Help regards room dimensions, et all!

O&B HCA500 Power Amplifier
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sinister

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
134
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Location
Bangalore
Hi all,

I am in the process of designing my dream home with the architect. Would like to know what would be the right size for a dedicated HT room. Still contemplating if I should do it in the basement or the first floor. When done, am planning to fix it up with a atleast a 55''.

I am not sure if I have given enough information. Please do let me know if there is any other information I need to furnish for any ideas.

I request the gurus here to please guide me in this exciting and an equally painful ride.

Thanks & regards,
S.
 
The Making Of Private Theater Tips

S,

Many Congratulations for getting into the world of private home theater.

One of the member of your city is probably a architect and he knows too much about making of such a theatre so he is likely to be the perfect person for such a unique job and importantly at this point of time he is making his dream home theatre and has his thread so you can see his work step by step.

In general a architect may not be the right person for such jobs because this is a unique requirement, though they are likely to be good with the usual designing of a house. In other word we guys at the forum will be any day more dynamic compared to a architect because of our multiple ideas that too without vested interest etc.

I think your idea of basement is a much better place because it is isolated from the house and there will be host of benefits too, like chance of sunlight dropping considerably, though many of the basements may not have a window, so one already has a born strong footing in terms of no windows existing.

While that is a another story that there could be some risk in terms of water coming in the basement during rainy season, etc but these can be mostly worked out.

One of our respective moderator is having a theatre in the basement and will be able to shed a lot of practical light. Further there is some other member who has a private theatre in his garage and it seems he is among the top 3, the way he has made it, Santosh has had the privilege to see his theatre.

One of the other ways to make a theatre is by DIY route, for this i think Santosh among others is fully suited for all the guidance you need, he has his own forum too for "DYI" and has a wonderful theater, you can see his thread.

If you take "DYI" route then there will be several members who will guide you online and it will be a trillion times better joy that you raised this child, of which you may name it as "My Private Theater".

You are very right that it is going to be a exciting and probable painful ride, i and others can understand these sentiments, if done rightly it will be worth the pain and you will forget going to a cinema hall.

I have gone through hell to yield brilliant results in making my "Mini Theater", which was covered as a good home theater by 5 magazines & Times Of India too in Metro Cites + on a television channel as per video link in my signature.

V.
 
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I am a complete novice and will try to understand each one of your replies!

@moktan - Thanks for the pointers. Will check out the link and try to understand what it means :)

@vinay - First of all congratulations on your home theatre setup. Would love to check it out sometime. Thanks for the reply and the time taken to compose it. I will try to read up your blogs and check out your setup(s). Maybe I will finally take the easy way out and copy one of the designs available in this forum, one that is feasible, if the owners have no issue with that! :)

You guys rock and also can expect a lot more bugging coming your way!

Regards,
Sreedhar.
 
Private Theatre

Sreedhar,

I too was a novice and am still trying to learn more and more via this forum.

If there are any queries from time to time or if something is wrong with our suggestions etc we will amend to get on a better screen.

Thanks for appreciating my "Mini Theatre", you are most welcome to visit my home.

In-fact there are many more theatre's photos on this forum but some of them have not shared the images. I would love to see the theatre photo's of Raghav, Rishi, Venkatcr's and others if any.

Indeed it takes a lot of time to think and compose these posts, like yesterday i sat around 50% of the day writing posts, this is due to high passion and then nothing much to do as it is raining heavily since last night and it seems we are headed for heavy snowfall. I am now in Shimla.

I had seen a elegant demo room of a theatre, it was too good, twice it came in my dreams too, i also wanted to copy the same design but eventually what i made was completely different and much better. So moral of the story is that you may also end up making something much better then the theatre we have.

It is the other way round, we will get bugged if you will not raise queries etc.

V.
 
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Vinay,

Thanks again for the prompt response. I envy your passion. Not sure if I will ever get there. I think passion is beyond distractions. I get easily distracted, especially when kids are around(not that I am complaining on this one!). Enjoy your stint in Shimla(with snow, et all).

Once I have a plan worked out will PM you the same so that you can give your feedback, if you have time.

