Home theatre setup placement and room acoustics

[neo9999]

Hi A/v enthusiasts,

I'm currently setting up my house using a home interior designer and I'm trying to setup one of the rooms into a home theatre room.

The room dimensions are as attached, with the circles indicating the speaker positions.

The room is 12 ft 9" by 10 ft.

My system components are:
AV receiver: Denon 2112CI
A blu ray player
7.1 speakers setup
Epson Projector

Can anyone guide me on following items?

1) I plan to place the projector on the wall, not ceiling mount. I'm planning to place a ply stand at height of around 8 ft to place the projector. The window portion would be covered by a curtain and I'm planning to get a motorized screen at that side of the wall.

From a sound effect perspective, is the attached pic the best design from speaker position perspective?

2) I'm looking to purchase a projector screen. What would you recommend?

3) From room acoustics perspective, what options do I have? for e.g. should I go for glass wool panels and place them all over on the two side walls?

I'm planning to keep a small unit to place the a/v reciever, blu ray player etc on the left hands side of the diagram.

Any inputs would be highly appreciated.

 

[mandeep]

Hi A/v enthusiasts,

I'm currently setting up my house using a home interior designer and I'm trying to setup one of the rooms into a home theatre room.

The room dimensions are as attached, with the circles indicating the speaker positions.

The room is 12 ft 9" by 10 ft.

My system components are:
AV receiver: Denon 2112CI
A blu ray player
7.1 speakers setup
Epson Projector

Can anyone guide me on following items?

1) I plan to place the projector on the wall, not ceiling mount. I'm planning to place a ply stand at height of around 8 ft to place the projector. The window portion would be covered by a curtain and I'm planning to get a motorized screen at that side of the wall.

From a sound effect perspective, is the attached pic the best design from speaker position perspective?

2) I'm looking to purchase a projector screen. What would you recommend?

3) From room acoustics perspective, what options do I have? for e.g. should I go for glass wool panels and place them all over on the two side walls?

I'm planning to keep a small unit to place the a/v reciever, blu ray player etc on the left hands side of the diagram.

Any inputs would be highly appreciated.

"home interior designer"----> is this a software or a person?

Since your room or home theatre room is a small room it needs all the acoustic treatment.

You will need sound isolation + sound absorption.

whats your budget for acoustic treatment?

 

[neo9999]

Hi Mandeep,

The interior designer is a person who is designing interiors for the rest of my house. But he is not so into home theatre design and acoustics.

Not thought of any limit so far. But I'm would like to limit to around 20K-30K max. I was thinking of using a heavy curtain to block the window and provide better sound absorption. Besides that I was also thinking about adding a carpet. Besides that was thinking of using glass wool or some sound absorption panels on the sides of the walls.

Please comment.

 

[aloklala]

It seems 7.1 speakers are an overkill in such a small room. 5.1 should suffice.
Do you really need the Window in the room? If that can be covered then the Acoustics would be better.
I think it is a little difficult to get good Acoustics treatment done for 20-30K. Glass wool though is the best option but it needs to be shielded by putting plywood or something else on top of it.
Carpet itself i think would cost about Rs 50/- per feet including installation but is a nice option for the floor. You can leave the roof untreated.

 

[neo9999]

Thanks Aloklala for the comments.

I was initially trying to double up this room as an alternative guest room and hence thought of having the window. But I'm thinking now from dust perspective, this window will rarely be opened. I'm definitely going to have curtains (would a thicker one make it better sound proof?) over the windows.

But can you suggest what else can be done for the windows? meaning can i completely pack it or fill it up with bricks - or would using different type of glass for the window would make a difference?

I have 7 speakers including 2 bipolar which I thought I could use for 7.1 hence I thought of setting up a 7.1 system. But your point is also valid.

Is there something I need to think about from a bass trap perspective? I'm using a down firing subwoofer which I plan to place somewhere between front right spkr and center spkr, as per the pic.

The floor of the room is tile based. I'm planning to use 12 gauge wires for spkr connections.

I plan to place the player unit i.e. a wood based container set to hold my players, receiver etc, on the left hand side of the room. Would that be ok? The primary seating position would be at the entrance right hand side, just below the projector position.

I think with the ply over glass wool I'll probably lose around 2 inches from the wall and resulting in room looking smaller?

I'm planning to use a portable / mobile cooler system instead of an a/c unit since we would not use this room frequently.

 

[aloklala]

Thanks Aloklala for the comments.

I was initially trying to double up this room as an alternative guest room and hence thought of having the window. But I'm thinking now from dust perspective, this window will rarely be opened. I'm definitely going to have curtains (would a thicker one make it better sound proof?) over the windows.

But can you suggest what else can be done for the windows? meaning can i completely pack it or fill it up with bricks - or would using different type of glass for the window would make a difference?

I have 7 speakers including 2 bipolar which I thought I could use for 7.1 hence I thought of setting up a 7.1 system. But your point is also valid.

Is there something I need to think about from a bass trap perspective? I'm using a down firing subwoofer which I plan to place somewhere between front right spkr and center spkr, as per the pic.

The floor of the room is tile based. I'm planning to use 12 gauge wires for spkr connections.

I plan to place the player unit i.e. a wood based container set to hold my players, receiver etc, on the left hand side of the room. Would that be ok? The primary seating position would be at the entrance right hand side, just below the projector position.

I think with the ply over glass wool I'll probably lose around 2 inches from the wall and resulting in room looking smaller?

I'm planning to use a portable / mobile cooler system instead of an a/c unit since we would not use this room frequently.

I think 14 gauge wire should be more than enough for this length.

