Home Theater Suggestions for 21 x 17 - 20L budget

Only a very tiny handful on this forum probably have such a setup. Or probably you are the first. Honest advice, get a professional company to do this for you. 95% of us here including me are dali Polk and wharfdale. With such a large budget and your hard earned money,it’s better to take professional advice rather than advice from audio enthusiasts on a forum.
 
celester340 said:
Only a very tiny handful on this forum probably have such a setup. Or probably you are the first. Honest advice, get a professional company to do this for you. 95% of us here including me are dali Polk and wharfdale. With such a large budget and your hard earned money,it’s better to take professional advice rather than advice from audio enthusiasts on a forum.
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I can think of @rbalagopalan for having reference level equipments.
 
Having a reference level setup is different to a setup that is done professionally. Professional setups will have all the aesthetics as well as treatment's etc to match the equipment.

For a reference set-up one doesn't need 20 lacs.

If I had 20 lacs to spend on a HT, I'd definitely be looking at aesthetics to match the equipment. In my case for example, if my wife doesn't like what she sees, no sound in the world will convince her to spend 20lacs.

Just my 2 cents. The OP could have a different view.
 
krishpiscean said:
yes, going for centralized AC so believe it would be calmer.
What is this buttkicker lfe, googling confused me a bit.
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Buttkicker is one of the brands that makes this kinda haptic transducers. Basically, when attached to the seat and this thing passes the 'bass feel' directly to the body through conduction. New Dolby cinemas have something similar, I guess.

Yes, centralized AC is nice. Hope there will be no AC compressor hum heard in the room and sound proofing will keep the noise away. I guess, there's a ducting mechanism to keep the noise down. I remember a famous sound engineer suggesting split Acs for the theater room as the noise is less compared to centralized HVAC.

You can bring projector screen material too from US as you will get good things for cheap there.

A room of this size needs good acoustics too. Two subs will be the minimum. The rest of the bass level room correction can be done either with acoustics or additional subwoofers whichever is cheaper.

All the best :). Please keep us updated.
 
krishpiscean said:
I'm aiming for 9.2.6 setup but wondering if AVR would limit this setup. Denon 8500 has 13 channels or does it support 15 ?
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It is a 13 channel AVR, with 15 Pre-outs.. So yes, a 9.1.6 layout is possible.. But not very sure, if the processing ability is limited to 13 channels.. I will try to read some articles / reviews and share an update..

Here is my spread - Pls advice

LCR - Purchase thru Hyd dealers - B&W/Monitor Audio/JBL/KEF/Klipsch... not of sure of other brands in Hyd -> 4-5L - Shouldn't cater more bucks for this ?
Overhead - In Ceiling Supporting speakers of LCR -> 6 * 35 = ~ 2L
Wide/Surround - In the wall or stands - supporting LCR -> 6*35 = ~ 2L
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If you decide to do 6 overheads, for 21 ft room length, and evenly spaced overheads, top middle speaker positioning should be fine, as you would sit right below that / near that.. Getting the top front & top rear with inceiling speakers angled towards your listening position, might be difficult.. In that regard, a bookshelf speaker with threaded inserts would be very easy to tilt/ angle towards your listening position using external brackets..

Choose identical speakers (BS) for a seamless soundstage, from any of the brands you like (or) where pricing works out best for you.. But make sure they have threaded inserts at the back for easy mounting, as it would flexibility in mounting the speakers where you should and point towards your listening position..

SW - No idea on these, pls suggest if 4 vs 2 in terms soundstage and budget - 2L
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Depending on how many row of seats you would have, you can settle for multiple subs.. Ideally 2 sub would be good, but if you can accomodate 4 subs and place it accordingly in the room, that would be great..

AVR/PA - Based on LCR - can source from USA - 4L
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Power amplifiers hardly fail (or) the probability of failure is very less.. So getting them from US, would be a wise choice..

w.r.t AVR / Pre-amp, the probability of issue arising is more common..Indian dealers have the habit of turning down service for equipment procured outside india.. So even after getting a Flagship AVR, it would be really difficult to handle once the service is turned down..

