Dedicated Home Theatre Room plan

[vinay]

I appreciate passion, to achieve the extra room length you are willing to make your theatre on the upper floor. I will aggresively repeat that with every increasing feet of room length it will do wonders larger then one can imagine.

In a few threads by members there are details how the acoustics has been achieved. To achieve the awesome, a lot of planning, patience, dry runs, etc have gone into it. In my case for acoustics i had taken the consultancy from the staff of a leading av equipments magazine.

The DIY effort is a long and tough route, but yes if you go step by step without setting any deadlines, you are bound to get the desired results. The detailed way to go about has been written by Santosh, please read his and others thread. To get a better foundation i think you should go through the various threads, then request some members that you want to see what they have made and be assured that it will be worth the travel even if they are located in other city, if you happen to travel Mumbai, then please do come over at my place and stay for a full day and understand things from the live mini theatre.

V.

 

[eummagic]

Thanks Vinay, I searched through forum and found some threads regarding our members own acoustics adventures and success achieved. Will surely come back to you in case of hiccups in between.

BTW, Iam now planning the room size and then the screen size. Is there any reverse calculation like planning the screen size and then build room.

I appreciate passion, to achieve the extra room length you are willing to make your theatre on the upper floor. I will aggresively repeat that with every increasing feet of room length it will do wonders larger then one can imagine.

In a few threads by members there are details how the acoustics has been achieved. To achieve the awesome, a lot of planning, patience, dry runs, etc have gone into it. In my case for acoustics i had taken the consultancy from the staff of a leading av equipments magazine.

The DIY effort is a long and tough route, but yes if you go step by step without setting any deadlines, you are bound to get the desired results. The detailed way to go about has been written by Santosh, please read his and others thread. To get a better foundation i think you should go through the various threads, then request some members that you want to see what they have made and be assured that it will be worth the travel even if they are located in other city, if you happen to travel Mumbai, then please do come over at my place and stay for a full day and understand things from the live mini theatre.

V.

 

[vinay]

There will be a lot of hiccups, so please do keep writing on regular basis or i should say that whatever keeps coming on your mind which is effective, take a suggestion for it and do not proceed with anything till and until you have taken a view from members.

The room size you already have in place, while about the screen please do not even think about it at this point of time, as you have so many things to do, you have to start with a plan on paper, among the first things you will have to begin with the electrical and audio/video cable points, once you are on a firm ground you can request some members among them being santosh and me to visit your place, we can be with you for say 1 or 2 days, and plan the foundation on paper and then show it to members at the forum and see if some changes etc are required, so that the theatre's train can be green flagged.

V.

 

[akrish01]

Hi all,

Iam planning to construct a new house and also making my dream real by building a dedicated home theatre room in Cochin, Kerala.

I had earlier started a thread regarding anamorphic lens with 2.35:1 aspect ratio. During the process, I am able to short list Panasonic PT-AE4000 for its features & performance like anamorphic emulation, lens memory function, excellent color reproduction out of the box (if calibrated reference color) as per reviews floating in the net and yet not able to see a demo of the same. But, I have seen the demo of PT-AE2000 in Chennai 1 1/2 yrs back and impressed.

Now, here in Cochin I have contacted a local home theatre consultant from "Lal Media Arts" who are into film production, distribution and home theatre equipment seller and acoustic consultants. Some of the points are highlighted below from the discussion with this consultant.

1) Regarding my space for construction of my new house I have told the consultant that I can have a dedicated room of 11ft (wide) x 14ft(length) x 10ft (height). He suggested to have 12 ft (wide) & 16ft (length) if possible and if the room height can be 12ft (height) since when doing acoustics he will need 2ft so ultimately the room would be 10ft after completion.

2) The screen 103" (2.35:1) as planned by me is possible. He told ideally the screen should start 3 to 3 1/2ft from the floor. So, that was the reason of having a 12ft (height) which will give the right visualisation and spacing.
As per calculation:
Room height: 12ft
Acoustic treatment space from ceiling: 2ft
Screen height (incl frame) : 3.88ft
From floor to screen: 3.6ft
Balance free space: 2.52ft

3) For flooring he suggested for wooden flooring instead of carpeting, because this room would be the ideal entertainment room for all including kids. So, there is always a chance of minute dust collecting even though it is cleaned regularly. So, this can cause allergy/health issue to kids.

4) Regarding the side wall acoustic material he told that he wouldn't use Gypsum boards again due to health/allergy reasons and would use a similar material known as pebble (felt like thick thermocol but not breakable).

5) For cabling, he told that he would not compromise on quality and he is mostly using Chord cable for speakers/av connectors which gives more life span.

6) As for seating, he told that we can have a one row seat where 3 or 4 people can sit comfortably at the back and then have diwan like arrangement in the middle or using bean bag.

7) As for equipment rack it can be placed on the rear above 4 or 5 feet from the floor. So that the HDMI cable length can be well within the reach of the projector instead of going for 10mt/15mt cabling.

8) According to his suggestion, windows is not required but since this is a home theatre and not professional studio you can have atleast 1 on either side of the walls as shown below.
OUTSIDE

INSIDE ROOM
W=Window, opeining outside. Can have dark colored glass for windows and also dark curtains between the inner wall gap.

