# complete newbie from mumbai, pls help



## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Am trying to attach a layout of the room I wish to conver to a HT. Its not the ideal room, and its made worse because of a pillar. :gah: There is nothing I can do to touch the pillar so just have to work around it. dont think there is any ideal solution to the problem, but can use whatever help that is available. 
I need some sofa-bed type of seating to accomodate the occasional guest, so plan to use 2 futons which are light and can be moved around to face the screen when needed. Apart from that i guess I can only have 2+1 seating. 2 to the left of the pillar and one to the right. 
So any suggestions one can make to help me out are very welcome. 
thanks in advance.


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## jairo (Jul 3, 2008)

Welcome!! Youll see there are alot of great people here to help you out with your project. Where is this room located, in the general house or Basement? Also the type of construction would help in best setting up your room. I see you have noted (Plasma/Screen) in the area for viewing, what type of equipment are you planning on using? Projector, Plasma TV, etc. The more information you give the better everyone can assist you. Also when possible if you can add some photos of the room the better, to help you out. Again welcome!!


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Hi Jairo. Thanks for your reply. Ur right I should have included more information, so here goes.
The room is a part of a house in a apartment buliding. The equipment I have shortlisted is as below
1. Panasonic PT-AX200E LCD Projector
2. Klipsch RF-52 Speaker Set (5.1) 
3. Onkyo TX-SR705 Amplifier OR Yamaha RX-V861 Amplifier.
4. Acoustic Research 16gauge OFC Speaker Cable
5. My supplier is discouraging me from getting a screen saying a white wall is good enough, but I am not sure thats the right way to go so any comments on that will also be appreciated.

The architecht is suggesting fiber glass tiles to handle the acoustics, but that again would welcome suggestions for a room this size and type.

Not that my problems end there, there are 2 big windows and i can of course use blinds to block out the light, but has anyone had problems with windows/glass rattling?

I loved the demo of the speakers and the Projector and was sold, but cant make up my mind on the Amp as its begining to stretch my budget and the Onkyo is around $250 more than the Yamaha. Can someone guide meif its worth the extra? I will certainly add photos once i can break down the furniture in the room. We are doing up the whole house and will reach this room towards the end after couple of months, and can't wait for that.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

First of all ... Welcome :wave: :wave: :wave:



neil1 said:


> ... Its not the ideal room, and its made worse because of a pillar. :gah: There is nothing I can do to touch the pillar so just have to work around it. dont think there is any ideal solution to the problem, but can use whatever help that is available...


Is there any other room you can use for the HT??? ... or is this the best room???



> ... So any suggestions one can make to help me out are very welcome.
> thanks in advance.


Like Jairo said ... picture will help a lot :yes:

Do you know if the sketch you posted is made to scale??? ... (to try to figure out the furniture dimensions, room appears to be around 11.5' x 14.5') ... What is the size of the pilar??? ... How far into the room is the pilar??? ... Is that a window next to the plant???

There's a lot of people with knowledge that will help you get out the best of your room ... :yes:

If there's no better way to set up the HT other than the sketch you have ... I'm affraid you'll have to move to another place :bigsmile: :whistling: (Sorry, I couldn't resist :hide


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Hey, thanks so much for the welcome. Hehe, yessss thats the onlyyy room I can use. Been trying to convince the wife to exchange it with my bedroom, but so far haven't succeeded. Yes, the drawing is pretty much to scale except for the pillar part. Its little less than 10 feet into the room. There is about 5'3 inches on one side of the pillar and about 4-1/2 feet on the other side of the pillar. The pillar itself is about 15-18 inches wide and 12 inches in depth. Yes, there is a window next to the plant. dont think i will manage to have plats in this room.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

neil1 said:


> 1. Panasonic PT-AX200E LCD Projector


Are you still getting the plasma??? ... or just the projector???



> 3. Onkyo TX-SR705 Amplifier OR Yamaha RX-V861 Amplifier.


I saw the specification online ... Onkyo is capable of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoding and Yamaha is not (you need 863 for that I think); this will matter if you're planning to get a BlueRay player for HD DVD's.... that's the difference in the price :yes:



> 4. Acoustic Research 16gauge OFC Speaker Cable


What is the price of that wire??? ... here in the U.S. we have Monster cable (is a brand) that is very expensive. You don't really need to pay a lot of money for speaker wire; if you have a store that sells lamp wire (yes, wire for lamps) you can use it too ... if you can get 14 gauge for the same price it will be better :bigsmile:



> 5. My supplier is discouraging me from getting a screen saying a white wall is good enough, but I am not sure thats the right way to go so any comments on that will also be appreciated.


I don't own a projector (I use a DLP rear projection TV); but I've been reading this forum for at least two years ... I've read that you can use the wall as a screen, but if you're wall has some imperfections "they will show in the picture" ... so, if you can get a screen "Get it" to be safe :yes:



> ... The architecht is suggesting fiber glass tiles to handle the acoustics, but that again would welcome suggestions for a room this size and type....