Projector - From USA - 2L
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This also would be better choice..

I usually don't recommend Pro FX, but in your case, it would be apt.. As they can get you the AVR and the speakers that you are looking for and you are in a better position to negotiate the final price.. Choose what you deem fit..
 
krishpiscean said:
yes, will seek professional help but want to do thorough research myself on what i can get/achieve.

M&K i believe are ducking expensive, not sure i can afford them for 9.2.6
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Would the room double up as a room for social gathering where you would run AV exhibits? If yes, please go for in wall setup of any brand that suits you budget. I dread someone knocking or denting the speakers. Also, fixed furniture vs moveable furniture is another thing to consider.
I think you might have read through @sud98 HT room build. It has a lot of data points to capture regarding wiring, acoustic treatment etc. Long read though.
 
Do keep a budget for acoustics and aesthetics. It will make a world of difference.
Seating
Are you planning a single row of seats or two rows with a riser. Two rows will benefit a lot from 4 overheads. For a single row, make sure there is enough space at the back to put the 4 overheads either side of the seats.
For seats check out the recliners india website. They do have physical stores, check if they have it in Hyd. They can make it custom fit with even a buttkicker built in.
Screen
Check out the screens from Elitescreens.in. Great Aesthetics. Would be cheaper to go DIY if you have the patience.
 
krishpiscean said:
  • Dedicated 21 X 17 space on third floor - Current condition - under construction
  • Preferred budget - 20L but can extend to 25L in staged manner
  • Looking for Dolby Atmos setup - 7.1.2 or 7.1.4 (not sure how much 7.1.4 differs on 7.1.2)
  • Currently in US but setup in India, so can source goods from US but prefer to buy in India/Singapore
Pls suggest/advice on how/what I can plan on my budget
  • How much of my budget should i spend on speakers/acoustics/seating/wiring
  • How do I select speakers for room size
  • Suggest speakers/Amp combinations
Click to expand...
You could consult Profx, Vector systems, The Audio People etc who do complete installations including acoustics etc.
 
Hi @krishpiscean just happened to see your thread. I have spent enough time, energy and money in HT set-up. Probably I may be of some help to you in making your learning curve vertical.

You have a very decent budget and you are sitting in audio heaven US. I can guide you and help you in bringing every gear from there. In case if you are returning after more than 3 years we can bring everything in TR. The process is not that very tough. I can guide you. You will end up getting 20Lakhs stuff for 10 Lakhs.

I have helped to setup a HT for my friend in TN who's room size is 22’ X 30'. The dealer's offer was for Onkyo receiver and Crystal Acoustics speakers and Subwoofers. Trust me in that same price I got him a Anthem MRX 720 receiver, B&W CT series 7 2 speaker package.

So surely we can spend your money effectively. It's really a step by step process and I would strongly recommend you to audition as many setups as possible especially at homes and not showrooms.
This will greatly help you to take a balanced decision.

You may please text me so that I can elaborate how you can take it further. Then it's your call.

Thanks
R. Balagopalan
 
Hi Krishpicean

You have a very healthy budget to get things right. But I would strongly recommend reaching out to some professional installers to be absolutely certain that your room sounds and looks gorgeous.

Once they have seen your place and finalised the components required, then you can get the electronics from US on transfer of residence. Just have to buy the speakers here, or alternately you can buy the speakers too in the US and ship them in a dedicated container along with your furniture. This will save you a lot on costs involved. But if you want to have a good room end to end, ie power management, lighting management, acoustic treatment, sound and visual quality, along with aesthetic appeal, optimum seating and comfort. Please go with a professional. They must have done lots of installations, and learnt along the way. So they will be a safer bet. All the best :)
 
Well over 20 years of experience in designing audio stuff. Let me put these things infront of you Krish.

