# Help me plan my room



## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

So I'm very excited about trying to do a theater/media room. I've been wanting to do it for years, but I could really use some help. We're getting a new house with a pretty good sized family room, but there are some obstacles I think based on what I've been reading on here.

It's 23 1/2' by 22 1/2' and it has some weird alcoves on one side of the room. There are also a lot of windows and I'd love to do a projector with a 100" or so screen. It's chiefly going to be a dedicated room, but I'd like to have some spare room for the kids to play or whatever. I was thinking of doing 2-4 single seats and maybe a couch on an elevated platform behind them, and or a small bar with stools. 

I'm limited to about $4000 budget wise. Currently I have a 42" plasma, a Yamaha HTIB, tv stand, and media cabinet. The only thing I was planning on really using again was the media cabinet. The tv and speakers aren't really adequate for what I want. 

What would you do with this room? Would welcome advice on both room layout and gear. Here are pictures.


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

1


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

First off - welcome to HTS! :wave:

You need at least 5 posts to post links / pictures. You can get yourself to 5 posts here.


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

2


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## warrenp (Feb 13, 2012)

Always fun to start with a new space. Two leading main questions for you. 

1. Do you want a dedicated space, or a multi-use space? You kind of indicated both in your first post. 
2. What level of work do you want to do to the room itself? Some structural (like closing windows), or cosmetic (paint and carpet)

The first question is really the starting point, and leads into a lot. What do you want the room to be for you and your family? Video games? Movies? TV? Will you spend time reading or just hanging out? How many people will be in the room during normal use? Those will all impact your design in a significant way.

The second will be driven, to some extent anyway, by your thoughts on the first. Depending on your goals and needs for the room, you might have to perform some structural work on the room. Flipside, depending on your goals, there might be no structural work needed at all.

Last point I'd make at this stage of the process, don't worry at all about the gear right now. Almost everyone makes changes to their gear, but most people will never swap out the room design once it is complete.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I have to say it..That's a nasty room!! :R
It's almost square (which is not good for acoustic control) and that alcove presents a real problem..It seems that it's not an actual alcove, but two walls that protrude INTO the room!

My recommendation would be to close of those open space areas with a complete new wall, running the length of the room..To have a dedicated theatre set up, this is going to be almost a must, if you want to have any sort of a good sound set up..
The closed off spaces could then be used for storage of equipment..

An Alternative to that would be to build a screen wall across those openings..wall to wall, which would allow you to fit an AT screen..
The downside to that is that you would then have your sound projecting across the shorter dimension of the room..but it's a good size room so it may not matter too much..
It would also give you better control over acoustics as well..

BTW..How wide are those openings?


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

Here's a more accurate model and my current ideas


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

warrenp said:


> Always fun to start with a new space. Two leading main questions for you.
> 
> 1. Do you want a dedicated space, or a multi-use space? You kind of indicated both in your first post.


Well initially I felt guilty about using a room that big just for "my" theater room when it seems like there should be space for that as well as play room for the kids. I started playing with the idea of putting a wall down the middle of the room and making it two rooms. Would have added sound isolation, but there's just not enough space for two rows of seating. My wife has given me the go ahead to just do a dedicated room at this point.


warrenp said:


> 2. What level of work do you want to do to the room itself? Some structural (like closing windows), or cosmetic (paint and carpet)


Am willing to wall off the alcoves since that seems to be the recommendation. Hoping to just get really good blackout curtains if that will work.



warrenp said:


> The first question is really the starting point, and leads into a lot. What do you want the room to be for you and your family? Video games? Movies? TV? Will you spend time reading or just hanging out? How many people will be in the room during normal use? Those will all impact your design in a significant way.


We're doing the living room as more of a relaxing sitting area, so this room would be the media room. Movies and TV. Usually just me and my wife, sometimes our little guy. I'd like to have several people over from time to time for movies and UFC events.


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

Prof. said:


> I have to say it..That's a nasty room!! :R
> It's almost square (which is not good for acoustic control) and that alcove presents a real problem..It seems that it's not an actual alcove, but two walls that protrude INTO the room!
> 
> My recommendation would be to close of those open space areas with a complete new wall, running the length of the room..To have a dedicated theatre set up, this is going to be almost a must, if you want to have any sort of a good sound set up..
> ...


How about keeping the middle one open so I could do a bar area with a fridge, popcorn maker, etc. and just put a curtain across it? Would that be somewhat okay acoustically? 

The openings are 6'4", 5',10", 9'9" with the outsides 8'4" deep and the middle 5'10" deep


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

That would be fine..
The greater concern is the opening at the screen end and where the right front speaker would be located..At a minimum..that opening needs to be closed off..as you show in your sketch..


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## HTip (Oct 10, 2011)

Always nice to see plans for a dedicated room. Your Sketchup designs look good :T

Like Prof says that alcove is a real acoustic problem. Even in your latest design. You create an unbalance in the sound stage between left and right. Maybe you can install a door with good insulation.

You probably can do with a larger screen. What is the distance to the front and back row?


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

HTip said:


> Always nice to see plans for a dedicated room. Your Sketchup designs look good :T
> 
> Like Prof says that alcove is a real acoustic problem. Even in your latest design. You create an unbalance in the sound stage between left and right. Maybe you can install a door with good insulation.
> 
> You probably can do with a larger screen. What is the distance to the front and back row?


