dimensions: 

H: 9 ft (2.7m)
W: 14.4 ft (4.3m)
L: 20.7 ft (6.2m)

Additionally, I thought it would be a good idea to curve the front 2 corner walls (as in pic) which would leave me a 2.3m wide front wall which should be just enough for a 100" projector screen. What I'm unsure of is whether this design is desirable and how it would affect the acoustics. Am I correct in assuming that this factor is only important for rear-ported speakers?

Thank you in advance for everyone's feedback / ideas. :clap:


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## cdunphy (Aug 25, 2012)

If a clean slate is what you have(lucky dog)I would search for the golden ratio for music rooms and I am pretty sure that it is 1.618 to 1 though you will find quite abit on the subject and some of it is quite confusing at least to me I would just do a rectangle as close to the ratio as possible.Most of all enjoy the process you will have almost endless desicisions to make in the building of your room you are in the right place for info so enjoy
CD 


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## silntwing (Sep 27, 2013)

cdunphy said:


> If a clean slate is what you have(lucky dog)I would search for the golden ratio for music rooms and I am pretty sure that it is 1.618 to 1 though you will find quite abit on the subject and some of it is quite confusing at least to me I would just do a rectangle as close to the ratio as possible.Most of all enjoy the process you will have almost endless desicisions to make in the building of your room you are in the right place for info so enjoy
> CD
> 
> 
> 0


Thanks mate - yes you're right. infinite decisions and the more I read, the more confused I get. Enjoying the process already which I envision will take me about a decade to complete as every step just gets more expen$ive!


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Do not build any concave curves in the room. They focus just like a lens which is not good. 

If you want to taper and have the space, sure - but 1" per foot per foot of length per wall is what is required to avoid bass issues. Can do less but the less you do, the higher in frequency it stops being effective. Most people don't have space for this kind of taper.

Ceiling - maybe and if you just worry about mids/highs.

There is no perfect room. ALL of them have modal issues - just some are 'less bad' than others. A higher ceiling is always welcome for headroom, soffits, PJ clearance, etc. - and is generally the 1 constrained dimension that the room ratio is built off of. 

All I can say is plan, plan, and plan again. Watch where outlets go - watch where doors are. Do not route HVAC lines in the ceiling area of the theater. Try to avoid water also. 

Pending which floor the theater will be on - watch location in relation to bedrooms if that could become an issue. Distance is a great noise block.

Just tons of things to consider.


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## silntwing (Sep 27, 2013)

OK - thanks for the pointers. That would make the structure cheaper to build then. Might just put my bass traps there instead - or a door behind a curved curtain.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Careful about putting the door where you show the curves. That will be right in the side wall reflection zone. Generally, the door is better off in the rear portion of the side walls as long as it doesn't interfere with side surround placement.

Bryan


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