I am sure there will be lot of support coming thro' in this journey of mine.

The video link to your setup is pretty impressive. I am sure the rates must have shot up now. But am curious to know what the dimensions of the "Mini Theatre" room and the approximate cost it took, if it is not too much to ask.

Regards,
Sreedhar.
 
Alok,

Thanks! Lots of pictures. This will be pretty helpful when I get there. All the very best.

I can see lot of support coming thro'. This forum rocks! I have bookmarked the link you sent..

Regards,
Sreedhar.
 
Sreedhar,

When are you planning to start your project? I am keen to follow it and provide any information I have gathered till now. Just one piece of advice is to not loose hope or get de-motivated if you hear some complicated fundamentals or theories on Acoustics.

Thanks,
Alok
 
Alok,

I am planning to start construction(from scratch) by April. Right now in design phase. Still contemplating if it has to be a basement one or in first floor. Leaning towards basement, but some friends are saying that it could be difficult to maintain in the long run. What do you suggest?

Thanks for the advice and help. I will definitely keep this in mind. Even though I am a complete novice, I am sure with the help and support from this forum, I can pull thro' successfully :)

Regards,
Sreedhar.
 
If I had a basement then I would have prefered to build the HT in the basement. It is usually an isolated place and the noise leaking to the neighbour's houses is minimal in this case.
 
Hi,

If you decide on the basement you will need to ensure that it is and remains dry and moisture free. This is not easy to ensure in certain types of soil and climatic conditions.

Purely from the acoustic point of view it will be useful to have none of the walls parallel to each other. Obviously this will create havoc in domestic architecture. This may be ruled out.

You may have noticed that many theatres are fan shaped with the walls and ceiling bulging inwards to reduce acoustic feedback. This may be a more feasible option depending upon the size of your plot. Many buildings from the 1930s to the 1950s had semi-circular balconies or drawing rooms. See what your architect says about it.

As far as acoustic materials are concerned, many forum members from Bangalore, including GeorgeO, have been experimenting with it. If you can enlist their assistance, you will be guided well.

All the best in your quest for acoustic excellence.
 
Private Home Theatre

Sreedhar,

We all have passion in something or the other.

My passion is mainly in a private home theatre in all respects with more higher passion in trading and investing.

You can surely get there for a good theatre with help of we forum members and your determination.

Indeed passion is more suited beyond distraction, no wonder i do not use my cell for various reasons and avoid Internet surfing by 95% on week days.

The stint in Shimla is too good, this is my 3rd trip in 3 months.

I think you should avoid private messaging because our views could be wrong etc but when you write everything on the thread you get diverse opinions, so this way you get the opportunity to take a better call.

It is very true that you will get a lot of support during the journey of making your private theatre. Actually some of the fellow members have slowed down in their respective writing but should pick up sooner then later.

The video link was shoo ted by the television crew, their jobs are quite professional. The photos which you see in the link were also shot by a professional.

The room length of my "Mini Theatre" is 23 feet and width is 12 feet. The actual room length was 15 feet, which i was finding short after conducting several dry runs of projector movie beaming on bare wall. To over come this shortfall i broke my 2nd bathroom and got another 8 feet.

V.

sinister said:
Vinay,

Thanks again for the prompt response. I envy your passion. Not sure if I will ever get there. I think passion is beyond distractions. I get easily distracted, especially when kids are around(not that I am complaining on this one!). Enjoy your stint in Shimla(with snow, et all).

Once I have a plan worked out will PM you the same so that you can give your feedback, if you have time.

I am sure there will be lot of support coming thro' in this journey of mine.

The video link to your setup is pretty impressive. I am sure the rates must have shot up now. But am curious to know what the dimensions of the "Mini Theatre" room and the approximate cost it took, if it is not too much to ask.

Regards,
Sreedhar.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks guys for the reponses. I am attaching the two alternate versions of the plan that I have till now. I am planning for a 3BHK + study + HT. HT is still not mentioned in any of the plans.

In case I want to go for a basement(which I am very inclined to), should I get the soil tested(from whom?) to see if it will be a good idea.

