Renovating my Home Theater Room - Need your guidance

[smedhavi]

Hi Sumit,

Good to know that you have raised rear row seating in a 8'1" high room. Gives me more confidence. I am planning to drop the floor below the front row by 7". So in effect it is same as raising the rear row by the same amount.

In your case you have only 6'7" clearance at the rear. Is it enough for people to feel comfortable? Where is the projector? I am sure that is not located anywhere close to the rear seat. In my case it would be located between the front and rear rows, so I run the risk of people touching it when they move around on the isle in front of the rear row.

Your experience is encouraging me to consider a 3" false ceiling. That would take care of a lot of cabling issues. And still leave me with 7'9" clearance.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[Sumit]

Sharad: You can have a look at my HT >http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/1167-showcase-your-audio-video-setup-here-16.html


This should give you some idea about the placement of the projector. In my case projector sits right above the first row. Even if it was on top of the second row, still it will not be a prob unless you have guest who play for NBA!!! Yes, you can touch the projector if you are standing on the rear raised platform and you stretch your hand. I am 5'7".

I will not suggest a false ceiling unless absolutely required. It only creates a problem like jarring. Just get a slot cut in the ceiling and install a conduit pipe. I am not sure if you would have enough space for this.

Let me know if you need any further help on this. I will double-check all the dimensions and let you know....just-in-case.

Cheers!

Hi Sumit,

Good to know that you have raised rear row seating in a 8'1" high room. Gives me more confidence. I am planning to drop the floor below the front row by 7". So in effect it is same as raising the rear row by the same amount.

In your case you have only 6'7" clearance at the rear. Is it enough for people to feel comfortable? Where is the projector? I am sure that is not located anywhere close to the rear seat. In my case it would be located between the front and rear rows, so I run the risk of people touching it when they move around on the isle in front of the rear row.

Your experience is encouraging me to consider a 3" false ceiling. That would take care of a lot of cabling issues. And still leave me with 7'9" clearance.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[vinay]

I think this is a great step not to have a television in such a room, i am aware that most of them want a TV in such a room and i would say that more of them want to eat also in such a room while such things can be had in the other rooms.

V.

I do not need any TV in the HT room as I have enough large screen TVs in other areas of the house.
Sharad

 

[vinay]

To not having windows in such a entertainment room according to me is a very bold and right step.

I feel among the 10 major mistakes which one makes while making such a dream room is not to remove the windows.

V.

Try and avoid the windows if possible

 

[vinay]

I would dare not change my screen or projector just because a new technology is out in the market keeping in mind for what i have will last me for several more years or at least i should use them for 3 or 4 years.

On the other hand even if i replace the gadgets, newer models will be out before even i wink which shall mean that i am tempted again to replace.

V.

Infact I am contemplating for a anamorph screen and projector but I don't have spare cash.

 

[vinay]

Among the mistakes which one makes while making a entertainment room is that hurry to complete the room and in the process they make a number of mistakes and by the time they realize it may be too late. This kind of a project is near about one in a life time so we have to handle with great care.

In the making of my theatre, there were so many ideas which were checked day in and out and chosen with great care, at one point the work was to begin in making the theatre in my living room, and i was fortunate enough to drop the idea and make a dedicated separate room.

I do understand that there are limitations etc but so many things can be handled well this is where we have to strive, no correct opportunities should be lost.

V

Iam not in hurry and would also suggest you to go slow & steady because due to anxiety we may lose some good deals or run short of ideas.

 

[vinay]

Welcome to the world of private entertainment room.

I too had a loft which could not be removed and moreover had a great storage space, i worked out an opportunity to cover it as i had a false ceiling to be made.

In general one will not let go a good storage place but it depends upon the passion to be near to a real theatre.

I think you are taking wise steps by visiting forum members place to see how the things are done, congratulations.

V.

Hi Sharad
What an amazing coincidence , I am also converting my garage which has a loft and windows. The problem seems to be that the wall next to the loft seems to be load bearing so it may not be possible to take down the loft (so the engineers say). Please PM and let me know if I can visit your place to check how you are proceeding in the initial stages with the civil work, to get some ideas. I visited Santosh and learnt a lot

Regards
Manish

 

[vinay]

To raise a row will need only six inches or so.