If you are not treating the walls then a few Bass Traps would be useful.

Covering the window with bricks is actually cheaper. If you need the window in the future then you can get the bricks out and put the window doors again. You should keep the chaukhat and put the bricks inside that only.

If you have extra speakers then probably you can use them for 7.1 but it still seems to much to me.

 

[mandeep]

Hi Mandeep,

The interior designer is a person who is designing interiors for the rest of my house. But he is not so into home theatre design and acoustics.

Not thought of any limit so far. But I'm would like to limit to around 20K-30K max. I was thinking of using a heavy curtain to block the window and provide better sound absorption. Besides that I was also thinking about adding a carpet. Besides that was thinking of using glass wool or some sound absorption panels on the sides of the walls.

Please comment.

Hello neo9999,

I will first suggest you to take a look at the HT setup Pics of some of our members, so that you can get the basic idea about what to do.

For example search for Vinay's HT or Santosh's HT, Vinay have also written very lengthy blogs about acoustic treatment also.

Aloklala is in fact has very recently done the same.

There are a lot of members who have done the same.

The very first step will be to isolate the sound ----> so that it may not enter to the other rooms, the other room may be your neighbours room or one of your own house.(for that you need the sandwich approach, create a new false wall and sandwich glasswool between the two, your original wall and false wall.The false wall may be created with gypsum board, Fiber acoustic board, or plywood. Gypsum wall is the best acoustically.

 

[neo9999]

Thanks Aloklala and Mandeep,

I will check the window option as well as the gypsum wall.

 

[aloklala]

Any progress in your HT room? Please post some pictures.

 

[neo9999]

Hi Aloklala

I can post pics but its gonna be a raw picture of the room with nothing in it.

I have just a cabinet ready to keep the devices. Wiring is also done for concealing purpose.

Next action items -
1. Getting converters for my devices.
2. I'm trying to get a home theatre technician inspect my room for acoustics and suggest what can be done.
3. Painting in my room needs to be done which itself would take next 2-3 weeks(for my entire house)
4. Setup a carpet(posted a question for you in the pvc carpet title thread) for the floor.
5. Glass shelf/stand for my projector and UPS.
6. Thick curtain for my window
7. Purchasing the projector screen - yet to finalize between VueMax and Liberty Grandview

Plan to close all items over next 3 weeks max...budget and God willing

 

[vinay]

Neo,

I'll suggest that for the projector a ceiling mount.

In my case i did not work on any deadline to complete my Mini Theatre because there would have been a great possibility of compromising etc on certain things to meet the time line and i did not wish to regret later.

V

Hi Aloklala

I have just a cabinet ready to keep the devices. Wiring is also done for concealing purpose.

Next action items -

5. Glass shelf/stand for my projector and UPS.

Plan to close all items over next 3 weeks max...budget and God willing

 

[aloklala]

I too would suggest a ceiling mount projector. Otherwise if it is on the floor then you eat up a lot of valuable real estate!

 

[neo9999]

No Aloklala, I'm not planning to keep the projector below or in cabinet. I'm planning to have a 12mm glass stand like a shelf, in a D shape, horizontally fixed to the wall opposite to the screen..and the projector will be placed on the glass shelf.

Vinay, Aloklala, do you mind sharing reason why you suggest doing a wall mount or ceiling mount? wouldnt a glass stand suffice? is there any risk from heat dissipation or ventilation perspective?

thanks for inputs..

 

[aloklala]

How high from the floor will this stand be? If it is too high then the picture will go up on the screen.

There is no problem with glass stand.

 

[neo9999]

Total floor height is between 8 to 9 feet. The projector will be placed around 1.5 to 2 feet from the ceiling, i.e. roughly around 7 feet high from the floor, against the wall on the glass stand - this is one option which I'm thinking.

 

[sidvee]

I have my projector mounted on a glass shelf approx. 7.5 from floor level on the rear wall and it works very well. Ceiling mount is required if room length is long and projector throw distance will not be sufficient. IMO there is no difference in a relatively short room if you ceiling or wall mount the projector. One has to make sure that the projector throw fills the respective screen size working with the provided zoom controls. Also make sure when you use a wall mounted shelf there is enough space around the projector (specially in the rear - where most air intakes are located), otherwise the pj will overheat and bulb life is reduced. This is the only area imo where a ceiling mount is better than wall mount.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[aloklala]

I tried this but the problem is that the projector then throws too much above the screen! To bring it back to the screen we need to tilt the projector soo much that it is vulnerable to fall. Also a lot of Keystone correction has to be applied in this case and may run out of the possible correction available. You should first test it with a temporary shelf at the desired location and run the projector for a few minutes. If the pictire and tilt of the projector is Acceptable then you can go ahead and get the glass shelf installed.

 

[sidvee]

One can also use the flip option on the picture display to accomodate to the throw correctly on the screen. Regardless every pj has guidlines on aligning the center of the lens to a particular point on the screen for correct display of picture. Based on this one can decide wall or ceiling mount by calculation itself.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[manoj.p]

Neo,

projectors are designed to project picture upwards when they are placed on their legs. So, when you mount them high, the picture will be projected above from that position as Alok had said. So, it needs to be mounted inverted if mounted high. You don't have this problem if the projector has enough lens shift to move the picture up or down.

It won't matter if you do ceiling mount or wall mount, as long as you mount the projector inverted or it has enough lens shift.

 

[neo9999]

Thanks Sidvee, Aloklala, Manoj.

I will try to test the projector first and based on that will decide - either to have a glass shelf or have ceiling/wall mount.