1.First of all you need to understand how your room sounds naturally.
2.How is the structural integrity is how good the room is actually able to deal with acoustical issues. Are there any serious issues to be taken care for the dimensions of the room which requires a different approach in solving.
  1. Everyone is speaking about some xyz brand here the basic parameter is what is the throw required for the listening position and how loud you usually listen to. (This decides what is the balance to be made on your equipment and the budget for acoustics and or projector comes into play).
  2. What frequencies the room is basically resonating? is it dominant at one particular frequency or is it distributed at multiple frequencies.
  3. Seating height and bass advantage how effective the bass is going to be cancelled in the room and or the seating elevation helping the bass in certain ways.
  4. How is vocal flutter in room. There is a possibility of acoustic flutter in room which sounds more or less like a table tennis ball. You see that last chattering sound once you drop the table tennis ball that is very critical when it comes to midrange performance.
  5. How is High frequency flutter in room: How are you going to tackle this high frequencies are going to play in your room. Where and at what frequencies its going to get concentrated.
  6. Comb filtering effect to be addressed.
  7. Acoustically dead room or somewhat lively room? Are you looking for a room where you also play music? and also movies? what is your preference on it? It also decides do we need to use diffusers at any level?
  8. What is your age? how much hearing loss happend to you over a period of time and how do we compensate it when you are the prime watching member in the family and we need to have a set of presents.
  9. How Noisy is outside of the room? How much leakage is happening into the room?
  10. How clean is your power supply? Do you need the power conditioners or you are just using the mains? If so are you having a dedicated space for the equipment or not or how it has to be planned?
  11. Positions of doors and windows in the room? How crucial is it for you to have and change the position of doors?
  12. Isolation of the room. Is the room needs to be isolated? Are you really serious about dead silent?
  13. Onwall or floorstanding speakers. The speakers midrange has to be at 2/3rd position from the bottom of the screen or you dont find the dialogues as coming from the actors speech. This is dolby standards. People who say the floor standers are good then expect the voice coming right from bottom of the screen.
  14. Subwoofer? How many or what will be decided on where they come and also like said budget splitting as per the case. I usually recommend 2 subs as minimum and 4 as good enough and 6 as ideal if budget permits.
  15. Distance to throw when you sit in the home theater the distance at which you watch movie matters very much. The speaker should have enough throw from the speakers.
  16. Size of the front Left/ Center / right speakers. The most important thing is that the woofer in the front LCR needs to be 15 inch anything less than that is believe me doesnt sound as good. Even dual 12 inch woofers dont sound as good as one 15 inch. The tonality gives an absolute authority and grunt in the bass that none of the hifi speakers or floorstanders can do.
  17. The advantage of going with 15 inch woofers in the LCR is that even at 100db of reference level sound which is way too loud and dynamic your speaker cone hardly moves 2mm which is why the distortion will also be very low hence more enjoyable in normal listening levels which will be hardly about 1mm.
  18. Distortion in bass when used with 15 inch woofer in LCR is negligible infact the 6.5 inch or 8 inch woofers in floorstanders cannot even take the beating when action sequence comes they literally struggle to deliver that bass. Dynamics from a conventional small woofer floorstanders forget it.

There are another 80 points but I believe I will discuss on phone if you are interested.
 
Hi @krishpiscean you must follow and consultant @rbalagopalan for your AV journey. He have a waste experience of universally acclaimed AV equipment which are always a dream products of every AV enthusiastic. He will help you in selecting great equipments within great price. Procuring products from US will definitely save a lot of money but make sure to have after sale service available in India. Either in warranty or paid. Most of the Indian AV dealers are reluctant to service products purchased abroad. Look beyond mass market products and search for top tier products like Anthem, B&W, Paradigm etc
 
You could check with John (Bangalore based) for his build experience

Yet another dedicated home theater build :)

Dear Friends, After waiting for almost 1 year, I started on my dedicated home theater room build in my new home. The project got delayed due to various reasons and it had been a LONG wait. The acoustics and lighting work will start from tomorrow and is expected to finish within a week. This...
www.hifivision.com www.hifivision.com

I have heard Axiom atmos setup at the local dealer and at a friend's place. Simply awesome.
 