To have a wall to wall carpet is a great idea, below the carpet you can put a sheet something like thermocal but not breakable, this way it can manage the low frequencies better and plus while walking on the carpet gives a better feel.

It is a great thing not to have sofas and related in such a room, recliners are a great way to go forward, i think it will be better that seating type should be uniform as much as possible as otherwise it is likely to reduce the room decor. The chairs of lazy boy are a world apart, many of them do a mistake by not having a proper seating arrangement. It is sure not a good idea to have fixed seats.

There should be minimum things in such a room so that vacuum cleaning is much easier and most importantly it gives a great feel of a private theatre cum listening room.

I also wanted to have one window at least for fresh air but then i told myself that there are so many other windows in the house i can catch up fresh air there and for that matter i also told myself that i can go in my building compound for fresh air so the choice was made no windows for me.

In my case to watch a movie in a dark room is a class apart, i will say that there is no comparison with watching movies in a lit room but then i have assorted in-direct lights which can be seen in my signature photographs, at times i watch movies under such lights because it is not good for the eyes to always watch movies in dark room, in-direct light is the way to go forward in long run.

I too do not understand why people want to conceal or hide the speakers, they add so much to decor of the room.

V.

Hi,

Thanks for all your inputs. Here are my thoughts as of now:

• Cannot raise the second row seats too much as the ceiling is at 8'. So I am considering dropping the floor by 7 inches on the front side. This would also take care of the frequency management to a good extent as per the node calculator
• Carpet the whole room
• Considering theater seating for the rear row and recliners for the first row
  
  [*]For the rear row
  

  [*]These look OK, but lack comfort: Auditorium Chairs - Theater - Monarch Ergonomics chairs, Workstation / Modular Furniture
  [*]These lazyboy seats look good but may be too expensive and big for the rear. Better fit for the front row. Matinee Sectional - Official La-Z-Boy Website
  [*]I am a bit worried about seats fixed to the floor, especially for the rear row as it would make vacuuming the carpet extremely difficult. Any thoughts or experiences?
  ​

  [*]For the front row I would temporarily put comfortable sofas, while I finalize on the recliners. So this not urgent for now.
  ​
• Would need some treatment for absorption at the first reflection points. Sound proofing is not a concern as I have enough trees around the house and no neighbors close by. http://www.soundzshoppe.com/pixelseries.htm sounds like an interesting option.
• The room would be used for movies as well as music (mostly vinyl in that room), so it is important to keep it pleasant and well lit with natural light when we need it that way. I have removed all the existing windows, but I would be moving two specially designed windows from the old HT room to the new one. These are narrow windows with double glass shutters, and were padded with a vinyl foam sheet. We would be opening these for fresh air when the room is not in use for movies.
• I am more of an 'audio equipment person' than a 'theater room person'. My wife likes lively looking rooms more than dark theaters. So together we prefer this kind of rooms to this
• Use the equipment, racks and media storage from the old room
• I would keep the speakers in the front rather than hidden behind the screen. As that positioning will compromise on the audio experience while listening to music, which is equally (if not more) important to me.

Regards,
Sharad

 

[vinay]

In my case i have a projector lift once the movie is over it moves into the false ceiling. Among the ways could be is to have the projector installed with the minimum length rod or with no rod or alternatively you can try to have the projector installed between two rows that way to touch the projector by accident will reduce to a great extent.

It is true that with false ceiling a lot of cabling can be taken care and let us not forget the major benefit of having halogen lights which can create a dynamic effect based on dimmers and related like in a theatre and not to forget it improves the room decor.

V.

Hi Sumit,

Good to know that you have raised rear row seating in a 8'1" high room. Gives me more confidence. I am planning to drop the floor below the front row by 7". So in effect it is same as raising the rear row by the same amount.

In your case you have only 6'7" clearance at the rear. Is it enough for people to feel comfortable? Where is the projector? I am sure that is not located anywhere close to the rear seat. In my case it would be located between the front and rear rows, so I run the risk of people touching it when they move around on the isle in front of the rear row.

