# Should I divide long room?



## chas (Jan 28, 2007)

Though not a dedicated space, I use part of my basement family room as a 'media room' with a 50-inch plasma and 5.1 sound. The basement is a long rectangular space, about 40 X 14 but the TV area is only about 16 X 14. This leaves a lot of room for the sound to fill and bounce around. 

Would it be worth (acoustically) putting up a wall to semi-contain the sound? Unfortunately the wall would have to be positioned so that the TV area would end up being about 15 X 14 which may be too close to the dreaded square shape. (The proposed wall is the dark gray line behind the love seat in the sketch.)


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

Unless you wanted a dedicated HT with a projector, I don't think I'd bother.


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## chas (Jan 28, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> Unless you wanted a dedicated HT with a projector, I don't think I'd bother.


Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking.
Thanks...


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

Putting a wall where you propose would mean you would be sitting right up against the back wall and 7.1 would be out of the question. That would be less than ideal. Maybe if the wall was where your dotted 14' dimension line is below the sliding door, but then you'd be wasting a bunch of usable space and that would mean less walk-around-room around your pool table. You would also miss out on having the TV or music going when playing pool unless you multi-zoned 2 more speakers into the newly formed pool room. I think spartanstew's comment is spot on.


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## chas (Jan 28, 2007)

MatrixDweller said:


> Putting a wall where you propose would mean you would be sitting right up against the back wall and 7.1 would be out of the question. That would be less than ideal. Maybe if the wall was where your dotted 14' dimension line is below the sliding door, but then you'd be wasting a bunch of usable space and that would mean less walk-around-room around your pool table. You would also miss out on having the TV or music going when playing pool unless you multi-zoned 2 more speakers into the newly formed pool room. I think spartanstew's comment is spot on.


That's a great point about moving it back to the other side of the sliding glass door. I'm not sure if that would leave a comfortable space for movement around the pool table but it would give the media room a more rectangular, less square shape. Something I'll keep in mind in case I do anything in the future. For now I'm in agreement with you and spartanstew - and the budget for that option is pretty nice as well.

Thanks for the input.


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## Cleatus (Feb 27, 2010)

i have the same issue, but i like the fact i can use the back of the room as a workout area and see the screen- prolly will jsut leave it for now


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## Tedd (Feb 2, 2007)

One little sub dealing with all that cubic volume?


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## chas (Jan 28, 2007)

Tedd said:


> One little sub dealing with all that cubic volume?


Yes..unfortunately only one sub...though I don't think it falls in the "little" category.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I think it looks like a nice room the way it is but like somone else pointed out, the wall would be best at the dotted line, you really don't want your rear seating up against the wall.:T


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## Tedd (Feb 2, 2007)

Little wasn't quite the right choice of words. 

But if you want reference levels in a large room, it takes mulitiple large subs, serious wattage, multiple drivers and some consideration given to the choice of tweeters in the speakers. Half the room volume and things get a lot less demanding. And maybe you gain some tactile feedback and you might gain a lower noise floor from a less open space. 

You could also pull the seating forward, so it isn't on the back wall. 

The real question is, are you looking to take the room to a new level of performance, or are happy with things as they are? It sounds like you want a tweak a little. The addition of a dividing wall should be a very cost effective tweak with some audio performance gains. It really sounds like the real question is, does it fit your lifestyle and how you use the room?


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

You also want to avoid making your room square. You are better off with a shoe box configuration for sound. http://www.tweakheadz.com/acoustic_room_treatment.htm


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