Suggestion for living room Home theatre setup and acoustics.

[karteek23]

Want to setup home theatre in open hall living room in my new small flat.

Want to know how can I treat sound in flat and open hall so that it won't disturb neighbours.

Yamaha rxv585
RL: wharfedale diamond towers
Center : Bic America Venturi
Rear: Bic America Venturi bookshelf
Sub: taga 212se.


Need suggestions.

1) is it advisable to setup in hall
2) what to consider for acoustics.
3) acoustics ceiling panels, wall panels distributors in Hyderabad if any etc.

And your opinion on how to proceed to get optimum sound.

 

[swift]

Want to setup home theatre in open hall living room in my new small flat.

Want to know how can I treat sound in flat and open hall so that it won't disturb neighbours.

Yamaha rxv585
RL: wharfedale diamond towers
Center : Bic America Venturi
Rear: Bic America Venturi bookshelf
Sub: taga 212se.


Need suggestions.

1) is it advisable to setup in hall
2) what to consider for acoustics.
3) acoustics ceiling panels, wall panels distributors in Hyderabad if any etc.

And your opinion on how to proceed to get optimum sound.

Hi @karteek23,

I am using a home theatre (HT) in my living room. Although mine is a villa let me still share the cons of such a setup in a family living space since my floor plan also has a connected dining and living room.

If you are serious about acoustic treating your room, first check if you can partition and separate the living and dining area using acoustic wall partition so that sound does not leak into other rooms and ends up disturbing other's space. For a movie viewer, any sound from HT is an experience but for others, it is just a noise.

If not better forget about the HT in the living room since you will regret a full-fledged home theatre in such a setup in the long run. This I say from the experience I go through now with such a setup.

Why is no home theatre in the open living room a better idea?
1) Forget about neighbors, most of the time it ends up disturbing our own family members. Not everyone at home will be in the mood or situation to watch films or videos at the same time. So what happens is either I had to keep the volume very minimal or else others in the home have to shut in any other room both of which are not so nice.

2) Also, having one side of the room open will not give us the proper acoustic result which also ends up in a poor HT experience.

3) Since you are adding a subwoofer it will resonate and cause unwanted noise from other living room objects including the false ceiling. Alternatively, why not consider an HT setup in any of your study/bedrooms? That would be awesome with 100% result.

 

[DB1989]

Hi @karteek23,

I am using a home theatre (HT) in my living room. Although mine is a villa let me still share the cons of such a setup in a family living space since my floor plan also has a connected dining and living room.

If you are serious about acoustic treating your room, first check if you can partition and separate the living and dining area using acoustic wall partition so that sound does not leak into other rooms and ends up disturbing other's space. For a movie viewer, any sound from HT is an experience but for others, it is just a noise.

If not better forget about the HT in the living room since you will regret a full-fledged home theatre in such a setup in the long run. This I say from the experience I go through now with such a setup.

Why is no home theatre in the open living room a better idea?
1) Forget about neighbors, most of the time it ends up disturbing our own family members. Not everyone at home will be in the mood or situation to watch films or videos at the same time. So what happens is either I had to keep the volume very minimal or else others in the home have to shut in any other room both of which are not so nice.

2) Also, having one side of the room open will not give us the proper acoustic result which also ends up in a poor HT experience.

3) Since you are adding a subwoofer it will resonate and cause unwanted noise from other living room objects including the false ceiling. Alternatively, why not consider an HT setup in any of your study/bedrooms? That would be awesome with 100% result.

Couldn't agree more with the above!

But what if Dilip is residing alone?

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Want to setup home theatre in open hall living room in my new small flat.

Want to know how can I treat sound in flat and open hall so that it won't disturb neighbours.

Yamaha rxv585
RL: wharfedale diamond towers
Center : Bic America Venturi
Rear: Bic America Venturi bookshelf
Sub: taga 212se.


Need suggestions.

1) is it advisable to setup in hall
2) what to consider for acoustics.
3) acoustics ceiling panels, wall panels distributors in Hyderabad if any etc.

And your opinion on how to proceed to get optimum sound.

Hi karteek

Getting acoustic treatment into a common living room might better the sound, but it will be horrible for aesthetics. Ive been living with a similar HT system in my living room without any treatments. I know it is a compromise of sorts. But here we are trying to do the best we can, with what we've got.

And since the walls are all concrete, there is not much sound transmission into adjoining rooms, however we have to be mindful of the volume if other family members are busy with other things. So solitary late night sessions will be an issue.

Other than the above, the main actual issue is transmission of bass to the floor below. Isolating the subwoofer with some footers helps. This avoids bass travelling to other rooms as well. Lots of options out there from noob springs, SVS sound path and isoacoustics to name a few.

Edit : I see that you are already using floor standers which take up space. I was previously using a 5.1 sat + sub combination from Qacoustics called Q7000i. It sounded fantastic. Though presently iam using floor standers, but even compared to the present setup, I think the Q7000i despite being smaller was equally good for the task. Iam actually tempted to rig it up in my main 2 channel room now

 

[edjamesx]

Why is no home theatre in the open living room a better idea?
......