One thing that I was told is that the adjoining area belongs to army area and hence a lot of empty space. Friends were suggesting in case of basement HT, we need to consider the water table levels because of this reason.

@miroflex
Purely from the acoustic point of view it will be useful to have none of the walls parallel to each other. Obviously this will create havoc in domestic architecture. This may be ruled out.
You may have noticed that many theatres are fan shaped with the walls and ceiling bulging inwards to reduce acoustic feedback. This may be a more feasible option depending upon the size of your plot. Many buildings from the 1930s to the 1950s had semi-circular balconies or drawing rooms. See what your architect says about it.
Click to expand...
Can I have any reference as to how much I can play with(the angles, et all). FYI, my plot is 40ft*60ft.

@vinay
Thanks again for inspiring confidence in me. I need it most of all. I will have to learn a lot from you... :)
Trading and investing - may be I will start bugging you on those as well.. :ohyeah:
3 times in 3 months to Shimla - nice - work related?
Thanks again for giving out the dimensions of your Mini Theatre. You seem to have taken a lot of hard decisions for making this happen.

Regards,
Sreedhar.
 
The first option...
Please do note that this is nowhere near complete...

Regards,
Sreedhar.

EDIT: I am not able to attach the second option. Looks like I have run out of space...
 

Attachments

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Hi Sinister,

Since you are building a house, you will need to set aside space for residential purposes. In case you decide to have a basement, you will have more or rather a lot of space to play around with.

You should plan to place your equipment along the narrower part of the fan shaped room, in case you decide on this shape. You can decide upon the angle of the side walls by reference to movie theatres in your area. The main consideration is to avoid or rather minimize and reduce acoustic feedback.

In case you decide upon a semicircular or rectangular with one of walls semicircular, you should plan to place your equipment along the straight wall, opposite to the semicircle. If you have a frame type RCC structure rather than load bearing walls you will have more freedom in designing the room.You will, from the point of architectural layout and structural considerations, find it more convenient to locate the room in the front of the building.

Regarding acoustic treatment of the walls, there have been several posts on this forum. You may like to go through them.

I hope this helps. All the best.
 
Basement

Sreedhar,

If your friends are saying it will be difficult to maintain basement in long run then please request them the specific reasons for abort otherwise you should consider to stay put with the basement idea.

For a projector, it's best home is generally the ceiling, similarly for a private theatre it's best home could be the basement.

There are very people like you who have the opportunity to have a basement, you should not leave this golden chance unless called for.

V.

sinister said:
Alok,
I am planning to start construction(from scratch) by April. Right now in design phase. Still contemplating if it has to be a basement one or in first floor. Leaning towards basement, but some friends are saying that it could be difficult to maintain in the long run. What do you suggest?
Sreedhar.
Click to expand...
 
Private Theatre At Home

Sreedhar,

In forums there will be lot of us who will inspire confidence to fellow members in making a private theatre at home.

Frankly speaking if we will talk outside the forum of making such a theatre it is likely that people will say we are crazy because they may not know the power of such a marvel.

About trading this is something too a risky, especially the type of trading i do.

As far as investment goes, you will surely benefit a lot in long run if you consider the mutual funds route. You can contact some of the leading financial adviser s at your end and take a full back up from me or others at the forum etc, who know very well of mutual funds.

These many trips to Shimla is work + personal, it is nearly a month that i am now in Shimla, and will be here for a couple of more days. I like this place a lot.

I had to take a lot of hard decisions while making my "Mini Theatre", like sealing a huge window of 6 X 4 feet especially when the view outside was very good and that too from a 10th floor and then partly raising the floor and making foot steps, if all this was not enough then a No Smoking & Fire Exit display, etc.

To sum it up, more the passion, better and unique could be the outcome.

V.

sinister said:
@vinay
Thanks again for inspiring confidence in me. I need it most of all. I will have to learn a lot from you... :)
Trading and investing - may be I will start bugging you on those as well.. :ohyeah:
3 times in 3 months to Shimla - nice - work related?
Thanks again for giving out the dimensions of your Mini Theatre. You seem to have taken a lot of hard decisions for making this happen.

Regards,
Sreedhar.
Click to expand...
 
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