New house construction - dedicated home theater room - initial questions

[john_k_antony]

I am getting the HDMI with Ethernet. I am looking at Profigold 1215 (15 mtr high speed HDMI cable).

Other option is to get the Epson 5010e that has wireless feature that can send 1080p 3D signals up to 50ft wireless.

BTW, the price for 50' HDMI cable vs the price difference between 5010 and 5010e is almost the same. However, I don't know how good is the wireless performance of 5010e.

What do you recommend?

-John.

 

[manoj.p]

stay with wired solution. Wireless is good, but its not a standard yet. What will you do when you upgrade Epson for something else later that does not have wireless HDMI?

 

[john_k_antony]

Good point . Thanks.

 

[manoj.p]

Also, just curious. You planning to do acoustic treatment to all front 18 ft wall on each side? How thick?

 

[john_k_antony]

Haven't decided on the details. Just shown it to one dealer and he said around 1/2" thick. Didnt discuss the details as my house is 5 months away from completion.

 

[manoj.p]

1/2" thick is practically nothing. You are just throwing the money out the window.

To absorb anything down to 125 hz, you need at least 4" thick. Anything less is useless and simply waste of money. You are better off with bare walls instead.

I would suggest re-think/replan on that.

 

[john_k_antony]

Sure.

Thanks for the information. I am talking to another HFV member who is an interior designer hobbyist.

I will look into different options before I commit to someone.

Thanks,
John.

 

[John]

Hi Manoj,

No, like I mentioned, my room is pretty small, only 16' long, so I won't be needing 50' feet. In fact, I think my existing HDMI cables should work fine. I plan to move my AV rack next to the doorway. I would probably have to invest in some cabling for the speakers though.

@John_antony thanks a lot for the estimates. It will help me to extrapolate my own budget. I think you mean 120 /running feet for the speaker cables.

Any idea what is a cheap DIY fixed screen? I think I will go with DIY screen. Which fabric provides good gain?

 

[GeorgeO]

John Antony

If you havent already decided send me a PM, I can offer you some suggestions on room treatment, since I went down this path last year.

 

[John]

Guys, I am here with the pictures and rough layout now.

The room as per now is 18' 9" long and 10' wide. However after acoustics treatment is done, I think I will end up with 9' wide room. Height is currently 8 feet 8 inches, but I think I will end up with 7' 5" after false ceiling.

I have included the layout and riser calculation.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And the Riser height calculation



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
And projector/screen calculation



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now questions and doubts

1) I plan to have 2 seats at the back on a riser. Each seat takes up 23" inches per seat and 7" per arm rest, so for 2 seats would mean 3 arm rests = 23 x 2 + 7 x 3 = 67 inches or 5 feet 7 inches. Then you have a door that opens inside, which is 3'6". Now my width is going to be less than the current 10', or rather 9' so 9-5'7" = 3' 5" so the door should open fine. The frame of the door is 3' 6" and the door itself should be slightly smaller.

I am leaving 5 feet broad for riser (upper level) for rear seats. Is that enough? Or should it be up to 5 feet 6 inches or more? If I make it big, then the front row goes too much upfront. Also, should I make the riser with brick/mortar or should I make it with woodwork?

Options:

a) Change layout to have screen where the door is. Can give up to 3 seats per row. Disadvantage: Anyone coming in/going out will cause disturbance.

b) Change door to open to outside. Is it a wise thing to do, just feels a bit odd? Plus you still need place to enter the theater, so you need to leave some space.

I have spoken to RocknChairs one of the manufactures who makes these recliner chairs, 18K for non-reclining (rather back recling) and 36K for the reclining ones, manual models.


2) Riser height has to be around 9" I think with a small step leading up. Is this okay? As per my calculations, I want to have the screen 24" from below, so I get a nearly 4 or 5 feet height screen. Above that will be false ceiling.

I plan to make the
Currently height of room is is 8 feet 8 inches, but it will be reduced by another few inches (want to minimize the loss here). Can a false ceiling be less than a foot?

Are my calculations okay? Am I missing something?

Is my projector calculations okay and can this room be okay for future when I might want upgrade my projector?

3) Acoustic treatment of walls as suggested by my architect is using some old quilt padding covered with gypsum. This he says is cost effective and good. Any suggestions for the same? Whatever I do, I will be going for cheaper options.

The room will have no walls, one split AC for cooling.

Also, attaching pictures of the room being built.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Please give your valuable feedback.

 

[manoj.p]

3) Acoustic treatment of walls as suggested by my architect is using some old quilt padding covered with gypsum. This he says is cost effective and good. Any suggestions for the same? Whatever I do, I will be going for cheaper options.

I think your architect is trying to do soundproofing, rather than acoustic treatment within the room. by using gypsum board, you may be able to reduce the sound going in/out of the room. But it won't do anything to improve the sound within room.

As it is, the room is brick wall. So, there is not much sound proofing needed unless near windows/doors. So don't bother about that. For treating the room for reducing sound reflections inside room, you need to do treatments with either using rockswool or rigid fiberglass and covering those with acoustic transparent cloth. If you cover it with a reflective/non-absorbent surface like gypsum, its of no use.

I suggest doing some reading of your own, because clearly the architect is lacking in the audio field.

 

[John]

Thanks manoj.p for point out that what the architect wants to do is sound proofing rather than acoustic treatment.

Where can I get rockswool /rigid fiber glass ?
I sure will do up some reading.