For speakers do give scansonic a look. Great bang for the buck since they are essentially designed by the same guy who designs Raidhos.
Marantz 8012 is very powerful and has the warm Marantz sound.
I strongly recommend spending about 25% on soundproofing and acoustics.
 
Room is one of the most important variable in audio. So you need to understand your room properly and spent some time to
make it good for listening using room treatment using absorption and diffusion .

If you use the same system for stereo listening too then I recommend to give more importance to left and right speaker and for movies get a matching center speaker. For surround and overhead speakers you can go with same brand for better tonal matching. Plan for subs depending on the room may be two to four.

Instead of AVR I will recommend separates, you can go with Emotiva RMC-1 sixteen channel processor.
This is one of the best processor,you can opt power amp from Emotiva or any other. This processor will support
all latest codecs and it will support most of future codecs by firmware update . Hence your processor will never get outdated and it has one of the best room correction software.

Thanks
Renjith
 
krishpiscean said:
  • Dedicated 21 X 17 space on third floor - Current condition - under construction
  • Preferred budget - 20L but can extend to 25L in staged manner
  • Looking for Dolby Atmos setup - 7.1.2 or 7.1.4 (not sure how much 7.1.4 differs on 7.1.2)
  • Currently in US but setup in India, so can source goods from US but prefer to buy in India/Singapore
Pls suggest/advice on how/what I can plan on my budget
  • How much of my budget should i spend on speakers/acoustics/seating/wiring
  • How do I select speakers for room size
  • Suggest speakers/Amp combinations
Click to expand...



Wow ,I think you got a massive budget for your HT needs .
Members in the forums can give you lot of ideas ,brands.Finally you are the end user to wisely decide based on your likings ,requiremnts etc.

I'm projecting the options I would consider myself if I have such budget .(Coz It may differ bcoz u r the end user).
Good Audition is the key to wisely decide.
AVR - Definitely No.
Pre/Pro -Definitely Yes.
What Processor - Minimum 11 channel -Atmos & Dts X capable.
Brand - 1 ) Anthem AVM 60 -11 channel (Approx Price 3000 $) 2) Marantz AV8805 -13 channel processing(15 channel speakers connections possible ,Approx Price- 4500 $ )3) Emotiva -RMC 1 -16 channel -(Approx Price 5000$)
Indian prices will be heavier compartively.
Power Amp - Minimum 150 watts to 200 watts per channel @ 8 ohms -should handle 4 ohms with higher watts
Brand - 1) ATI 2) Parasound 3) Adcom (Approx Budget to be considered - Rupees 4 to 5 Lakhs ,This if u source it from US ,it will be cheaper compartively)

Speakers - Invest more on better speakers - Preferablly same series for better timber matching.(Possible better to source it from US)
Brands - 1) M&K speakers 2)XTZ Cinema series etc.

Subs : Minimum 2 Nos with a frequency range < 20 Hz of similar model /brand . If u have budget then quad subs .
(Budget shall be minimum 8 lakhs for both speakers and subs IMO) Brands : REL ,MJ acoustics ,SVS etc.

Acoustics of Room - Definitely -Best through an Acoustic consultant matching ur Interiors prefrence. (Approx Minimum 400 Rs/sqft)

Rows of seating - Depends upon your requiremnt - Based on your room size- I feel 2 Rows can be considered IMO.
Recliners will be better - (Prcie It greatly depends upon brands ,model etc.,, Better to get it from good Local Vendor)

Speaker wires - 10 or 12 AWG -Oxygen free copper shielded wires from a reputable brand.
Interconnects cables - XLR cables if u have budget /long distance run cables ,otherwise limit it to good RCA cables.

Display unit : Sony or JVC 4k pj with Acoustical Transparent Fixed pj screen

Good luck. Better do a good audition and decide. Get opinion of senior members and take a call. Sorry to tell that this is an Industry where huge profit margins are involved and prices variations are lot.
 
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