Hi guys,
I have started building a new house, and fortunately I have the opportunity to design a home theatre with a clean slate.
This room will be a HT room, and I would like to seat about 8 people if possible, and definitely no theatre style rows - its just too impersonal and it defeats the purpose of calling friends over. I have a few options, and I'm thinking them out in this post. I would appreciate any thoughts you may have. I will most probably be using a 55" or a 65" LED TV and I may not go for a projector. This means I would have to sit max 12' from the screen.
Before I describe the options I'm considering, I have found a bunch of recommended ratios for audio setups. I am sharing these at the bottom of the post.
Apart from this, there is the concept of the Golden Trapagon (here's the missing image from the page) which helps eliminate standing waves. This is something I am ok in doing if it will improve the acoustics significantly.
Option 1:
Rectangular room, based on the ratio from Sepmeyer Room C. BUT the main speakers will be along the Long wall, so I'm not sure if this ratio is valid at all. Is there any other ratio to use when taking the speakers on the long wall?
The front speaker positioning is done based a recommendation from the cardas website.
The advantage of this layout is that I have good amount of seating and the seating is comfortable, I can even angle the side sofas. So it is the most preferred layout. But what about the acoustics? Will it suck? what can I do to improve the acoustics?
Option 1B:
I am open to angling the walls as may be required.
For instance angling the side walls as shown here. I read somewhere that it would be ideal to angle the wall at a rate of about 1" per Foot.
However the side walls are so far from the main speakers and Subwoofers that it may not make a difference.
Option 1C:
Alternately I can angle the rear walls if required like this
In addition to angling the walls, I could also go for a sloped roof so that the Main-Speaker wall is 9' and the rear wall is 10'3"
Option 2:
Taking the same room size but positioning the speakers along the short wall. (I know this is more preferred than option 1)
The disadvantage here for me is I would have to place the main sofa right in the middle of the room so I'm not too far away from the Screen. And other than the one sweet spot, all others have crappy views of the screen.
Option 3:
The Golden Trapagon
My least preferred layout because it will compromize the number of people who can sit in the room, moreover the ceiling height will be quite low (7'9" on the front wall) and it won't look great. But I am willing to consider it if it will make a dramatic improvement in the quality of sound. If anyone has actually listened to the acoustics of a golden trapagon, I would greatly appreciate your review on this.
I'm planning to have a cabinet / runner along the wall with the door. This will hold my Disc collection, misc stuff and my drinks stock. The AV Equipment Rack will be below the Center speaker.
Which option should I go for? Your thoughts on design improvement will be greatly appreciated.
For info, the Ratios I came across are:
Sepmeyer Room A: 1.14H x 1.39H X H
Sepmeyer Room B: 1.29H X 1.54H X H
Sepmeyer Room C: 1.60H X 2.33H X H
Louden 1.4H X 1.9H X H
Volkmann 1.5H X 2.5H X H
Boner 1.26H X 1.59H X H
IEC 60268 1.96H x 2.59H x H
Golden 1.6H X 2.6H X H
Dolby 1.49 x 2.31 x H
I have started building a new house, and fortunately I have the opportunity to design a home theatre with a clean slate.
This room will be a HT room, and I would like to seat about 8 people if possible, and definitely no theatre style rows - its just too impersonal and it defeats the purpose of calling friends over. I have a few options, and I'm thinking them out in this post. I would appreciate any thoughts you may have. I will most probably be using a 55" or a 65" LED TV and I may not go for a projector. This means I would have to sit max 12' from the screen.
Before I describe the options I'm considering, I have found a bunch of recommended ratios for audio setups. I am sharing these at the bottom of the post.
Apart from this, there is the concept of the Golden Trapagon (here's the missing image from the page) which helps eliminate standing waves. This is something I am ok in doing if it will improve the acoustics significantly.
Option 1:
Rectangular room, based on the ratio from Sepmeyer Room C. BUT the main speakers will be along the Long wall, so I'm not sure if this ratio is valid at all. Is there any other ratio to use when taking the speakers on the long wall?
The front speaker positioning is done based a recommendation from the cardas website.
The advantage of this layout is that I have good amount of seating and the seating is comfortable, I can even angle the side sofas. So it is the most preferred layout. But what about the acoustics? Will it suck? what can I do to improve the acoustics?
Option 1B:
I am open to angling the walls as may be required.
For instance angling the side walls as shown here. I read somewhere that it would be ideal to angle the wall at a rate of about 1" per Foot.
However the side walls are so far from the main speakers and Subwoofers that it may not make a difference.
Option 1C:
Alternately I can angle the rear walls if required like this
In addition to angling the walls, I could also go for a sloped roof so that the Main-Speaker wall is 9' and the rear wall is 10'3"
Option 2:
Taking the same room size but positioning the speakers along the short wall. (I know this is more preferred than option 1)
The disadvantage here for me is I would have to place the main sofa right in the middle of the room so I'm not too far away from the Screen. And other than the one sweet spot, all others have crappy views of the screen.
Option 3:
The Golden Trapagon
My least preferred layout because it will compromize the number of people who can sit in the room, moreover the ceiling height will be quite low (7'9" on the front wall) and it won't look great. But I am willing to consider it if it will make a dramatic improvement in the quality of sound. If anyone has actually listened to the acoustics of a golden trapagon, I would greatly appreciate your review on this.
I'm planning to have a cabinet / runner along the wall with the door. This will hold my Disc collection, misc stuff and my drinks stock. The AV Equipment Rack will be below the Center speaker.
Which option should I go for? Your thoughts on design improvement will be greatly appreciated.
For info, the Ratios I came across are:
Sepmeyer Room A: 1.14H x 1.39H X H
Sepmeyer Room B: 1.29H X 1.54H X H
Sepmeyer Room C: 1.60H X 2.33H X H
Louden 1.4H X 1.9H X H
Volkmann 1.5H X 2.5H X H
Boner 1.26H X 1.59H X H
IEC 60268 1.96H x 2.59H x H
Golden 1.6H X 2.6H X H
Dolby 1.49 x 2.31 x H
