# Working on layout for a small & simple home theater in a 13x9 attic space



## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

Well here it goes. I know that my set up isn't the greatest or that some people may not call it a home theater, but I have done the best I can with what I have. 
Here is my current equipment-

Mitsubishi 57" DLP 1080p tv
Harmon Kardon AVR 254 7.1 full HD HDMI receiver
JBL PB10 powered sub (oldie but a goodie, lol)
Boston Acoustics center channel (can't remember part number offhand)
2 Polk monitor 30's for front stage
4 Boston Micro 110x's for my surround channels (soon to be monitor 30's)
Vista home premium 32bit HTPC, Lite-on Blu-ray drive, Asus Zonar HDAV 1.3 slim Full HDMI HD audio bitstreaming. 


Ok, so I am working with an attic space slightly over 13' long by 9' wide, the walls go straight up for 46" then they pitch at an angle toward the ceiling. I intend to use a la-z-boy reclining loveseat as my main seat. I have never done 7.1 before, had a pretty decent Yamaha and boston acoustics 5.1 before, and I am looking for help with layout and alignment of the speakers, where they should go, wire gauge for the length and such things. It is a rental house, so I wont really be doing any acoustic treatments or anything, except for adding some sound dampener to the door up to the attic and a quality weather seal around it to try to help keep some of the sound in. I am able to mount the speakers on the walls, I have the owners permission to use E-z ancor drywall ancors, and have 4 heavy duty adjustable mounting brackets.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

In that small of a space, 7.1 is not going to buy you very much that 5.1 doesn't already deliver. My room is 11' by 19' and I only have a 4.1 (no center either) running with great results.

It may just save you some wiring hassles if you skip the two side walls.

As for proper 7.1 placement, 2 on the sides, 2 in the rear and then the front three. If you had a quick drawing of the floor plan and door spacing we could see any potential pitfalls.

And for wire runs, on-wall conduit is pretty cheap and works well. Home Depot and Lowes have it, although theirs is not as pretty as some others. Searching for cable raceway or cable channel should yield some online alternatives.

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I agree with Anthony, thats a very cozy space and going with 5.1 is going to give you all the sound you need. There is only about 6 BluRay movies that have 7.1 encoded audio and the difference in a small space is negligible.


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I am not good with any of the drawing programs, But I will have my friend help me out. it is actually a full length attic, but one half will be my bedroom, so I have allotted 13' as the length. that comes just out past the opening and ledge where the stairs come up. there are no doors at the top of the attic, just at the bottom of the steps. I have actually already ordered 45' of Cordmate cord channel 1/2", got it on amazon for $2.37 for 5'. It is flat white and paintable, and I have the paint for the apartment, so that will be good. I also already have 100' of monster 14g thx speaker wire, it was used for my old setup, but the runs were really long , so I should be able to make do with what I have

I know you guys don't recommend it, but I really would like to at least set up the full 7.1, I actually found the list of movies in 7.1, there are 108 so far.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

There is no real reason not to go 7.1, it is just that it really does not make a difference in such a relativity small space.
The big issue is seating position, you need to have about 3' of space behind the back seats in order for the rear channels to be useful.


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I am wondering if it will help to get you guys a couple photos, bc I will be over there in a couple days, we are currently doing remodeling work and waiting on the attic re-carpeting. I am thinking I may be able to spare the extra room behind the reclining La-Z-Boy love-seat that is my center seating to make it about 3'. I was wondering how it would work out if I mounted the rear speakers to the pitched part of the ceiling angled downward toward the listener?

Also, I have found 2 different calculators for the optimum viewing distance from the 57" DLP screen , one said ,like 7-1/2' and the other said 9'. I wanted to know what it should really be?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

9' form a 57" is still ok but a more realistic distance is defiantly closer to 7.5'. The bigger issue will be if your watching allot of standard definition TV on it the farther back you sit the better it will look 7.5' will be too close.
Mounting speakers the way you want will be a compromise but life is full of compromises and will work.


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I was just wondering if it would affect the sound imaging in a negative way, seems it would. I should actually be able to do them about 3' behind the loveseat on my adjustable speaker stands. I don't watch a whole lot of standard tv, I watch a lot of movies and blu-ray, and my HK AVR 254 will actually up-convert signal to 720 or 1080p.


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

Anthony said:


> I
> It may just save you some wiring hassles if you skip the two side walls.


Except that's where the surround speakers go in a 5.1 set up. If you don't want 7.1, you'd skip the rears.



And to slightly disagree with everyone else, the size of the room doesn't matter as much as the distance behind the seating does. In a 13' long room, with seating at around 8' (5' from seating to rear wall), I'd certainly go with 7.1. When applying DPLIIx (or similar), the fact that the movie isn't 7.1 doesn't matter. I watch everything with IIx and the difference is remarkable in my HT. And to answer the OP, yes placing them on the sloped wall/ceiling and angling them toward the seating will work fine. I'd go about 5' up the rear wall. Put your sides directly to the side of the main listening area and also 5' - 6' high.

As far as seating distance, 7.5' would be ideal to get the full benefit of 1080p, but 9' would work too. Just don't go further than 10' or your losing the benefit of 1080p.


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I have been over at the house looking things over, doing some measuring and some mental laying out of things. From what I am able to tell once my tv stand is all set up, and my furniture, it will be about 8' to 8.5' viewing distance from the screen, and I will definitely be able to have the rear surrounds 3' behind my head, so I think I am going to go ahead and at least set up the full 7.1, even though I wont use it too often. 

I have heard different things about proper height for the speakers, but the most common one seems to be about 3' or so, roughly head height., just wondering if this is correct? Also do I need to place the side surrounds right next to the main listening seat, or should I place them a little forward and angle them towards the listener? Since the longest run of wire will be about 18', and I will be putting 50 watts RMS through the speakers, would I be better off with 16 or 14 gauge speaker wire?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

tattooedkaos said:


> I have heard different things about proper height for the speakers, but the most common one seems to be about 3' or so, roughly head height., just wondering if this is correct?


The back surrounds should be about 6.5' off the floor and angled so they fire into the room in front of where you sit. Your front three need to be placed so the tweters are at ear level when sitting.


> Also do I need to place the side surrounds right next to the main listening seat


Yes, that is correct. Also place them at about 6.5' off the floor


> Since the longest run of wire will be about 18', and I will be putting 50 watts RMS through the speakers, would I be better off with 16 or 14 gauge speaker wire?


Regardless of the wattage or speakers its always best to use heaver awg wire, 14 would be best.


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I am not clear on why the rear and sides would need to be up at 6.5' firing over my head, what sort of affect does this have on the sound?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The surround channels are not meant to be aimed directly at the listener as they are used to reproduce ambient sounds that fill the room just like you normally "hear".


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I am pretty sure that the 6.5' option is not going to work out as the walls go up 46" then at a roughly 45 degree angle they slope towards the ceiling, which tops out at 6'-7". is 46' going to be high enough for the side surrounds, and the back surrounds will be on speaker stands, so I'm doubting I will be getting much more then 46" out of them either.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thats ok, we all make sacrifices when designing our rooms. Place them as high as possible and dont worry about it.


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## tattooedkaos (Sep 13, 2009)

I appreciate the help, getting ready to move it all in and set it up on saturday. I will post the results and if I need any help setting it up.


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