New Home Theater Advice

[indian21r]

Hi Guys,

Good to see some action on the Hyderabad front. My name is Rahul and I am total newbie in this area. My only noteworthy device is Pioneer BDP-180

I am planning to setup a full fledged home theater room / party room in a house I purchased. Room Size is 19' x 14' and is bare as of now. Planning for some civil changes. I know adding doors to a HT room is wrong but the way the floor layout is, I want add two doors so that I can access the terrace. Now this will affect the acoustics as well as add light. On top of it there are two more windows as well.. Somehow I feel these changes will make the space more lively.

For your reference the layout.


Hope to get real time inputs from you guys. I am not in a hurry to add the devices but I would prefer to get the Woodwork completed before I move into the house.

Whom would you guys recommend to do the Soundproofing / acoustics. What are the good places to audition in Hyderabad.

Thanks
Rahul

 

[mshifi]

Hi Guys,

Good to see some action on the Hyderabad front. My name is Rahul and I am total newbie in this area. My only noteworthy device is Pioneer BDP-180

I am planning to setup a full fledged home theater room / party room in a house I purchased. Room Size is 19' x 14' and is bare as of now. Planning for some civil changes. I know adding doors to a HT room is wrong but the way the floor layout is, I want add two doors so that I can access the terrace. Now this will affect the acoustics as well as add light. On top of it there are two more windows as well.. Somehow I feel these changes will make the space more lively.

For your reference the layout.
View attachment 28540

Hope to get real time inputs from you guys. I am not in a hurry to add the devices but I would prefer to get the Woodwork completed before I move into the house.

Whom would you guys recommend to do the Soundproofing / acoustics. What are the good places to audition in Hyderabad.

Thanks
Rahul

That's a decent size room. You could get in touch with profx, audio people and vector systems. They would recommend suitable acoustics

 

[prateekatasniya]

Hi Guys,

Good to see some action on the Hyderabad front. My name is Rahul and I am total newbie in this area. My only noteworthy device is Pioneer BDP-180

I am planning to setup a full fledged home theater room / party room in a house I purchased. Room Size is 19' x 14' and is bare as of now. Planning for some civil changes. I know adding doors to a HT room is wrong but the way the floor layout is, I want add two doors so that I can access the terrace. Now this will affect the acoustics as well as add light. On top of it there are two more windows as well.. Somehow I feel these changes will make the space more lively.

For your reference the layout.
View attachment 28540

Hope to get real time inputs from you guys. I am not in a hurry to add the devices but I would prefer to get the Woodwork completed before I move into the house.

Whom would you guys recommend to do the Soundproofing / acoustics. What are the good places to audition in Hyderabad.

Thanks
Rahul

What's your budget? People will suggest according to budget.

 

[indian21r]

Thanks for the quick revert guys. As of now I really have not put any budget nor auditioned any place. I have been to vector once BUT that was really longtime back to purchase the Pioneer blue ray.

I will get in touch with them and other vendors and see what they offer.

 

[newlash09]

Hi Indian 21r

You have a nice sized room for your setup. I have recently completed installing my 5.1.4 setup in a small 17x11 ft living room.


I will start with the mistakes I made first, so please don't commit the same


1. I planned my entire Setup meticulously including concealed wiring. But didn't consider the electrical power part of the equation. If it is still possible, please ask your electrician to wire a heavy gauge dedicated power line from your mains to your HT room. I have all my equipment being fed by noodle sized cables that the builder gave by default.

2. If you are going to have a atmos setup, then please mark your unceiling speaker locations in advance, and tell your interior designer to add extra bracing right next to your unceiling speaker locations. As you know, the entire false ceiling is gypsum boards supported on aluminium frames screwed into the ceiling. The ceiling guys place the aluminium framing only considering the support required for the gypsum boards. But my big unceiling speakers go down to 60hz. And they at times vibrated my entire false ceiling, since I didn't insist on additional aluminium framing around their locations. So please do this if you are going for a atmos setup.

Next coming to your question regarding door placement for your terrace. Do you want to place one door or two doors.

 

[indian21r]

Thanks for the Feedback Newlash. Right now the building is only a shell. I have the option to do many changes except for the elevation. I will keep all these in mind.

From the information I have been gathering, natural light and sound don't seem to go hand in hand at all with respect to Home theater. So I have been racking my brain what to do. I even considered the option of dropping the HT room altogether

But lucky for me, today morning I had another flash of brilliance. ( I keep having these randomly ) Why not swap the home theater and the bedroom. This I can pretty much seal except for one side which is on the elevation Here I can put a drywall if needed. I should probably get 17'6" x 12' shell comfortably. When finished HT room can be 16.5' x 11.5' etc depending on how I wish to have. Length will be the fixed component @ 17'6''. Width I will have lot of play. What ever shape can create the best acoustics I can choose.

