Heeman - Dedicated HT Room?

[heeman]

I have been holding off starting this thread because I have been looking at solutions for a way to modify our existing home for a dedicated room and we have narrowed it down to a couple of potential solutions.

Here are a couple of reasons for the dedicated room:

1. I have been bitching about Sound Quality for years (music listening) and most of you including Flint has told me that it is my room. Reason 1 for a dedicated room.

2. After attending a few GTG's and seeing projector/screen images, you can say that I am hooked. Reason 2 for a dedicated room.

99.9% of the time it will be only Barb and I in the room, with an occasional addition of 2 or 4.

The 2 modifications to the home have what I call Width Constraints, and this is where I would like your feed back.

1. Option 1 - most inexpensive addition to the home is limited to a room width of 11'. The existing Depth is 12.5' with an 8' ceiling. Depth at this point in time is unlimited

2. Option 2 - most expensive addition to the home is limited to a room width of 12' 7". The existing Depth is 10' with an 8' ceiling. Depth is limited to 18' Max.

I will be using my existing Paradigm Studio Speakers in the room and the only new addition would be Projector and Screen.

Feedback is really needed at this point on the room width options. All other feedback is appreciated as well.

Thanks!

 

[Barney]

Alright...economy must be great at the heeman homestead.......pouring a foundation & doing an addition.....please make sure whoever pours the foundation gives at least a 10 yr warranty.....

 

[Zing]

This is my second house that I've painfully had to struggle with too small an area for HT use. If I had a choice between your two options, I'd choose the 12x18 option six days a week and twice on Sunday. However, let's not gloss over the most important fact - the use of the word "dedicated". That makes up for a lot, in my opinion. When you no longer have other rooms, furnishings or people to consider when creating this room, all that ails it in terms of size or less-than-desirable dimensions can be made up for with gear location and room treatments.

 

[heeman]

11' vs 12' 7" is a very easy decision for me accept for the construction cost tradeoff's.

I am in the process of collecting the data........more about this after this weekend.

I guess my real question is, Can we make the 11' wide room work acoustically without any negative drawbacks. I am not so concerned about the video portion. Seat will be a challenge, however there are ways to work around them.

If the construction costs are not as costly as I think, the 12' 7" width will be used.

 

[Towen7]

From a purely accouctical perspective I would think that more width would be better than less. How much better is the question I guess.

Since accoustics are a primary concern you should consider any treaments you'll be placing in the room. Fiberglass absorbers at ear height on the first reflection points will need to be at least 2"-4" thick and for maximum effectiveness will need an additional 2"-4" gap between the rear surface of the panel and the wall.

 

[CMonster]

Can that 11' be used as depth instead of width?

 

[heeman]

Yes, however 11' would be to shallow?

 

[Zing]

Can that 11' be used as depth instead of width?

It can be.

In my old house, I turned a second floor bedroom into a dedicated home theater. It was 11W x 15L x 7H. Naturally I wanted the 15-foot dimension to be the depth. Flint and Yromj convinced me to rotate the layout 90 degrees so I ended up with a 15-foot wide and 11-foot deep room. It worked...very well!

 

[Zing]

Yes, however 11' would be to shallow?

It will only be too shallow if you want a second row of seating. It also may dictate how big of a screen you'll need because you'll be a lot closer to the front wall but having that extra width will almost eliminate side wall first reflection points and make the room sound much bigger.

 

[jamhead]

I have mixed feelings about a dedicated room now that I have one.

My room is 15x21 and I've rotated it so that the speakers are on the 21' wall and the depth is 15'. Sure, I have a good place for the sub., I have treatments up (need more bass traps as the bass in this configuration is troubling), and overall, the room is fantastic for music listening. The stereo imaging is awesome.

The drawbacks are that I never have time to go into the room to listen. If it was in a common room, I could listen much more, just not critically. This reason alone (well, $$ too) is why, 3 years later, I still don't have a display in the room. I've actually found that I don't miss surround sound for movies.

All said and done, I'm glad I didn't spend big money on a dedicated room at this point. The serious listening sessions are, well, phenomenal, but it only happens, maybe, once a month.

My suggestion to you would be to design the room optimally for the two of you, and don't sacrifice anything for a second row of seating if it's only going to be used a few times a year. Good luck, and have fun.

 

[Towen7]

I have mixed feelings about a dedicated room now that I have one.
...
All said and done, I'm glad I didn't spend big money on a dedicated room at this point. The serious listening sessions are, well, phenomenal, but it only happens, maybe, once a month.

Thats not the room's fault. Sure you should take into account how often you'll use the room but I don't see how you can say I'll spend $X if I use it once a month but $Y if I use it three times a month. After all, one shouldn't be building a HT if you've got no intention on using it. Besides... I feel like I know Heeman well enough to say that he'd be using the proverbial HELL out of the room.

 

[jamhead]

Perhaps. Everyone's different. I was giving my perspective...sure as hell not blaming the room.

I also have a 7 year old daughter that takes priority....heeman doesn't.

But I view everything in terms of $$ vs. usage.....and determine value based on that.

To each their own.....food for thought...

Intention was not to debate it.

 

[heeman]

All comments are appreciated!

Main question is the 11' width and can I make it work.

Sometimes the hunt is better than the kill..............

Projects like this just suck me in and I love the challenge.

Less than 2 yrs ago it was the 5.1 upgrade that you guys supported me with.

Less than 1 year ago it was the upgrade from 42" Plasma EDTV to 59" Plasma HDTV.

Now very close to making a decision for a dedicated room and Projector/Screen.

Thanks for all the help spending my money.............don't forget I am frugal and some will call me cheap.... :laughing-rolling:

 

[CMonster]

All comments are appreciated!

Main question is the 11' width and can I make it work.

Yes, but I think that needs to turn into the depth of the room and you need to concentrate on one row of seating...

 

[heeman]

All comments are appreciated!

Main question is the 11' width and can I make it work.

Yes, but I think that needs to turn into the depth of the room and you need to concentrate on one row of seating...

Please elaborate why?

 

[CMonster]

Read Zing's responses; you can get better sound with a wider room. You just need to decide what's more important: having the ability to seat more than four people, or having the best sound for you and your wife...

Edit: Or lay down the extra cash for the greater width.

 

[heeman]

So going with a 12' 7" (151") wide room will significantly out perform a 11' (132") wide room for sound?

 

[CMonster]

So going with a 12' 7" (151") wide room will significantly out perform a 11' (132") wide room for sound?

Night and day... bscene-buttred:

I'm sure they can both be made to sound great. My HT room will be a touch over 13' wide and ideally I was shooting to have the speakers 3' out from the side walls. That would cut into the optimal screen size for my seating distance so the screen will be a little smaller than I'd like and the speakers will be a little closer to the side walls than I'd like. I'm hoping I've come up with a good compromise - I'll let you know in a month or so...

Is there a reason you're against rotating the layout 90 degrees?

 

[heeman]

Chuck,

Thanks for your participation in my thread!

My issue is having the seating up against the wall and being limited to 4.

If I use the 11' as the width, my length can go as long as I need it. I am thinking 20' as a preliminary dimension.

The 12' 7" width room option is not totally out, however I will have more data Saturday night.

One way or another, there will be a dedicated room.

Sounds like you have project going on or will start one soon! Good luck!

Keith

 

[jamhead]

My suggestion, which was lost in my previous post, is to make the room the best you can, within your budget, for the 2 of you (99% of the viewing). If more people are needed, cram some folding chairs in there....but I wouldn't drop a lot of extra money, or sacrifice audio quality, for 1% of the time.