# 12x18 Room: Help w/Speaker placement, projector Q



## HT2010 (Mar 6, 2010)

We are in the process of building our first home theater, with the help of a general contractor. Our electronic budget is limited (hoping in the future we may upgrade) so we have tried as best we can to read all the various forums and posts, but we are stuck on speaker placement, projector size and projector mounting (I guess we read different ideas on how to do but not so sure those ideas apply to our situation).

We have a 12x18 basement room with no issues on ambient light. The screen will be viewed on the 12' wall, but there is a two foot soffit hanging on one of the 18' wall (left side of room), which limits the screen size. We decided last minute to build a riser to give us the ability for two rows of seating (10' and 15'). Our plans are to have 5.1 now (but wire for 7.1)

Fortunately or unfortunately, we bought the projector and speakers and receivers already so we are trying to see what can work in our room.

Questions:
1. Speaker placement (Energy Micros) - should I hang the front speakers on the wall with screen (which appears to be what most people do) or near the corners, about a foot away on the side wall and towards the listening area (recommended by someone with experience on HT)? Does it matter that the center channel is mounted on the wall, above the screen and not on same plane as front left and right?

I had called Energy and the guy was not too helpful - he said it would work either way but sounded very noncommittal.

2. Screen size: Original thought was 92", but considering 100". Will this be too much for viewing? I have looked at the calculators and it appears we are fine with going as large as 100", but again someone suggested that it is too big for room and seating position.

3. Mounting projector (Viewsonic Pro1800): Because we are mounting on ceiling and the location will be where the riser is, we want to mount as close as possible to ceiling (maybe 3-4" to not bump any tall person's head). Using the lens shift, I believe we can still view the screen about 3' off the ground and 1 foot from the ceiling. Is mounting the unit this close to the ceiling a problem? 

I am sure there are alot more questions, but I hope you all can help. Sorry, I have no pics, but could try and draw the plans. THANKS for any input!


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## mrloofer (Mar 27, 2010)

I'm sure others will chime in with more accurate information but these are my opinions based on experience:

1. Center speaker is fine above the screen and that's where I plan on putting mine in my new HT.

2. Screen size: 100" should be fine at 10 feet. I am currently watching movies on a 120" screen at 10 feet and it does have that front-row theater experience but with 100" you should be fine, even maybe 106" would be fine, especially with 1080p content. My suggestion would be to mount the PJ and throw it up on your wall and try and gauge what you are comfortable with. Even better would be to hook it up to a blu ray player and play some 1080p content (like Avatar which IMO is the best transfer I've EVER seen on Blu Ray to date). View it at various screen sizes and seating positions and choose one that works for you.

3. Your model projector can be mounted anywhere on the ceiling between 16.6' and 10.3' as it has quite a long throw range, and since it has lens shift you can mount it at any height in relation to the screen (within reason).

Hope this helps.


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## HT2010 (Mar 6, 2010)

Thanks mrloofer for your input. I will test the screen size with a blu ray movie (may head to the store soon to buy Avatar - great movie!).

In terms of the front left and right speakers, I have read that you should never place them in or near the corners, but a "HT guy" who was recommended to us thinks the best placement is a foot or two hung in front of the projection wall and mounted on the side wall and hung near the ceiling (6 1/2' on a 8' wall due to the soffit on one wall). 

In addition, the rears were also suggested to place at the corners in the back walls.

I have not been able to find anyone else's posts that have their speaker placement in this 5.1 setup, so I am a little concerned.


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

HT2010 said:


> Thanks mrloofer for your input. I will test the screen size with a blu ray movie (may head to the store soon to buy Avatar - great movie!).
> 
> In terms of the front left and right speakers, I have read that you should never place them in or near the corners, but a "HT guy" who was recommended to us thinks the best placement is a foot or two hung in front of the projection wall and mounted on the side wall and hung near the ceiling (6 1/2' on a 8' wall due to the soffit on one wall).
> 
> ...


Ideally the fronts should not be in the corners. With a 100" screen, you should have plenty of room to place them to the sides of the screen at about ear height.

There are no "rears" in a 5.1 set-up. The surround speakers should be to the side of the seating area (or slightly behind) and facing each other. Since you are having two rows of seating, I would place them at about the 11' mark. And they should be about 6' high.

You'll want the wiring for your additional rears (7.1) to be on the back wall, also about 6' high.


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

Fronts should be just beside the screen and the center channel should be at about the same level as the tweeters in the front speakers. The tweeters in the front three speakers should point at or close to the same level as your ears in the main seating position. That gives seamless pans between speakers.

The surround speakers should be at 90 to 110 degrees of the main seating position and above your ears. Some say at the level of your ears as if you were standing.

As for mounting your projector: It all depends on how it vents itself and what the manufacturer recommends (should be in the manual). Most are designed to work on a table top so it shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure it can receive fresh air and exhaust its warm air away from itself.


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