Your experience is encouraging me to consider a 3" false ceiling. That would take care of a lot of cabling issues. And still leave me with 7'9" clearance.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[vinay]

I have false ceiling there is nothing like jarring keeping various things in mind.

Firstly one has to install a leading brand like Armstrong and one has to see to it that the installers are among the main dealers and not sub dealers because the way framing etc is done plays a great role.

The jar factor will come in play if the volume is very high with low frequencies part, in a movie the low frequencies portion will not be more then 15% or so which shall mean that 85% of the time there is no jar and this shall also mean that if a movie has no action then however loud the volume may be it will not jar. In other words if volumes are kept moderate there is as good as no question of jar.

We have to understand one thing that this jar will be on very high volumes and no one is going to watch a movie with such high volume on regular basis and are our neighbours going to allow us in using such insane volumes?

Therefore we should try and not single out the ceiling for jar, with very high volumes several things in the room are going to jar, speaker nets could fall out, small and semi light show pieces could fall from the shelf, the lazy boy chair will jar, in-fact your body can also feel the high waves.

Finally if the jar is there, i take it in a very positive way, the movie effects increase, what else we want?

V.

I will not suggest a false ceiling unless absolutely required. It only creates a problem like jarring.

 

[subhash]

hi Vinay

thats a lot of very useful posts from you

your 200th reputation on me, you actually need to be thanked for all your posts which shows how much passion you have towards your HT

In fact i was just flipping thro pages of old AV max issues and found the write up about your HT ,that was really interseting to know how you went abt the whole process . your instruction to throw paint on the walls of the room so that u wudnt change your mind after coming back from vacation!!

I definetly agree with you that the HT set ups we have is definetly flauntable jst like a new expensive big car or cell phone we just bought

 

[sidvee]

I have false ceiling there is nothing like jarring keeping various things in mind.

Firstly one has to install a leading brand like Armstrong and one has to see to it that the installers are among the main dealers and not sub dealers because the way framing etc is done plays a great role.

The jar factor will come in play if the volume is very high with low frequencies part, in a movie the low frequencies portion will not be more then 15% or so which shall mean that 85% of the time there is no jar and this shall also mean that if a movie has no action then however loud the volume may be it will not jar. In other words if volumes are kept moderate there is as good as no question of jar.

We have to understand one thing that this jar will be on very high volumes and no one is going to watch a movie with such high volume on regular basis and are our neighbours going to allow us in using such insane volumes?

Therefore we should try and not single out the ceiling for jar, with very high volumes several things in the room are going to jar, speaker nets could fall out, small and semi light show pieces could fall from the shelf, the lazy boy chair will jar, in-fact your body can also feel the high waves.

Finally if the jar is there, i take it in a very positive way, the movie effects increase, what else we want?

V.

I second this. In fact a properly installed drop ceiling with correct clip placement etc. should not shake or shudder with movie sounds and the benefit gained from acoustic ceiling tiles for overall room acoustics is immense. Also there are small weights that can be placed above the ceiling tiles to weigh it down - so that it does not move - one can try with some small light weighted objects.
Cheers
Sid

 

[subhash]

use tiles from Anutone ,theres no quetion about jarring how ever loud you play as the tiles are quiet heavy and solid

i have used these and play @ really loud levels and with the Def tech trinity sub theres not a hint of jar

 

[smedhavi]

Hi Subhash,

Did you get these tiles installed through soundzshoppe/Pravin, or just procured the Anutone material through them?

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[subhash]

Hi Subhash,

Did you get these tiles installed through soundzshoppe/Pravin, or just procured the Anutone material through them?

Thanks,
Sharad

got it installed by pravin

 

[eummagic]

Yes, but the model is 1.33x LE which is not yet launched and having a close follow up with RNS company here. Have also got confirmation from the parent company Schneider and it is 2200 Euros which is more or equal to my projector (Projector - planning to buy thro' my frined in US @ $1999). But, I feel its worth when comparing other prism lens.

Hey!! Are you talking abut the 1.33M lens by schneider optics? Well, the MSRP of this lens is 6,635$/-. This is no way cheap. Please clarify the model number.

