# Best way to utilize my room for a home theather?



## fire1 (Jan 4, 2016)

Hi!

Right now I'm planning to build a home theather in my basement. The plan is to start the construction mid february / start of mars.

I have a room that is 15.7 x 16.4 x 7.5ft big, the entrance door is in one of the corners. 

My idea is to build a wall (with a door in the middle) and make the room less like a square. This also gives me the ability to have most of the electronics outside of the room. the new room would be 12.6 x 16.4 x 7.5ft big.

I think I should be able to have 3 + 4 seats in the room.

How do you guys think that I should use my room in the best way?


----------



## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

That could work though not optimal to have the door in the reflection zone. You could also flip the room so it's behind you.


----------



## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

bpape said:


> That could work though not optimal to have the door in the reflection zone. You could also flip the room so it's behind you.


He can always mount an absorption panel on the door. My uncle does this and I also need to mount something to the door.

~1500-1600cu-ft


----------



## fire1 (Jan 4, 2016)

Thanks Bryan!

I forgot to say that Im gonna attach some kind of sound absorber on the door and then attach the same absorber on the wall on the opposite side of the door.


----------



## fire1 (Jan 4, 2016)

Talley said:


> He can always mount an absorption panel on the door. My uncle does this and I also need to mount something to the door.
> 
> ~1500-1600cu-ft


Exactly what Im gonna do .


----------



## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Very true as long as the reflections don't fall half on/half off and get interfered with via a light switch, etc. Plus it's IMO distracting to have the door there if/when people need to go in and out vs it being behind you.


----------



## fire1 (Jan 4, 2016)

bpape said:


> Very true as long as the reflections don't fall half on/half off and get interfered with via a light switch, etc. Plus it's IMO distracting to have the door there if/when people need to go in and out vs it being behind you.


You make a good point. Ill try to rotate the room and see how that gets.


----------



## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

I did a budget system for a buddy of mine in a spare bedroom that was exactly that finished size of "12.6 x 16.4 x 7.5ft big"

Unfortunately the space is small and unless you do like you are having portrayed where the 4 seater takes up the entire back row then your better bet is dual 3 seaters. You want to leave the ability to put bass traps on the back corners along w/ keeping at least 36" off the rear wall from the head which is usually something like 12" off the wall for the couch. His door was in the back corner so that had an effect too but if you just left yourself the back edge of the door to the corner a space of 18" then you can put a decent bass trap across the corner.

Another tip would be to use an acoustically transparent screen and place the speakers behind the screen and ditch the stage look. Not enough room, will make the room look smaller and floor speakers will prohibit a larger screen from being used. His size was 120" with a MLP of 12 feet before he added the second couch.

the space is 1500sqft... have you thought about your sub budget? This would imho have an effect on layout. If you wanted duals then keep em up front or quads then each corner. They require space and should be built in. I'd recommend splitting the difference and have hidden walls. would help on sound too....

Take this for an idea... then you can use in wall speakers for a cleaner look... or make all sorts of built in shelves to store discs... and have a built in shelf system for your AV gear... cavity to run cables... to fill with insulation for a better bass trap built into the walls. etc.

Edit: i did this really quick in paint... I chopped it up but you can get the idea and play around with it. since you want to be less "square" think the perfect setup... room inside room. even build the front/rear wall with a 2x6 with offset 2x4 for walls to isolate those walls from the other side and you'll see a dramatic drop in noise floor and make the room quieter when playing loud you'll get less noise outside the room.


----------



## fire1 (Jan 4, 2016)

Thanks Talley!

Sorry for my show response, I've just travelled to Spain for a small vacation. 

You have given me a lot to think of. 

I know the room is quite small and it would be more clever to utilize more of the room for damping and scattering. A 3 + 3 seating arrangement might do the trick, or even 3 (front) + 2 (back) for even more space. We are five people in my family so I guess that most of the times that should be enough and for the occasions when we need more seats we can always put in some bean bags or similar. I want the first row to be an odd number of seats so I can claim the sweet spot .

An AT screen was something that I planned to have. But I still want the stage for ecstatic reasons, but perhaps it will look strange combined with an AT screen?

I also need to include a heater (probably wrong word but basically a radiator, with a silent fan, that I connect hot water to) in the room to fight of the cold during the Swedish winter. My current idea is to hide it in the stage so it can blow hot air towards the seats.

Can you please explain what you mean with MLP? I tried to Google it but all I could find was My Little Pony .

Regarding subs I was thinking duals up front. I can't really say why but I always liked having the subs up front. I don't understand what you mean with:

"I'd recommend splitting the difference and have hidden walls. would help on sound too...."

Thanks for your help and I'm sorry that I don't get it all.


----------



## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

MLP = Main Listening Position = Sweet Spot 

Just be sure to keep the radiator away from sensitive materials and electronics!


----------



## fire1 (Jan 4, 2016)

Thanks! 

That makes more sense than My Little Pony .


----------



## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

fire1 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> That makes more sense than My Little Pony .



Lol...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