I am posting the overall floor plan for reference. This is as per the builder. The red area represents the new HT Room





Do you guys think this will workout.

 

[elangoas]

Room Size is 19' x 14' and is bare as of now. Planning for some civil changes. I know adding doors to a HT room is wrong but the way the floor layout is, I want add two doors so that I can access the terrace.

I should probably get 17'6" x 12' shell comfortably. When finished HT room can be 16.5' x 11.5' etc depending on how I wish to have. Length will be the fixed component @ 17'6''.

Be it 19 x 14 (or) 17 x 12, both should be fine.. 19 x 14 will have more space, should be good enough for 2 rows of seating..

You an always optimise the room lightning by using blinds (or) dark curtains to cut daylight seeping in, in case you would be using a projector..

 

[hifitoaster]

Always have enough breathing space outside the L/R speakers. which is something missing in most home theatres I have seen. I would personally like to have a wider room than than longer room for a spacious sound. Know its a waste of space for seating though

 

[newlash09]

Hi again. Great that you still have flexibility. I would personally go with your original HT room of 19x14 feet. It will be larger and will certainly have less acoustic issues than your bedroom. The speakers should be placed on the diagonals of the room, and moved on these diagonals to get the right distance from side and rear walls. A width of 14 feet would give you more room around your speakers, than a 11 feet room. Besides I have been in rooms exactly 11 ft wide both in my previous house and my present one. And getting speakers to sound good in these rooms, got my speakers too forward into the room, and placed too close to each other. So I would certainly vote for the 19x14 feet HT room.

Secondly, it is always best to sit 1/3rd of the room's length from the back wall. So please don't place your listening sofa up on the backwall. The sofa that is there at room entrance, should be moved further towards your TV/speakers. The room behind the back of this sofa, can be used to place a low shelf that can accommodate cd, dvd or other HT accessories. I sit with my back on the rear wall, and the bass piles up here, and makes my mid range muddy. Unfortunately I can't move my huge L - shaped sofa further into the room. But since you can do it, that would be ideal. And as elangoas correctly mentioned you can also have two rows of seating, all facing the TV/ speakers.

Once you have finalised your primary listening position , which will be where you will sit and listen to music when you are alone, then try to get the room symmetric on either side of this position.

So the two doors opening into the terrace, can be equidistant from this listening position and atleast 1 feet way from side walls. So that the corner space between the door and the side walls can be utilised for bass traps.

Thick rugs can be used as curtains on these doors and the two windows to shut out light and also remove extra reflections.

 

[hpdinesh]

Always have enough breathing space outside the L/R speakers. which is something missing in most home theatres I have seen. I would personally like to have a wider room than than longer room for a spacious sound. Know its a waste of space for seating though

It is not something people do it on purpose . Some houses are built in such a way that they are compelled to keep those speakers like that. Not everyone have dedicated room for their HT. They can only try their best to get good sound out of it by various means. Wish I had that luxury to keep the speakers the way I want .

 

[indian21r]

Thanks for the reply guys.

I can easily get larger space in the Bedroom as I plan to remove the bathroom from there. 19' X 14' to 19' x 17' is no constraint at all if I keep the orientation as it is (North to south). What ever space is left can be utilized for store / equipment room etc. The only reason I quoted those dimensions were following the rules that are floating in the internet to get the best sound.

What do you guys think are the best Dimensions for Home theater given the following broad constraints for the shell 19' x 17' x 10'. This space I can make as dark with as much sound insulation as needed. Any audition rooms in Hyderabad suiting this size.

Always have enough breathing space outside the L/R speakers. which is something missing in most home theatres I have seen. I would personally like to have a wider room than than longer room for a spacious sound. Know its a waste of space for seating though

Do you prefer the to have screen on the longer wall.

So the two doors opening into the terrace, can be equidistant from this listening position and atleast 1 feet way from side walls. So that the corner space between the door and the side walls can be utilised for bass traps. Thick rugs can be used as curtains on these doors and the two windows to shut out light and also remove extra reflections.

the representation shown for HT is what the builder gave.

Won't two 7'x 6' large glass doors , 3' wooden door + the two 6'x3' windows affect the acoustics vs Room with just a 6'6" x 3' door and a picture window 14' x 6' (For the picture window I can probably do Wall insulation which opens so that I can get light into the room if needed )

Be it 19 x 14 (or) 17 x 12, both should be fine.. 19 x 14 will have more space, should be good enough for 2 rows of seating..
You an always optimise the room lightning by using blinds (or) dark curtains to cut daylight seeping in, in case you would be using a projector..