9) He is totally against LCD projectors and he was suggesting me DLP.

Can you pls give your comments made by the consultant...

Hi,

Just curious to know how much this "pebble" material for acoustics costs (materials + labour per sq. ft).

regards

Arvind

 

[santhosh]

I don't know how I missed your thread. Offlate, I have not been going through specific forums like I used to. I am only looking at the new posts on the main page. That could be the reason.

I think I will be considering my dedicated room on the 3rd floor. If that is the case. Can I have a 12ft(wide) x 18ft(lenght) x 12ft(height) room?

BTW, I would like to ask how you have done your acoustics, using your own skills or by a consultant, because it looks awesome!

Iam ready for DIY acoustics and would like to have a step by step guide from scratch including the list of materials for ceiling, side walls, floor etc.

Thats a superb decision about going in for a larger room. Just one change in the dimensions if still possible. Please note that in the size you have mentioned, one of the dimension is the same as the other. This is bad for acoustics, can you make it 13ft(wide) x 18ft(length) x 10ft(height). See what suits you, just make sure one of the parameters is not a multiple of another. Also, 12 feet is too little as you need to accomodate your projector screen as well as your speakers. Leave some space on sides for speaker placement and toe-in.

Go the DIY route, it is an enriching experience. Do lots of reading on sites like avsforums, ethanwiner.com, gearslutz etc. You will come across many materials in these sites which may not be available in India, but once you get a hang of these things, you will get an idea of what alternatives you can use. We are there to guide you. If you need our urgent attention, feel free to PM or call. But it is important to also post your query on your thread, as you may get better advice. I followed the same approach, members like venkatcr, Vinay, Sumit, Subhash, cmsajith etc have helped me make some key decisions during my HT project.

Ok, I will go as per you guys say for the seating arrangement. As for projector, Iam convinced with the reviews of pana4000 and the demo seen of its earlier predecessor pana2000.

Say, if I try the DIY acoustics by procurring materials and using my local carpenter and constructing based on the exact specs. Will this be perfect?

If so, here in Cochin or in Chennai are there any dealers who sell these acoustics materials. So that based on cost I can choose and construct.

Go for the Pana4000, it is one helluva projector (from reviews and what I heard from some owners and friends). I am also told, it is quite huge, so keep that in mind. If you change your mind and go in for a DLP projector, do not decide the mount point until you have your projector. You have been adviced wrongly by the vendor about DLP\LCD projector. Do some reading online on a recently(because LCD and DLP have evolved further) written comparison, you will know that both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Hi,

Just curious to know how much this "pebble" material for acoustics costs (materials + labour per sq. ft).

regards

Arvind

Even I am curious to know what this pebble material is. Any link or pictures?

 

[eummagic]

Hi Arvind,

I have not got the rate for this material. I will try to find out and update in the forum.

Hi,

Just curious to know how much this "pebble" material for acoustics costs (materials + labour per sq. ft).

regards

Arvind

 

[cmsajith]

Hi Arvind,

I have not got the rate for this material. I will try to find out and update in the forum.

Also try to get the availability or the sourcing options and also the product name. If possible ask him to give a demo where he had installed this before to get an idea whether it is enough for the job or not.

 

[eummagic]

Definitely, once my room is ready to start with the acoustics job, I will definitely call you & Santhosh :yahoo:

There will be a lot of hiccups, so please do keep writing on regular basis or i should say that whatever keeps coming on your mind which is effective, take a suggestion for it and do not proceed with anything till and until you have taken a view from members.

The room size you already have in place, while about the screen please do not even think about it at this point of time, as you have so many things to do, you have to start with a plan on paper, among the first things you will have to begin with the electrical and audio/video cable points, once you are on a firm ground you can request some members among them being santosh and me to visit your place, we can be with you for say 1 or 2 days, and plan the foundation on paper and then show it to members at the forum and see if some changes etc are required, so that the theatre's train can be green flagged.

V.

 

[eummagic]

Hi,

In fact was reading your thread last couple of days about the great adventure of DIY acosutics and really amazed by your effort/time taken to achieve a perfect home theatre room.

As suggested by you, I will plan a 13ft(W) x 18ft(L) x 10ft(H) room. As mentioned in my earlier post, the 12ft height was suggested by the consultant who told that completion of false ceiling post acoustics would be 10ft in height. Otherwise, if it a 10ft height room then it would further reduce to 8ft, kindly advise in this regard keeping in mind if Iam going for 120" diagonal screen (2.35:1 aspect ratio).

As for the projector, I have made up my mind to go for Pana4000.

I will definitely give a detailed write up/cost about this pebble material once I sit again with the consultant (He is in Chennai for some installation and back by monday).

I don't know how I missed your thread. Offlate, I have not been going through specific forums like I used to. I am only looking at the new posts on the main page. That could be the reason.