Do you know what kind??? ... I use what we call accoustic panels, they're made of fiberglass or rockwool, but are at least 2" thick (24"x48"x2"); you have to start with the first reflection points (when the times come, there's a section with experts on accoustics that will be glad to help you) :T

Don't worry about the 2 big windows , you'll get help for that in the accoustic forum too.

Good Luck


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

1. My heart is set on the projector, am just not able to figure out yet, how big a screen size I will be able to accomodate, but yesss If I can i will certainly go for the projector.
2. Yess, i will get a Blue Ray player, if not now then a few months later, so i guess that swings it for the Onkyo. i personally preferred the Onkyo tooo, so thanks that helps me make up my mind. 
3. He has quoted me around $150 for the wire, so thats not too bad is it? He estimates I will need around 76 meters of the wire. But will still check out the normal lamp wires as suggested by you. 
4. I think what i will end up doing is add the screen in the end so i will get an idea of the screen size i will need once the rest of the room is set up. But in the meantime does anyone know whats the best treatment/paint one should use if I dont install a screen?
5. Will certainly read up and post on the acoustics section to get all the help possible with the windows. 
Thanks for the luck and the helpful comments.  i need it.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi Neil, Welcome to the Shack. 
David is so far 100% correct. Looking at your diagram you will have seating just over 6' from the display so this limits your screen size to no more than 90". If you go larger you will have the same feeling as sitting in the front row of you local theater.
Your projector location is not ideal as it will not be center on the screen. You would have to move the screen over to the right if you wanted the projector in that spot not to mention very few projectors at that distance will give you an image of 90". Can you mount the projector from the ceiling farther back?


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

neil1 said:


> 1. My heart is set on the projector, am just not able to figure out yet, how big a screen size I will be able to accomodate, but yesss If I can i will certainly go for the projector...


This will help you calculate the size http://www.projectorcentral.com/Panasonic_Home-PT-AE200U-projection-calculator-pro.htm and this is to calculate the riser height so is not to low or to high http://www.theater-calc.com/



> 3. He has quoted me around $150 for the wire, so thats not too bad is it? He estimates I will need around 76 meters of the wire. But will still check out the normal lamp wires as suggested by you.


76 meters seems a lot to me (around 253 feet) ... but, it will depend on your set up, how far the speakers will be from equipment ... check around for prices ... here we can get a 100' roll for about $20 :bigsmile: ... if you don't have a lot of option to find speaker wire, this company maybe able to help (I think they can ship overseas but with the shipping rates it may not be worth it http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239) ... 250' (75mts) for $56.00+ :yes:



> 4. I think what i will end up doing is add the screen in the end so i will get an idea of the screen size i will need once the rest of the room is set up. But in the meantime does anyone know whats the best treatment/paint one should use if I dont install a screen?


Sorry can help with screen, but for the walls is recommended to go with neutral colors ... if you use light colors, you'll get a lot of reflection from walls when using the projector :yes:



> 5. Will certainly read up and post on the acoustics section to get all the help possible with the windows.


Here is an example of a member that covered his window ... I don't know if you want to go this route or not http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-audio-acoustics/9610-blocking-out-window.html

Before I forget, to get the best movie experience you need to center your seats (it seems hard in your situation, specially in the back) but, if you can try to use the front couch in the middle an make it your sweet spot; maybe you can move the chair on the left :huh:


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## jairo (Jul 3, 2008)

Good point Tony. Neil, is there any way to recess the projector into the wall directly in the center of the room? As Tony stated the area you show for the projector is indeed not good! Also the worst thing you can do is oversize the screen, my brother went to the extreme of making the screen as big as he could and let me tell you, its the worst experience to watch a movie on a screen that is not suited for the area and seating area you have at your disposal. Watching movies at my brothers house is like trying to focus on a plane when it flies overhead, very awkward and you cannot focus on the Big Picture...jajjaja, as we say and end up missing a lot of important aspects of the movie cause you cannot focus correctly. I have 2 windows in mine as well, but you´ll see that that is a very small obstacle by far , David can back me up on that one, Dave has helped me out alot so far on my room and its made some dramatic changes. You can check it out if you like.:jiggy:http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...struction/11849-new-home-theater-project.html


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

tonyvdb said:


> Your projector location is not ideal as it will not be center on the screen. You would have to move the screen over to the right if you wanted the projector in that spot not to mention very few projectors at that distance will give you an image of 90". Can you mount the projector from the ceiling farther back?


Tony is correct...Your seating position and screen needs to be moved to the right..
Also screen size is going to be very limited at that viewing distance..and If you want to have the big screen viewing experience, then you may have to lose the back row..

The other thing is, with the current position for the front seating , you will have an imbalance with the surround speakers..The left side being too close to the seats..

Unfortunately with the obstructions in that room, it's going to be a compromise situation at best..