Yes. Have a dedicated room for HT , and you will be able to enjoy the setup thoroughly. In the single closed room u have better management of sound and acoustics + no disturbances to others.
I think your 12"*12* bed room can be converted to HT and bedroom.
Use Living room to watch common TV shows.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Hi again karteek

Iam posting a few pics of my 10 year old HT system to show that you can get great sound even in a living room. I planned the whole setup before the room was built. So have most of the wiring going under the floor or the inside the ceiling. The HT space is small, and I pre-wired it for a 7.2.4 setup. Though i only have a 5.1.4 setup, as the wife will not let me cram anymore boxes into the room. The main limitation of this system is the sub woofer. My better half just wont let me put a proper big HT sub in here. So i make do with a small 8inch Qacoustics sub that is hidden from view. But even a half decent 12 inch subwoofer will surely improve things a LOT. And that is a compromise I have to live with. So with a little planning, one can have good sound even in the most unlikely of spaces

Below is how everything normally looks : everything is hidden except the 2 channel amp which needs ventilation, so is placed below the rack.




The marantz avr, isotek power block, a roku streamer, yamaha wxc-50 streamer, chord2qute dac were all placed inside. With everything controlled from a tablet via a logitech elite harmony control system. Even my wife could swicth everything on and change the inputs automatically with the touch of a button on the tab.


I used my previous speakers from the Qacoustics Q7000i sat + sub system as wall mounted surrounds on left and right.




There are a total of 4 of these 10 inch in ceiling yamaha speakers from their previous IWC range as atmos speakers. All wired through the false ceiling.




Ive subsequently lost interest in HT as i hardly ever watch TV. So have down sized the electronics to just the marantz AVR now. But still it sounds decent enough.

 

[karteek23]

Hi Members,

Thank you for your response. Even I got the same response from the acoustic manager (Bharat acoustics), they said open hall setup is not advisible. If there is no choice then they suggested the Thick curtains, False ceiling ( acoustic rockwool inside) , minimalistic bass traps, corner traps or aesthetic acoustic panels which can make sound little better.

 

[ajuvignesh]

IF you still want to use your living room for HT, you should use thick curtains. A lot of curtains where ever you can put without looking awkward. Use fabric couch and center table. separate the living room and dining area with a thick sliding curtain. You can close it while watching movies. Cross the front speakers infront of you to minimize secondary reflection. This will give you a decent sound. It cannot substitute a dedicated room for HT.

 

[Silencer]

Hi again karteek

Iam posting a few pics of my 10 year old HT system to show that you can get great sound even in a living room. I planned the whole setup before the room was built. So have most of the wiring going under the floor or the inside the ceiling. The HT space is small, and I pre-wired it for a 7.2.4 setup. Though i only have a 5.1.4 setup, as the wife will not let me cram anymore boxes into the room. The main limitation of this system is the sub woofer. My better half just wont let me put a proper big HT sub in here. So i make do with a small 8inch Qacoustics sub that is hidden from view. But even a half decent 12 inch subwoofer will surely improve things a LOT. And that is a compromise I have to live with. So with a little planning, one can have good sound even in the most unlikely of spaces

Below is how everything normally looks : everything is hidden except the 2 channel amp which needs ventilation, so is placed below the rack.

View attachment 78594

View attachment 78595
The marantz avr, isotek power block, a roku streamer, yamaha wxc-50 streamer, chord2qute dac were all placed inside. With everything controlled from a tablet via a logitech elite harmony control system. Even my wife could swicth everything on and change the inputs automatically with the touch of a button on the tab.
View attachment 78596

I used my previous speakers from the Qacoustics Q7000i sat + sub system as wall mounted surrounds on left and right.
View attachment 78597

View attachment 78598

There are a total of 4 of these 10 inch in ceiling yamaha speakers from their previous IWC range as atmos speakers. All wired through the false ceiling.
View attachment 78599

View attachment 78600

Ive subsequently lost interest in HT as i hardly ever watch TV. So have down sized the electronics to just the marantz AVR now. But still it sounds decent enough.

I must ask this. Sorry, but does the TV still have those stickers on it?

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

I must ask this. Sorry, but does the TV still have those stickers on it?

Haha.....those pics were from almost 7 years back when the TV was still new

 

[Silencer]

Sigh. . Glad to know that.

 

[prateekatasniya]

Want to setup home theatre in open hall living room in my new small flat.

Want to know how can I treat sound in flat and open hall so that it won't disturb neighbours.

Yamaha rxv585
RL: wharfedale diamond towers
Center : Bic America Venturi
Rear: Bic America Venturi bookshelf
Sub: taga 212se.


Need suggestions.

1) is it advisable to setup in hall
2) what to consider for acoustics.
3) acoustics ceiling panels, wall panels distributors in Hyderabad if any etc.

And your opinion on how to proceed to get optimum sound.

A well furnished space with some diffusers in ceiling + a couple of printed acoustic panels on walls ( which would look like regular photo frames) is sufficient to give you decent sound.

There's no point discussing what isn't possible.( like choosing another room etc)

Rest of the performance would depend on the components and how it has been integrated with the space.

Regards.

 

[srinisundar]

A well furnished space with some diffusers in ceiling + a couple of printed acoustic panels on walls ( which would look like regular photo frames) is sufficient to give you decent sound.

There's no point discussing what isn't possible.( like choosing another room etc)

Rest of the performance would depend on the components and how it has been integrated with the space.

Regards.

Exactly.. What you said is absolutely right.