# Building a House - HT Sound and Construction Advice Needed



## DonnieV (Feb 18, 2010)

Hey guys
I'm new to the form and already I've found a wealth of information that is very useful so thanks to everyone already. Just wanted to run this by everyone to get some recommendations. My situation is this, I am building a new house and it's a split entry style and the down stairs rec room is going to be my home theater set up/manland. I would like a really sharp modern look basically. I have a 52" Samsung Plasma TV. I currently have the TV on a very nice (but bulky) TV stand in my apartment but when I move into my new place I'd like to wall mount the television. I use HDMI cables and get a really good picture I am happy with so that won't be a problem. I plan on having a media closet, either open style or glass covered, which would vent to the wide open utility space behind the HT. Finally, I plan on having a dark color paint + dark flooring with recessed pot lights (ideally on a remote dimmer). The room is roughly 13X20. The HT would predominantly be used for watching Blu-rays, Sports and playing XBox.

Ok so that being said, the area I am quite clueless about is the Surround Sound system. I don't have one currently yet but will definitely have one for the HT. I know some general stuff about speaker placement but nothing yet about amps/receiveers etc. So, finally my questions:
1) Any recommendations for center speaker placement with a wall mounted plasma TV. I didn't really want to put a stand there for it but I wasn't sure what choice I had. I've been reading in-wall speakers aren't so hot.
2) In a rectangular shaped room, any recommendations for what side to place the TV against (longer side vs shorter side), both acoustics-wise and aesthetics-wise or is it all personal preference?
3) Any recommendations in general to make this project better! Any and all ideas welcome.

Thanks in advance for the responses and taking the time to read this novel, haha. Also, price isn't an issue when it comes to the surround sound or any other perks with the HT (I'm not rich but I've saved and this is important to me). Thanks again.

Donnie
Home Theater Noobie


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Congrats. 

1. A lot depends on how high you'll mount it. Normally, going below would be better as I assume the monitor will be a bit higher on the wall. In-walls are like everything else, there are good ones and not so good ones. Unfortunately, more of the not so good. Good ones just cost more (surprise). Snell, Revel, and Dynaudio make some very nice inwalls

2. A lot depends on the room layout. If you can post a pic, that would help. In general, you'd like to have things on the short wall firing down the long dimension as long as the room isn't really long and narrow or if it would cause symmetry problems left to right in front of you.

3. Kinda wide open there. Plan for as much isolation as you can. Keeping your ambient noise floor down will help a lot with apparent dynamic range and clarity. Keeping light under control will help a lot with video performance and contrast.

Bryan


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

I'm sure you've been to a really good theater before. Think of your favorite theater. How is it laid out? For some folks sound quality is less important than configuration. How long do you plan to stay in the house? 

I'll defer to Glen on the appropriate construction methods used to isolate. But do be sure to get a good sound proof door. Doors are notorious for sound transmission. 

As far as seating goes. I prefer the narrow long room. with a screen on the short wall. Seating around 2/3 of the way from the screen. For speakers I suggest Behringer 2030p's you can get 4 pairs for about 500 bucks. I assume you are a newb and so these speakers maybe the best ones you'll have heard. Don't let the price trick you they have high build quality and are used in a lot of studios to actually mix the stuff you hear. I'd place the tv at your eye level up. This will allow you to recline a bit and allow you to place your speakers all at sitting height in the front. I watch a much larger display at this height and it is very comfortable. 

You'll have a spare Behringer, but it's never bad to have an extra in case some accident happens(kid decides to do surgery on one)

Now you have the tv and speakers. I suggest for the receiver the marantz 4002 from accessories4less.com it's only 300 dollars and has all you'll need for great blu-ray watching. Don't get waste money on an expensive receiver. You want the most bang for your buck so you can have some great subs. I suggest you get 2 of them. So get the best 2 you can get and then you will have all you need for audio setup. For cables monoprice.com is the best and it's inexpensive. Avoid monster and bose. They are high markup companies. They are selling you a cheap product at a ridiculously high price. 

SVS is where you'd be best to get your sub. Dependable and high quality. Their speakers aren't bad either, but the Behringers are such a good deal I'd not choose anything else commercially. 

If your handy with woodworking then we could always do a DIY project. I enjoy this type of work(when weather permits) If interested stop on by our DIY forum. It is a lot of work so enter with caution.


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## DonnieV (Feb 18, 2010)

Thanks for the information guys. It's a big help already. Once I get a hold of the blueprints I'll post it as well. To answer the follow-up question, I plan on staying in the house for a very long time, it's more of a home home as opposed to starter home. I definitely will be mounting the center speaker below the screen, just not sure how I want it set up there. I am planning for the isolation and sound-proofing as well.

I'm handy electronically but not handy with woodworking so my contractor will be taking care of all of that. Great recommendations though cause as mentioned I am a sound noob. I'll keep you posted when I get the prints.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

The SVS will be fine for a sub. If you want to step up, you can investigate Mark Seaton at Seaton Sound. Makes some oustanding beasts.