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## jairo (Jul 3, 2008)

NEIL, Have you decided on the projector? Depending on the seating arrangement and location the size of your screen will be very limited on size. Another alternative would be going with a nice plasma, budget pending , of course. I recently helped a friend whom was set on a projector and we toyed with random setups in his house using a borrowed projector and could not come up with a suitable location due to the awkwardness of his room , not too far from the way yours is, and we saw that it be better he went with a plasma, he went and bought the LG 50PG60 Plasma TV 50 in. HDTV (THX certified) And it looks like a much bigger screen than it really is and man does it look awesome. And has also hooked it up on a swivel wall plate just in case he decided to sit in different sections of the room. These are fairly inexpensive. If you decide to still go the route of the projector the best paint I have seen so far is Screen Goo. Remember that any inperfections in the wall will stick out like a sore thumb when used in conjunction with a projector. So you want to make sure the entire area of projection is completely free of any dents,cracks, buldges, etc.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

jairo said:


> If you decide to still go the route of the projector the best paint I have seen so far is Screen Goo.


And very expensive, There are far cheaper and just as good options listed in our Projector Screens | DIY Screens threads have a look before going out and spending alot of cash on other screen paints. You can easily paint a great screen for less than $60.


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## jairo (Jul 3, 2008)

Tony is very correct, there are just as good options out there, and cheaper. Just went off of what was available here in costa rica. Sorry about that. Check to see what else is available and in your area as well. Here in costa rica that is the only type they import and the others paints do not spread well enough to leave a smoth flawless finish.


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks guys, you have been truly helpful, specially the links which salvasol gave and after all the inputs from jairo, tony and prof, how does it seem if i put a roll down screen where the wardrobe is? Covering the bathroom door? Is it a problem if the screen is not flush against the wall? because there will be a slight gap between the left side of the screen and the bathroom door. 
The room is about 7' in width there and I will get 14'9" in length. So I guess I can atleast get a 90' screen?
I can have 3 recliners on the rise and a sofa bed for 2 in front of the rise which can be turned with back to the wall when i want to use it as a bedroom. 
Of course biggest question would also be the front 2 speakers. One could be to the right of the screen, slightly shielded by the pillar and the other on the left to the right of the main entrance. 
any suggestions pls?


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## jairo (Jul 3, 2008)

Is the bathroom door going to be used at all? If someone has to go to the bathroom is is not ideal to cover it. Also I would suggest NOT placing the speakers in any area that may cover or take away from the sound field of the speakers, if the pillar in any way is going to prevent the sound from the right front speaker you will not get the sound field dispersal as you would require to get the full surround effect. Can the right front speaker and left front speakers be placed in the same positions in front of the pillar possible in a higher position than the floor? Wall mounted? Just a thought:huh: I have also seen one here in costa rica where depending on the material of the screen the front speakers were placed behing the screen in equal spots and did not take away from the sound. Also depending on the space behind the screen , permitting.


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Well, the bathroom door will be used very rarely, but i was also planning to get the motorised screen so that it stays up most of the time, comes down only when we sit for a movie. That should be ok right? 
I dont think there will be any space for the front speakers in front of the pillar, but i do have little over 4 feet between the wall and the pillar where i plan to place the speaker, slightly angled towards the sweet spot. Think there should still be a problem? While on speakers not sure if i have mentioned it earlier, but am favoring the Klipsch RF 52 series. Wall mounted might be better choice considering the layout of the room but after hearing these can't think of anything else within my budget of course.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

This is my idea ... but, you need to measure your furniture, room, etc. to see if everything will work out :bigsmile:









I'm not an expert on projector/screen combos ... but I think the biggest screen you probably can use is a 70" (hope somebody will recommend the right size for you :yes:

I'm focusing on making the front row the sweet spot, if you want you can also use the three seats on the back row, and use the two chair and love seat in the front (room is wider there :yes.

I forgot to add this: for the window you can make some accoustic panels to hang in front of the window, or use heave curtain/drapes to avoid audio problems (is not the ideal place to have speakers, but ....)


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Hey salvasol, think ur layout is perfect except for the single seater on the right side. The pillars such, that just wont work, but hv given ur layout to the architecht to place exact chairs etc and should get a plan from her in a day or two i can put up here. 
thanks a ton.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

neil1 said:


> Hey salvasol, think ur layout is perfect except for the single seater on the right side. The pillars such, that just wont work, but hv given ur layout to the architecht to place exact chairs etc and should get a plan from her in a day or two i can put up here.
> thanks a ton.


I'm glad everything is working for you :yes:

Good Luck :T


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Neil1:

Any news for us??? ... Don't forget to share pictures of your HT :yes:


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## neil1 (Jun 3, 2008)

Hey salvasol! Sorry for the silence, but had been out of the country for a bit and also work at home has been suspended as the architecht is also out of town. It will probably be atleast a month till work can be started on the room, but promise to share pictures and post feedback. Thanks so much.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

neil1 said:


> Hey salvasol! Sorry for the silence, but had been out of the country for a bit and also work at home has been suspended as the architecht is also out of town. It will probably be atleast a month till work can be started on the room, but promise to share pictures and post feedback. Thanks so much.


:T


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