Seating I have really not thought about it. I want to have some low seating etc as there will be quite a few kids who will be using this room

Leaving aside the civil related aspect, would a budget of Rs 8 lakhs be good for HT. I can wait to add equipment as and when needed. What are the current going rates for good Home theater ( Total newbie in the aspect. After a really long time I switched on the phillips 5.1 HT that I have)

 

[newlash09]

Hi again... in either of the cases such large doors and Windows, offering up so much of reflective glass area is not desirable. I had my 2 channel system installed in front of a mirrored wall. And the reflections from the back wall, killed all the imaging. Even the central vocal image was completely blurred.

In my HT room, I have the concept 40's on either side of my large 65 " tv. Again the reflection from the screen gives me a very muddled center image. So best to avoid such large glass doors and windows at the below locations :

1. Behind the speakers.
2. Behind the listening position.
3. At the reflection points.

As I mentioned before, iam only talking from the wisdom gained through my follies

As regarding ideal room sizes, the interpretations on the net will need us to build a new house. As the thumb of rule is to have a room longer than the wave length of the lowest frequency sound wave. However, both your options at 19x14 and 19x17 are good. It is advisable to stay away from a square room and keep it rectangular to the extent possible.

The above us just food for thought

Your budget of 8L is a good starting point. But to make the most of that dedicated room, start acquiring one thing at a time, and build a high quality system. Invest first in the things that can't be done later. Like dedicated power line and acoustic room treatment.

 

[hifitoaster]

"Do you prefer the to have screen on the longer wall." Yes. its a personal choice. I personally like space always to the sides of speakers for wider soundstage. I dont have a HT room, so I dont know if I am missing something while saying that.

 

[elangoas]

Seating I have really not thought about it. I want to have some low seating etc as there will be quite a few kids who will be using this room

Perfect.. I was saying two rows of seating, only as an example..

Leaving aside the civil related aspect, would a budget of Rs 8 lakhs be good for HT. I can wait to add equipment as and when needed. What are the current going rates for good Home theater ( Total newbie in the aspect. After a really long time I switched on the phillips 5.1 HT that I have)

With that budget and great room size, don't look any less than 9.4.6 (or) atleast 9.2.6 HT layout with Denon X 8500H.. 6 over head speakers, can add a lot to HT experience.. AVR alone would take away 25 ~ 30% of your budget..

I would suggest you to look at room acoustics once you have completed your HT set-up.. Budget might vary for this..

 

[indian21r]

Sorry for the delayed reply.

Thanks to all the inputs here, I have decided that the HT room will be 19' x 14' x 10'. The 15' picture window on the west side is a compromise I am willing to make.

Should the acoustic treatment be done in the initial stages or later. I read pretty contradictory information on this. Is ceiling treatment mandatory as I have only terrace on the top. If that is there it will also act as false ceiling. Sound Isolation I am really not sure of the need yet. The room is on 2nd floor facing the west road. there are 14 houses further down the street. and it is a dead end. Windows are double glazed as of now. If need be I will explore the option to put sliding panels to access the window.

I read that angled walls sound better. If needed that can be done as well as I will be removing the existing walls and redoing them. Further how useful is a dedicated equipment room . I have an option to have dedicated space for it.

I require the powder room as it serves the terrace as well. What thickness wall to separate the rooms. As of now the walls are 6" brick as per builder specification. Do any other type of walls make a better choice. Doors can be moved along the lines.

A representation for reference. all the equipment / seating is only for show. Primary seating will be 2 seats or 3 at the most. Additional seating I feel bean bags /futon etc will do the job as they are needed once or twice a week. (Mainly for kids and their cousins to watch movies. They are too small for theater sounds) . If required I can add bar stool / chairs or add seats at later time.



3D render of the same

Hi again... in either of the cases such large doors and Windows, offering up so much of reflective glass area is not desirable. I had my 2 channel system installed in front of a mirrored wall. And the reflections from the back wall, killed all the imaging. Even the central vocal image was completely blurred.

In my HT room, I have the concept 40's on either side of my large 65 " tv. Again the reflection from the screen gives me a very muddled center image. So best to avoid such large glass doors and windows at the below locations :

1. Behind the speakers.
2. Behind the listening position.
3. At the reflection points.

Does the layout I shared addresses these issues?

"Do you prefer the to have screen on the longer wall."