 

[cmsajith]

@John_k_antony, With your budget (slight +/-) you can make a decent looking theater room.
Since you are in the construction stage, its very easy to do the changes required to the HT room.

- If you have budget, you can think of a rat-trap brick construction for the walls (probably you might have heard, most of the backer's construcion is using this technology) instead of the normal cement block walls to reduce the sound transmission. This also helps in reducing the heat inside the room, so less load on the AC.
Rat Trap Bond - Swikipedia

- The walls can be made slightly non-parallel to reduce the reflections that can result in peaks / dips esp the side walls. The slanding ceiling can be made later using perforated ply with required acoustics and a combination of gypsum for the aesthetics.

- For such a big room, bass traps are a must for all the corners along with the wall treatments.

- Floors should be covered with either thick wall-to-wall carpets or tiled carpets (thickness will be less) to reduce the reflections from the floor.

- You can have multi level designs which gives the feeling of a real theater room.

- Its better we reduce the length of the cable runs as much as possible by placing the rack inbuilt into a false wall with diffusers at the back side of the room. Only the F/C/R speaker cables will be lengthy, you can use 14awg instead of the usual 16awg.

- If you have not selected the speakers/amps, make sure that they are adequate for such abig room with acoustics (acoustics will make you feel the o/p is reduced to ~20% as the sound is getting absorbed.

Note: Since there are 2 queries, I suggest the mods / poster to create a new thread to avoid confusion.

 

[John]

Guys, I was thinking of an alternative layout where there door would not be right where it was supposed to be , but would be replaced by a thick curtain (the ones seen in theaters). Then there would be a small passage leading out.

Please see the included image. I am leaning towards no such corridor leading into the room for acoustics.

 

[vinay]

John,

It is a great idea to have curtains like we have in cinema halls but it will not be a good step in long run so it will be better to keep away. While that is a another story that curtains will be more attractive where there is 10+ recliner based sitting in a dedicated movie room.

I know of a forum member who has a double door for his dedicated movie cum music room.

V

 

[mbhangui]

Mods, I feel it will be useful to have this thread under AV Enhancers & Room Acoustics. That is the place lot of us look into for such topics.

AV Enhancers & Room Acoustics

 

[vinay]

John,

I have used 4" thick Glass wool from ground level to 3 feet, thereafter it is 2" thick.

V

1/2" thick is practically nothing. You are just throwing the money out the window.

To absorb anything down to 125 hz, you need at least 4" thick. Anything less is useless and simply waste of money. You are better off with bare walls instead.

I would suggest re-think/replan on that.

 

[vinay]

John,

If the audio video rack is on the right side it may add some obstruction while coming in room especially the guests. If this obstruction is true then can the rack be moved on the left hand wall ? I have my rack below screen and it is easy to operate the remote etc.

I too have got my door opening outside so i get more space for my theatre.

I have used riser height in form of 2 steps for my recliner sitting arrangement. On the steps i have used red foot lights & on the sider to right wall i have used red rope light.

About the A/C, please try to keep it around 5 feet away from sitting area so that the blower noise reduces to ears and needless to say i am sure you are considering silent A/C's available in the market.

In reference to sub woofer placement have you planned extra electrical points? As you will know only later where woofer's placement will have better effects. As it is extra electrical points are very important if are adding gadgets later and to use a extension board at that point of time will not be a good idea.

V

Guys, I am here with the pictures and rough layout now.

I have included the layout and riser calculation.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And the Riser height calculation



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now questions and doubts

1) I plan to have 2 seats at the back on a riser. Each seat takes up 23" inches per seat and 7" per arm rest, so for 2 seats would mean 3 arm rests = 23 x 2 + 7 x 3 = 67 inches or 5 feet 7 inches. Then you have a door that opens inside, which is 3'6". Now my width is going to be less than the current 10', or rather 9' so 9-5'7" = 3' 5" so the door should open fine. The frame of the door is 3' 6" and the door itself should be slightly smaller.

I am leaving 5 feet broad for riser (upper level) for rear seats. Is that enough? Or should it be up to 5 feet 6 inches or more? If I make it big, then the front row goes too much upfront. Also, should I make the riser with brick/mortar or should I make it with woodwork?

Options:

b) Change door to open to outside. Is it a wise thing to do, just feels a bit odd? Plus you still need place to enter the theater, so you need to leave some space.

2) Riser height has to be around 9" I think with a small step leading up. Is this okay? As per my calculations, I want to have the screen 24" from below, so I get a nearly 4 or 5 feet height screen. Above that will be false ceiling.

The room will have no walls, one split AC for cooling.

Also, attaching pictures of the room being built.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Please give your valuable feedback.

 

[John]

Thanks Vinay for your most valuable inputs. I have decided to keep the door right at the entrance, door with two pallas, the old-style double door. The door will open to the outside. It is a large door four and a half feet wide (as the recliners need to go in). There will be thick curtains inside. I also plan to have a sign above the door.

I thought about the rack. It is still at the right side, but it is not so near the sitting area, so not obstructive.... Actually my drawing is not to scale. AC is to the left (as indicated in attachment).

I am keeping some power points on the left wall (AC wall), in case I need to move my subwoofer around.

Vinay thanks a lot for the idea of lights as well. I have to also work out an economical solution to lighting/effects.

 

[John]

Updated images: work in progress (20-06-2012)

Just updating with more pictures. Plaster work is done now.

Screen side

Entrance side

Door entrance/passage

Layout (updated)