Thanks, took some practice. Initially couldn't figure out how to do the slanted ceilings right.

I think I'll start by walling off the one closest to the screen, then go with a curtain for the middle. After seeing how well that works, I'll decide if I need to wall off everything.

Yeah I'm wondering that now too. Was planning on a 100" diagonal, mostly because I was thinking I'd run it sideways before. Now I guess I can go bigger. It's 10' to the front row and just over 16' to the second. Maybe look at 120 or so?


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## HTip (Oct 10, 2011)

Possible screen size depends on type of projector (light output and zoom capabilities) and seating position. Your front row is too close to the screen for 120". At 10' the maximum is 100", but if you move the front row 1 foot back than you can have 110".

Do you have a projector in mind? If yes you can use this calculator on projectorcentral.com.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/JVC-DLA-RS25U-projection-calculator-pro.htm

I used my projector as example


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## warrenp (Feb 13, 2012)

Another thought with your plan. You are showing your rack (and access door - if I'm reading the plan right), in the section near the screen. I'd recommend moving that to the section at the rear of the room. The lights from the rack can be very distracting, and if you can keep the front end of the theater dark without lights, that will be a better viewing experience.

Just two more pennies.


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

HTip said:


> Possible screen size depends on type of projector (light output and zoom capabilities) and seating position. Your front row is too close to the screen for 120". At 10' the maximum is 100", but if you move the front row 1 foot back than you can have 110".
> 
> Do you have a projector in mind? If yes you can use this calculator on projectorcentral.com.
> http://www.projectorcentral.com/JVC-DLA-RS25U-projection-calculator-pro.htm
> ...


I'm looking at the Epson 8350, so I guess I'll just have to put it up initially to get an idea of what screen size I want.


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

warrenp said:


> Another thought with your plan. You are showing your rack (and access door - if I'm reading the plan right), in the section near the screen. I'd recommend moving that to the section at the rear of the room. The lights from the rack can be very distracting, and if you can keep the front end of the theater dark without lights, that will be a better viewing experience.
> 
> Just two more pennies.


Hmm, hadn't thought of that. I'd really like to put it in the front alcove. Maybe I can do a tinted glass door or something.


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## HTip (Oct 10, 2011)

Katsumoto said:


> I'm looking at the Epson 8350, so I guess I'll just have to put it up initially to get an idea of what screen size I want.


If you can mount the Epson at 14'8", which is ideal and the seating position is 11 feet or higher than 110" is possible.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-PowerLite_Home_Cinema_8350-projection-calculator-pro.htm


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

HTip said:


> If you can mount the Epson at 14'8", which is ideal and the seating position is 11 feet or higher than 110" is possible.
> 
> http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-PowerLite_Home_Cinema_8350-projection-calculator-pro.htm


Only issue there would be that it would be directly over the second row. Wonder if that would be okay with a riser and my 7'6" ceilings. Head clearance and projector noise would then be my concerns.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

When you say over the 2nd row, do you mean over the back of those chairs, seats, or in front of it? If it is either of the 1st two, you should be fine. I am 6'3" and you have pretty much the same plans as I do with the same ceiling height and my projector will go over the top of the seat backs with no clearance issues.

As far as noise, I am not sure what your ceiling plans are, but I am planning on having mine sitting inside my soffit (my projector vents out the front) so that the noise is reduced. Another idea would be to build a hush box if noise is a concern, but you may have issues with celing height going this route.


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## Katsumoto (Mar 13, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> When you say over the 2nd row, do you mean over the back of those chairs, seats, or in front of it? If it is either of the 1st two, you should be fine. I am 6'3" and you have pretty much the same plans as I do with the same ceiling height and my projector will go over the top of the seat backs with no clearance issues.
> 
> As far as noise, I am not sure what your ceiling plans are, but I am planning on having mine sitting inside my soffit (my projector vents out the front) so that the noise is reduced. Another idea would be to build a hush box if noise is a concern, but you may have issues with celing height going this route.


It would place it right above the seat backs, in my case most likely a couch. I guess I just need to determine my riser height and and I probably need a pretty flush projector mount?

I see the decibel rating on the 8350 is quite low. Maybe the noise will be a non issue. I just didn't know because I have no experience with projectors.


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## HTip (Oct 10, 2011)

When you take a look at my thread you can see that my ceiling is pretty low and I still managed to hang the projector directly above the back row. The only thing is that people need to take a little bit care when standing up/sitting down. My JVC projector is very quiet so also no problem there.

Problem with the Epsons though is the automatic iris. You will probably notice that when too close to the projector.

By the way, my ceiling mount system is from Audipack and can be as short as 4". They also have customized projector mounts.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

I know Chief makes a flush mount as well. As far as noise, I have my AE7000U running on ECO mode and I never notice the fan - and I am sitting within a foot of it - so I think you should be fine.


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## HTip (Oct 10, 2011)

ALMFamily said:


> I know Chief makes a flush mount as well. As far as noise, I have my AE7000U running on ECO mode and I never notice the fan - and I am sitting within a foot of it - so I think you should be fine.


Does your Panasonic have an automatic iris? I know the Epsons have and they can be heard when too close. In most projectors the fan is not the problem.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Hmmm....pretty sure it does - I will double check and post for sure.


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