Thanks.

 

[vinay]

Hello Subhash,

Well about the useful posts from me, it is my great pleasure to share my knowledge but still there is so much to learn from members.

About the article in av max magazine, actually what had happened is that i was holding large quantity shares of apollo hospitals, during those days the rate was around 350, i had told myself if the rate touched 550, i will make a theatre for myself, i was planning a trip to Manali for ski, the rate had started to move up, when i was in Manali, the rate touched 550, so i requested back home to buy some paint and throw on the walls of the room so that i am forced to make the theatre, once i returned from the trip, i started the work to make my theatre, the original budget was just 5 lac rupees, but the cost kept going up and up but i am very happy with the end result.

Indeed it is worth the flaunt for theatre i made, after all when we buy something good we do show around and in this case this was no ordinary achievement. It makes me very happy when forum members show the pictures for what they have in audio and video.

V.

hi Vinay

thats a lot of very useful posts from you

your 200th reputation on me, you actually need to be thanked for all your posts which shows how much passion you have towards your HT

In fact i was just flipping thro pages of old AV max issues and found the write up about your HT ,that was really interseting to know how you went abt the whole process . your instruction to throw paint on the walls of the room so that u wudnt change your mind after coming back from vacation!!

I definetly agree with you that the HT set ups we have is definetly flauntable jst like a new expensive big car or cell phone we just bought

 

[vinay]

In my case with high volume there is some jar issue in a small particular area of the room, this is because there is a huge multi colour light in the false ceiling, with such big size the jar factor is coming in and moreover in this particular area the ceiling height is different from other part of the room. This multi colour light photos can be seen in my signature.

In other words around 80% of the room there is no jar, so what i would say is that if one is going for these armstrong brand tiles one should take the precautions which i have suggested in earlier posts and that the ceiling height should be even and the lights should not be bigger then the halogen one's.

V.

I second this. In fact a properly installed drop ceiling with correct clip placement etc. should not shake or shudder with movie sounds and the benefit gained from acoustic ceiling tiles for overall room acoustics is immense. Also there are small weights that can be placed above the ceiling tiles to weigh it down - so that it does not move - one can try with some small light weighted objects.
Cheers
Sid

 

[smedhavi]

Hi,

Some updates...

Picture 1 below
Old windows sealed.
Conduits for (left to right):
- A second rear subwoofer
- AC voltage stabilizer (in/out near the floor), switch at mid level and socket near the roof
- Left surround speaker

Picture 2 below
The floor goes down for the front seating (11'6" from the front wall)

Picture 3 below
Curved rear wall coming up (17'6" at max point)

Picture 4 below
Conduits for installing tactile transducers (Buttkicker stuff) on the chairs. Includes a power outlet. These are located on the step just behind the front seat.

Picture 5 below
Wall behind the equipment rack.
Conduits for (left to right):
- Power sockets (3Nos 5Amp, 3Nos 15Amp), one going into the false roof for the projector
- A lot of them going into the false roof for speakers etc.

Picture 6 below
A closer look (also includes in/out sockets for the UPS powering the projector)

Picture 7 below
The switches at the hand level

Picture 8 below
Conduits below the floor going to the front speaker outlets on the carpet, and to the tactile transducers below the seat.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[smedhavi]

Hi,

I have been interacting with Pravin from Anutone regarding room treatment.

Here is what I have narrowed down till now. Please share your thoughts on the plan.

Ceiling

• GFT Suntex Plain on skeleton

Side Wall

• Ground to 4 feet
• Smooth Strand black
• IM Channels and BackSynth filling
• Covered with wood finish acoustic wallpaper from Anutone Pixel series

Side Wall

• On some spots above 4', door and tough boards hiding the windows
• [URL="Anutone Slim"]Anutone - makes you feel good[/url]

Screen backside

• Strand SS black
• IM Channels and BackSynth filling

Rear Curved Wall

• Vertical wood strips, or
• Wood based bio-plastic paneling from Anutone

Carpet in the whole room. Need to finalize the details.

Two bass traps

Thanks,
Sharad