As for speakers, that's a lot of personal preference. A lot also depends on if you just want HT/TV or if you'll be doing a lot of music listening. Some brands to look at:

SVS
Paradigm
PSB

My personal favs for good performance at a reasonable price are Ascend Acoustics. 

Bryan


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## DonnieV (Feb 18, 2010)

Thanks again Bryan, it will mainly be for HT/TV purposes. I'll be checking in on all the brands recommended.


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## owlfan12000 (Jul 2, 2007)

Donnie V,

I look forward to learning more about your home. I'm also working on a new home design. I'd like to play devil's advocate with the placement of your screen on the 13 foot wall and see what Lsiberian and Bryan have to say about my comments. 

You haven't commented on how you expect to arrange you seating or how many seats you plan to have. I've been using this viewing distance calculator look at where to place chairs and screen size, http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html. If you place your seating 2/3 of the way down the 20 foot wall you would be at about 13 feet from the screen. I entered the 13 foot viewing distance and the 52 inch screen in this calculator. Here are the results: - 

All of the values say you are too far away from the screen. The numbers here say you should probably be 6 to 8 feet from a 52" screen. If you only have one row of seats I suspect you will find you want to sit closer for you viewing than 13 feet. If you do it seems like there is going to be a lot of room behind you.

I would suggest you take a look at how you would expect to put your furniture in the room before you decide. If you are looking at new theater seating make sure you check out theater seating section of the site, http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-seating-accessories/. You can get dimensions of the Berkline chair sets there.

As for the placement of the center speaker you might want to think twice about any permanent mounting. You noted that you plan on being in this house for a long time. You may be really happy with your 52" plasma now but you may find you want to move to a projector and bigger screen later. Permanent installation of the center speaker may be problematic if you do. 

You might also consider prewiring for a projector even though you have no plans for one now. The added cost would be minimal now but a lot more difficult later especially if your split level home has another living area above the theater room.

You should take my thoughts with a grain of salt because I have zero practical experience with any of this. There are others in this forum including Bryan and Lsiberian whose opinion should probably carry a lot more weight.

On final comment unrelated to your home theater. My wife and I are in our early fifties so we are making a number of minor changes to the standard plans we have looked at to address potential aging issues. Many of these changes are easy if they are designed into a home but hard to add later. A good example is 36" doors and wider hallways, it's fairly easy to design these things into a home now. At this time they aren't necessary but we'll be glad we did it if we end up using a walker or a wheelchair. If you want to know more about that PM me and I'll send you some more info. Or google "Universal Design" and you'll get a lot of information.


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## DonnieV (Feb 18, 2010)

owlfan12000 said:


> Donnie V,
> 
> I look forward to learning more about your home. I'm also working on a new home design. I'd like to play devil's advocate with the placement of your screen on the 13 foot wall and see what Lsiberian and Bryan have to say about my comments.
> 
> ...


Excellent Advice!!! There definitely will only be one row of seating and I'm thinking loveseat + recliner but nothing is set in stone just yet. Still have a lot to think about. I value all your opinions greatly so don't worry about the zero practical experience. You made a very good point about having a lot of extra space behind the seating which is why my girlfirend and I are thinking this may be a multi purpose area first. Since posting originally, I definitely decided against permanently mounting the center speaker for the reason you mentioned (plus I checked out some pictures of peoples HT set up on the site and it looked veryyyy sharp on stands or floor placed, don't know why I thought it would look out of odd in the first place). 

I definitely plan on prewiring for the projector cause I'm sure I will want to go that route at some point. I also like the idea of having the screen in front of my plasma tv but I'll save that topic for the future. It wouldn't be too difficult to change from multi purpose manland to full on home theatre mode if I plan for it in the building stage (ie - sound proofing, wiring, etc) I think! Reason I say that is cause light control won't be an issue in the room.

Today is the day I meet the contractor and get to see the plans for the first time too. Reason I know about the layout already is because we got a chance to look inside a finished house that has the same floor plans (built by the same contractor).


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## DonnieV (Feb 18, 2010)

Oh and thanks again for the links.


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## DonnieV (Feb 18, 2010)

It's been a while since I've posted in my thread but I'm at the rough-in stage of things now. I have pre-wired everything already so I know the painting question is going to creep up on me soon. The HT room is actually going to be more multi-purpose than dedicated but the Missus has given me the green light for some darker colors and even painting the ceiling if need be!!:R

I was forced to put the tv on the long wall, which means there are no walls to the sides that would reflect light from the tv. So, if anyone has any advice for paint schemes for multi purpose rooms that would be very beneficial (ie - dark walls/light ceiling, lighter walls/dark ceiling, dark everything, etc). The advice has been a huge help thus far.

Where it is multi-purpose and not dedicated, having black as a paint color anywhere is not going to happen.:hissyfit:


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