I can enter the room only from the 19' East side. Only way I can get the screen on the longer wall is If I use the window wall for the screen. But I have no clue whether it is a good choice or not.

With that budget and great room size, don't look any less than 9.4.6 (or) atleast 9.2.6 HT layout with Denon X 8500H.. 6 over head speakers, can add a lot to HT experience...

I am under the impression this room was on the smaller side for HT. Won't 9.4.6 etc be pushing it too far?

 

[indian21r]

An update on the dimensions. On my visit to the site yesterday, I realized there was a column in the room forcing me to reconsider the HT room dimensions.

the room can be either 19' x 17' 4" or 17'4" x 15' .

in the 17'4" x 15' layout how good will the window wall be for projecting? The glass is double glazed to reduce the sound coming from outside. With this option entry into the room will be near the seats. I am looking for flexible options to block the light so that when needed, I can open the windows

 

[elangoas]

Won't 9.4.6 etc be pushing it too far?

IMO, nope.. You just have to place the speakers close to the recommended angles for a 9.4.6 setup..

Lets suppose you prefer a 7 bed speakers (std layout with surr back) in a 7.1.4 set-up, and given your room length of 19 feet, the gap between fronts & surrounds would be approx 10 ~ 12 feet.. You can easily add front wides in-between them, there by making it 9 bed speakers..

4 subs for best bass response and 6 overheads for a more immersive feel..This is just my opinion..

Here is a guide from Dolby, incase you didn't see them yet - https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/9.1.6-overhead-speaker-setup-guide.pdf

in the 17'4" x 15' layout how good will the window wall be for projecting?

You can always make a challenging situation better.. Blinds would be best to cut light, use a darker shade if aval..

My projection screen is fixed on the window..But i have used thick bed-sheets between the window & the screen to cut light seeping behind the screen..

The glass is double glazed to reduce the sound coming from outside. With this option entry into the room will be near the seats. I am looking for flexible options to block the light so that when needed, I can open the windows

I actually thought of suggesting Acoustic Transparent screen for projection side..

Could you share a room layout again after the resize in consideration..

 

[indian21r]

My Flipflop with the HT room continues. Until I give clearance for the civil work, I am making changes left right and centre I am enclosing some pictures of today's site condition for reference.

Over the last few days I was trying to put my head on which room to use for HT and what are the pro's and con's for each. I have 2 rooms on the 2nd floor as given below. I am now leaning for them to serve more as multipurpose rooms. Movies/ TV shows/Anime/Games for kids/ Sports events with friends. Music when I am solo or want to work from home. So I want the flexibility of a dark room as well as hangout zone. This area will be the primary entertainment zone. TV in living room will be a small one maybe 55" or max 65". Is it too much of an ask.

Option 1: 19'x14' Home Theater room as given by the builder - Will be more of a media room now


Pros.
1) It has 2 windows out of which I can pack 1 if needed. Option is for a panel that can slide when needed to get acoustics right.
2) Entry can be anywhere I wish to have (marked in Green Color). Doors will open outside so that they dont interfere with the room
3) I Can use the existing Powder room as equipment room ( 9'9" x 3'6"). It has provision for good ventilation. I can kept it separate or create access from the HT Room as well
4)The room is far off from the road as well and should not create any disturbance to the neighbors as well. All the walls are 9" thick
5) Speakers should be in a fixed position

Cons.
1) On the rear wall I want to add a 6' wide french window so that I can access the terrace directly. I keep reading glass is not Ideal for HT. But I still want the glass door as my gatherings will be a little more social especially during sports events where sound quality is secondary.

For movie viewing, One solution I came up with was to have a sliding panel of 5' or 6' done (Bigger than the french window) which will block the light and do the needful for acoustics. I can leave some corner space for the bass traps as well. I am willing to loose some space here. Only concern is with speaker placement and centre speaker acoustics

screen wall


Projector Wall and the french Window


Equipment Wall / Entry door

Option 2: 19'x17' Bedroom- Convert 2nd floor bedroom to Home theater



Pros:
1) Can Pack the windows and create a larger room
2) Can get dedicated Equipment room. (but a little challenging to build)
3) Will be a proper HT room

Cons:
1) Usage will be limited compared to the other room as this will be more of a dark room
2) Will loose the View of the nice window as fixed drywall looks like a necessity
3) Adjacent to the road
4) Glass will be close to speakers even if there is a wall built. Need to factor

Screen Wall



Huge Window


I guess I am leaning more towards Media room than a HT room.

IMO, nope.. You just have to place the speakers close to the recommended angles for a 9.4.6 setup..

Finished room sizes may be slightly smaller. Say 18' x 13'4" room. But if it is feasible I would like to do the wiring.

