# New member needs help, quick!



## tonyvie (May 8, 2013)

I've been lurking here for years, but have finally gotten involved in a project that I need help on. In the past, I could find answers just by searching.

My neighbor is currently finishing his basement which will include 2 media rooms, a main HT and a simpler hang out room for his kids. Lets focus on the main HT for now.

My neighbor is leaning on me heavily to help him out; everything from the layout of his HT, to selecting components, to installation.

His basement is being framed as I type this, so I don't have a lot of time. We need to get system infrastructure in this weekend- next week elec and mech contractors will be in, and I'd like to have HT infrastructure run first.

*Goals of this HT:*My neighbor wants an above average home theater- I know what you are thinking- what's his definition of average... Well in his words, he wants "over the top" but I want to be cautious with that term around you guys- His over the top and yours will be very different.

He's not a movie buff, so I know he's not going to really watch a of lot movie in this HT, but when he does, it needs to be impressive. He's going to use this HT predominantly to watch sports- and he never does that alone- it's always with several friends. With that said, this set up needs to be impressive (a certain show-off factor). Lets assume Sports 75%, Movies 20%, Music 5% (which will prolly be limited to loud alcohol influenced late night "look what my system can do" sessions) 

Also worth mentioning is a zone 2 should will be implemented for light background music. 

*HT Room:*
The HT area will be about 14' wide x 18' long, but there will be no back wall. The actual HT area will be in one end of a large room. The large room is about 14' wide x 50' long. Ceilings are mostly 9' with bulkheads/ soffits at 8'. There will be one row of (4) HT seating with a long tall table with (4) bar stools behind them which constitutes a second row. The front wall of the HT will be stone veneer.

*Budget:*
We really haven't discussed budget, but lets assume $7500 for the HT alone including 80" monitor.

*Equipment:*
Nothing has been selected or purchased yet, but I know he wants a 70-80" monitor in lieu of a projector and screen and I believe he prefers in wall speakers, or at least on-wall speakers. Worth mentioning is all components will be hidden in a nearby closet and either IR repeater or RF converters will be used. 

*Where to start:*
Knowing I need to get infrastructure in this weekend, it makes sense to me to start with the whole 5.x-11.x. debate. I pretty much know where all the components are going, but not sure about speaker locations. I've read all sorts of debates- 5.x is all anyone really needs- to 11.x is the future and is the cats meow. But I've never really read anything that suggests which format is best served for sports. Closest I came was a single line post that said Audyssey DSX is good for sports. I believe the advantage of Audyssey decoders starts with 7.x systems for media recorded in 5.1. True? For what its worth, I have enough speaker cable to wire for 11.x and will prolly do so since it's cheap and provides for future expandability. At this point, final speaker placement is the question. 

I have studied Audyssey's suggested speaker layout diagrams as well as THX's suggested seat placement relative to screen size. Applying both models, assuming 80" monitor, puts my R and L channels further from the monitor than I expected (about 5'-10" from center of TV or 2'-8" from edge of TV). I've always seen L & R channels right next to the TV. Wide and high speakers end up on the side walls. Is this okay? Surrounds and back surrounds seem to layout fine, but Adyssey suggests wides and highs have more impact than surrounds and backs. I'll post floor plans once my post count is sufficient, it should help you visualize. 

*So what says you? * What speaker system (5.x-11.x) should be used with this sized room knowing that watching sports will be the majority this room will be used for.


----------



## tonyvie (May 8, 2013)

, was hoping for some advice by now. Meeting with my neighbor in about an hour and was hoping to have something intelligent to say. 

Stopped by a local high-end home theater showroom today. They suggested 7.2 system with KEF speakers. KEF looks like a great option, but am a little concerned they'd be out of the budget... along with everything else in their showroom! Very nice guys though. Redfli was the company name, google them if you get board...


----------



## Greenster (Mar 2, 2013)

I think you need to sit down with your friend and discuss what his budget For the room will be. For now I would stop the build and design it before moving on.


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Agreed we need to know a budget and slow down. The price of an 80" monitor you could get an amazing projector, have you given that any thought.


----------



## audiomaster (Jun 9, 2006)

My advice would be to run lots of 1 inch plastic flex from the equipment area to each location where you "might" ever want something. Terminate in flush boxes in walls and ceiling or leave in wall or make drawings of where each run ends. Run a 2 inch to the ceiling for a projector all the way down the center of the room so you can cut it later at any point to access for a projector. You will need to run power to the ceiling too.

Be sure you have provided dedicated, isolated ground circuits for all equipment on the same phase of the incoming power service. Also run flex from rack to wherever incoming cable or satellite antennas will be.
Then photograph everything you have done before drywall goes up. 
I would put a couple speakers at the far back of the room also. 50ft away might get interesting for surround effects!


----------



## tonyvie (May 8, 2013)

Thanks for all of the replies. Slowing down really isn't much of an option, but we just met and we think we have a pretty good game plan. We'll be running speaker cable for 9.x, but only installing 7.x for now. Speaker locations aren't ideal (according to Adyssey) but ideal is impossible due to a few closet doors and no back wall. The biggest challenge so far is subwoofer placement. He really would rather not see the subwoofer, so we're thinking a nearby closet would suffice. Thinking we can install a custom speaker grill in the wall should the closet muffle the low frequentcies too much. The problem is, due to closet door configurations, this plan would put the sub about 30" or so away from the end theater seat. Just concerned that seat will get blasted with too much bass. We'll be running cable to a few locations so we have options once the basement is finished. What should I we use for the subwoofer signal cable? Digital coax? RCA? I've seen people use RG6 with RCA style ends crimped on. Let me know what you think.

He has decided on a 80" TV. He doesn't want a projector and screen because he doesn't want to dim the lights to use it. He's thinking the 80" Sharp that is availble at most big box stores for around $4k, but hasn't settled on that. I'm sure technology has changed and there are projectors that are bright enough that room lights don't need to be dimmed, but can the projector and screen be had for $4k? I just don't know, I've never researched the subject.

I ment to include in my original post that the buget is around $7k max, but we hope it can be done for less.

Thanks for the help!


----------



## tonyvie (May 8, 2013)

audiomaster said:


> My advice would be to run lots of 1 inch plastic flex from the equipment area to each location where you "might" ever want something. Terminate in flush boxes in walls and ceiling or leave in wall or make drawings of where each run ends. Run a 2 inch to the ceiling for a projector all the way down the center of the room so you can cut it later at any point to access for a projector. You will need to run power to the ceiling too.
> 
> Be sure you have provided dedicated, isolated ground circuits for all equipment on the same phase of the incoming power service. Also run flex from rack to wherever incoming cable or satellite antennas will be.
> Then photograph everything you have done before drywall goes up.
> I would put a couple speakers at the far back of the room also. 50ft away might get interesting for surround effects!


Thanks for the direction of isolated ground circuits for all equipment. Great tip!


----------

