# Room dimensions



## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

I am in the design stage of building a dedicated home theater room. It will be used 90% for movies and 10% for Xbox. My easy measurements would be 7' ceiling, unchangeable 12' width and 23' length. I have stairs that would come into the room at the top corner of the back wall for about 18". Would these measurements work or would it be better shortening and widening it out?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Getting it a bit wider would be nice certainly for a variety of reasons. The length is a bit long for a 7' ceiling to avoid the 'tunnel effect'. If you can get the volume back by widening things and maybe shortening to 20', that would be good. This also though depends on how many seats you're wanting to put in.

Bryan


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## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

Since 2 rows of seats probably won't work with a 7' ceiling. I was thinking of 3 ht seats and a couple of bean bags. Would 14' be wide enough for 4 seats. Should I stay away from the room dimensions being divisible by them selves?


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## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

How high up do I have to mount the speakers on the side wall for a 7 or 9.1 system. Do I have to make the room wider so as to not bump into the speakers when walking around?


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## tpcurrie (Nov 27, 2012)

I would shoot for just higher than the tallest person but at least 1' from the ceiling


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

spencee said:


> Since 2 rows of seats probably won't work with a 7' ceiling. I was thinking of 3 ht seats and a couple of bean bags. Would 14' be wide enough for 4 seats. Should I stay away from the room dimensions being divisible by them selves?


Yes - stay away from double if at all possible. If you can go 15', that would be more comfortable and better overall for a row of 4. 

Bryan


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

spencee said:


> Since 2 rows of seats probably won't work with a 7' ceiling. I was thinking of 3 ht seats and a couple of bean bags. Would 14' be wide enough for 4 seats. Should I stay away from the room dimensions being divisible by them selves?


First off - welcome to HTS!

Bryan can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe to get "optimum" room dimensions to avoid as many room modes as possible, you take your shortest dimension and multiply it by 1.68 to get the second dimension and then that again by 1.68 to get the third.

So, in your case with 7' ceilings, you would be at roughly 12' wide and 19' in length. That said, if it were my room I would consider bumping the width to accommodate 4 seats. If you have not looked at seats yet, take a look at the seats from RSH - Roman is a great guy and they have quite a variety. IIRC, they have some that have a smaller footprint that might work well in your room. 

Given the length of the room, I would also do a front baffle wall with an AT screen. It really makes the front wall look so clean and allows you to focus on the picture.


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## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

If I go to 12' wide I can go 19' long or more, but if I go wider I can only go 18' long because of a pesky staircase would cut through the back wall.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Hmmm.... any chance you could get a couple photos or a room layout up? Sometimes it really helps to get a feel for the space and come up with other options for a room layout.


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## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

Will try and take some pics today.


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## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ent.php?attachmentid=39225&stc=1&d=1355111540
Hope I did this right. The first picture is the problem with the stairs. There is a steel bar on the floor at 15' feet. The other picture is a 92" screen on the far wall. The teleposts are at 13' but wont be a problem to move over a couple of feet.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

I had a quick thought that I wanted to get down now, but I will think on this some more and see what other options I can come up with.

What about going with a width of 15'' and putting the back wall right up against the stairs and making the length 18'? You could put the entry door to the HT off the bottom of the stairs. If you have the space, I would not put it flush with the far wall as this would allow you the potential to use the back corners for bass trapping.

Then, the room where the stairs come down could be done as a theater "foyer" area where you could do a counter, popcorn machine, display movie posters on the wall, etc.

At 18' deep, you would have plenty of room for one row of seats with floor area for bean bags in front as well as at least 2' behind the row of seats. This completely removes the stairs from the dedicated theater area and creates a real movie going experience with a lobby in effect. You could also look at locating your equipment in the back of the room under where the stairs come down. You could enclose it and allow for venting and access from the back under the stairs.

At 15' wide, you should be able to find seats that would fit across with room to walk around the ends. I have the palliser peppers chairs with 2 rows of 3. I just measured the width and it is 101". Adding one more to it would make it 132" allowing you about 1' of space on each side. Not ideal as most walkways are roughly 2', but you should be able to make it around both sides.

There will be some room modes to deal with, but I think that is probably going to be easier to work around than having to figure out how to incorporate the stairs.

I will think on it some more.........


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I agree with Joe..Having two separate areas would be ideal and an 18' length would be quite suitable for your requirements..
In a 15' width you could just fit 4 chairs across, but I would be more inclined to have 3 and leave plenty of room for walkways..
For other seating, the bean bags on the floor is a good alternative, particularly if you have kids in there..

If the stair case was enclosed, you could have all your gear in there out of sight..or otherwise just a rack under the stairs..


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## spencee (Dec 2, 2012)

I will start by framing in the basement over Christmas with plans for a 15x18 room. I like the idea of the av rack under the stairs. Is there anything I have to do different with the framing? When I get the framing done I will post pics.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Not unless you want to do staggered stud walls - but I don't know if you have the space for it. Otherwise, good old trusty 16" on center.


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## sdurani (Oct 28, 2010)

spencee said:


> I will start by framing in the basement over Christmas with plans for a 15x18 room.


Good dimensions. Wide enough to avoid placing listeners at problem areas (1/4 room width from side walls) and long enough to place your main row where frequency response has the least variation (one of the 1/3 or 1/5 divisions of room length).


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Exciting, another great thread starting. Welcome to HTS, I'm looking forward to watching your build evolve. I'm sure the end result will be enjoyable. Lots of people here with great advise, and support for your project.


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