 

[elangoas]

My Flipflop with the HT room continues. Until I give clearance for the civil work, I am making changes left right and centre I am enclosing some pictures of today's site condition for reference.

I think by the time you finish either of these rooms, it will be almost king size entertainment room.. Great ideas, planning..

Over the last few days I was trying to put my head on which room to use for HT and what are the pro's and con's for each. I have 2 rooms on the 2nd floor as given below. I am now leaning for them to serve more as multipurpose rooms. Movies/ TV shows/Anime/Games for kids/ Sports events with friends. Music when I am solo or want to work from home. So I want the flexibility of a dark room as well as hangout zone. This area will be the primary entertainment zone. TV in living room will be a small one maybe 55" or max 65". Is it too much of an ask.

Did you mean to ask if using a 55inch (or) 65 TV inch in the proposed rooms would be a good idea?.. If so, i think they will look too small..

Option 1: 19'x14' Home Theater room as given by the builder - Will be more of a media room now

I guess I am leaning more towards Media room than a HT room. Finished room sizes may be slightly smaller. Say 18' x 13'4" room. But if it is feasible I would like to do the wiring.

I think this will be better room (less modifications), as you will need to cut light for just one window, besides the projector screen.. The other window too, you can block the light.. That will also leave the door at its current place..

If you were to use the entire width of the proposed room with Acoustic transparent screen, you are looking at approx 175 inch diagonal.. That is fabulous size for a screen.. With Acoustic transparent screen, it gives you the flexibility to position the important front speakers ( L-C-R) at ear height.. So it actually is a benefit..

You can think of a cost effective fixed wooden frame from left wall to right wall, position the speakers behind, and may be utilise the space below screen to spread the A/V gear..

 

[indian21r]

I think by the time you finish either of these rooms, it will be almost king size entertainment room.. Great ideas, planning..

Thanks Elangaos. I hope I am in the right Direction.

Did you mean to ask if using a 55inch (or) 65 TV inch in the proposed rooms would be a good idea?.. If so, i think they will look too small..

Nah Nah This will be for the TV in ground floor for general Entertainment. That area will have huge glass wall almost 200 sqft. I am not even looking for HT there

I think this will be better room (less modifications), as you will need to cut light for just one window, besides the projector screen.. The other window too, you can block the light.. That will also leave the door at its current place..

I have choice to build shutters from outside to full eliminate the light from the window.

My only concern here is the speaker placement and Acoustics management due to the new French Window I am doing. If hanging from the ceiling is a good option I can do that for the surrounds. Otherwise I have to fix the speaker position on the wall first and correspondingly position the door. Since rear wall is good for reflections, will glass be okay there or does it need treatment (like panel that slides)

If you were to use the entire width of the proposed room with Acoustic transparent screen, you are looking at approx 175 inch diagonal.. That is fabulous size for a screen.. With Acoustic transparent screen, it gives you the flexibility to position the important front speakers ( L-C-R) at ear height.. So it actually is a benefit..

Wouldn't 175" diagonal need a large viewing distance. For the primary seating I was thinking around 12' or so from the screen. How forward will the AT screen come- 2' or 3'. With this one row (3/4 seats) will be around 14'-15' from the front Wall. Rear wall will be 3' - 4' behind,will this be enough space for speakers. (Additional seating will be bean bags or fold able chairs pulled in/futon).

I just checked this on a wall. Woah, width will probably be the full room. some specs I got from amazon

• 176-inch Diagonal, 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio. View Size: 69.0" H x 162.0" W. Overall Size: 73.6" H x 166.7" W.
• 180-inch Diagonal, 16:9 Aspect Ratio. View Size: 88.3" H x 156.9" W. Overall Size: 92.9" H x 161.6" W x 1.6" D.
• 165-inch Diagonal, 16:9 Aspect Ratio. View Size: 81.0" H x 144.0" W. Overall Size: 85.6" H x 148.5" W x 1.6" D.

Which aspect Ratio is the preferred one for the projectors. My plan is to have lots of kids movies/Telugu Movies/ English. When I am alone I will watch lots of TV Series (netflix or Prime). Live Sports for groups.

Coming to the projectors, how good is the screen masking feature in them when playing different ratios.

Do we get the woven AT screens in India or the perforated ones. I read Woven screens are a very good choice.

You can think of a cost effective fixed wooden frame from left wall to right wall, position the speakers behind, and may be utilise the space below screen to spread the A/V gear..

This will not be a constraint as I have the spare room and no problem with the Leds distracting. One more thing how do one maintain the speakers behind the AT screen if it is fixed.