Thats a superb decision about going in for a larger room. Just one change in the dimensions if still possible. Please note that in the size you have mentioned, one of the dimension is the same as the other. This is bad for acoustics, can you make it 13ft(wide) x 18ft(length) x 10ft(height). See what suits you, just make sure one of the parameters is not a multiple of another. Also, 12 feet is too little as you need to accomodate your projector screen as well as your speakers. Leave some space on sides for speaker placement and toe-in.

Go the DIY route, it is an enriching experience. Do lots of reading on sites like avsforums, ethanwiner.com, gearslutz etc. You will come across many materials in these sites which may not be available in India, but once you get a hang of these things, you will get an idea of what alternatives you can use. We are there to guide you. If you need our urgent attention, feel free to PM or call. But it is important to also post your query on your thread, as you may get better advice. I followed the same approach, members like venkatcr, Vinay, Sumit, Subhash, cmsajith etc have helped me make some key decisions during my HT project.


Go for the Pana4000, it is one helluva projector (from reviews and what I heard from some owners and friends). I am also told, it is quite huge, so keep that in mind. If you change your mind and go in for a DLP projector, do not decide the mount point until you have your projector. You have been adviced wrongly by the vendor about DLP\LCD projector. Do some reading online on a recently(because LCD and DLP have evolved further) written comparison, you will know that both have their own advantages and disadvantages.


Even I am curious to know what this pebble material is. Any link or pictures?

 

[vinay]

I think before any work has begun, there should be a visit by me, santosh, or by other members who have made such a dedicated entertainment room, because this is the foundation time, more sharing of idea's will be the best way to make the foundation effective.

In other words if the initial plan goes wrong or if it is not backed with better ideas and if all this is realized later, then damage would have been already done towards making a great room.

V.

Definitely, once my room is ready to start with the acoustics job, I will definitely call you & Santhosh :yahoo:

 

[santnai]

You can also consider Epson 8500UB. Little costlier than Panasonic PT-AE4000 in return u will get a better lamp life of around 4000 hrs and better black level.

 

[vinay]

Indeed the more time and patience one has the end result of a home theatre room can be amazing, with everything we want to do in the room there should be enough dry runs and related, in my case it took about a year to make the room because i had no consultant other then for acoustics, there were times when the work used to be halted for more then 3 weeks, because a solution could not be found etc to a problem. With so much of experience behind me and santosh we can now make such a theatre within 3 months and a much better one with additional ideas by us and from other forum members among them being shubash, sumit, ashish who have made such rooms.

I can assure you that your consultant can not match with our abilities, as we will be at least 10 forum members to take you through , by having the consultant it is going to increase your cost on several levels and very importantly that will reduce our potential to give you better ideas etc and it will limit your thought process also, all this is no good, the end result will be any one's guess. It is a hard decision, you have to take a call all the best.

V.

Hi,

In fact was reading your thread last couple of days about the great adventure of DIY acosutics and really amazed by your effort/time taken to achieve a perfect home theatre room.

I will definitely give a detailed write up/cost about this pebble material once I sit again with the consultant (He is in Chennai for some installation and back by monday).

 

[eummagic]

I definitely agree with you and have decided to go for DIY method:yahoo:

Indeed the more time and patience one has the end result of a home theatre room can be amazing, with everything we want to do in the room there should be enough dry runs and related, in my case it took about a year to make the room because i had no consultant other then for acoustics, there were times when the work used to be halted for more then 3 weeks, because a solution could not be found etc to a problem. With so much of experience behind me and santosh we can now make such a theatre within 3 months and a much better one with additional ideas by us and from other forum members among them being shubash, sumit, ashish who have made such rooms.

I can assure you that your consultant can not match with our abilities, as we will be at least 10 forum members to take you through , by having the consultant it is going to increase your cost on several levels and very importantly that will reduce our potential to give you better ideas etc and it will limit your thought process also, all this is no good, the end result will be any one's guess. It is a hard decision, you have to take a call all the best.

V.

 

[eummagic]

You can also consider Epson 8500UB. Little costlier than Panasonic PT-AE4000 in return u will get a better lamp life of around 4000 hrs and better black level.

I love to do so when compared to Pana4k but since Iam planning for the anamorphic lens option, Epson 8500UB doesn't have the vertical scaler option and requires to use a ext video scaler which further increases my budget. I heard nice reviews about 9500UB but Iam unable to get the prices even in US or other country sites.

 

[eummagic]

Hi all,

The update.......its monsoon season in Kerala and work is being further delayed due to this.

1) Change in my room size and it will 14.6ft(W) x 21.6ft(L) x 10ft(H) and no windows.
2) Changed the screen size to 130" diagonal (2.37:1) curved AT screen.
3) Got a sample from Seymour AV Acoustic Transparent Screen Seymour AV | Center Stage screens. This screen doesn't require a tilted cut material if used with Panasonic PT-AE4000 PJs (as confirmed from Seymour), so no moire problems, Gain is 1.2. Cost for my 120" (W) x 51"(H) will be Rs.15536/- (incl shipping)
4) Just getting some feedback from other forums that Pana4k will not be bright enough to fill my 130" diagonal (2.37:1 ratio) AT curved screen. So, also have shortlisted Benq W6000 and if any best deals comes for JVC DLA-RS15.