Need advice finding a home theater system for a small auditorium

[bbri14]

I am looking for help to figure out a theatre system and speakers to purchase for a room in our office building. Here is what needs to be taken into consideration.

We have a small room that we call an auditorium at work. It is 18' by 40' with 10' ceilings so not all that big. In back, there are two open archways, and then the room extends by another 15 feet. The front of the room has an unused fireplace. The walls are made of concrete brick behind the fireplace, on the right side of the room, and partially up the left wall. Windows complete the rest of the left wall and the back (extended) side. These windows look outside. The brick wall on the right also has a big arch "doorway" but no door where everyone enters and leaves. The ceiling is made of tiles. The floor is tiled.

This room is used for all presentations for the company. We have a pull-down projector screen in front of the fireplace. We currently use a laptop and mobile projector for our presentations, but we are going to purchase an Epson PowerLite 822p ceiling mounted projector. Since we are getting the projector and have extra money left over in our budget for this project, we decided to get a home theater system so our kids (this is at a disciplinary school) can watch movies.

So we're not looking to spend too much on all this - maybe $500 for the home theater system and speakers. My main concern is getting something that will project the sound all the way to the back, but because most of these kids are here for disciplinary reasons, we don't want speakers that are attached to the wall where a kid can cause damage. The home theater system is actually going to be locked up in a cabinet so the kids can't get to it.

I felt that getting a 2.1 channel surround sound would do the trick, but didn't know if this would work well for a 40 to 50 foot long room. At the same time, if I got a 5.1 or 7.1 channel system, some users might end up sitting behind the back speakers and I'm not sure how well that would work for surround sound purposes. On top of that, if we did get speakers for the back, they will most likely be put into the ceiling facing downward to keep from getting hit by balls and toys used by the kids.

Hopefully that all makes sense. I know many of the basic home theater systems at places like Best Buy or Circuit City are only a few hundred dollars. We're not looking for anything all that great. Just good enough to get the job done and allow people to watch and listen to movies. I don't think I need anything all that complicated, but I don't know exactly what to look for. Or to stay away from.

If anyone has any ideas, both in design or in specific pieces of equipment, I would very much appreciate it. I don't know too much about these systems so any thoughts will be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Brian

[Luvin Da Blues]

Your going to have a hard time filling that room with sound for $500 unless you consider used gear. What kind of sound levels are you looking to achieve?

[bbri14]

We just want to be able to watch movies. It doesn't need to have a big, loud, expensive system with phenomenal sound. But we want to play movies/DVDs comfortably. When our users have presentations down there, their voice carries well and they don't need any microphones for everyone to hear in the back. That's why I don't think I'll need too much of a system down there. At the same time, I don't know that the little speakers that come with the $300 Sony or Phillips home theater systems will do. That's where I'm looking for help. I'm hoping to get a recommendation on a simple system and what to do about the sound.

Thanks.

[Luvin Da Blues]

I would probably be looking at used Cerwin Vega or Klipsch speakers (very efficient so you wouldn't need a lot of power) and maybe a used receiver or integrated amp around 50wpc min.

Ebay or Craigslist would be a good place to start. If you have the time, local second hand store might be another source and you could save shipping costs.

[markw]

Would you consider a PA type system with one main mono amp and several strategically placed small speakers, preferably in the ceiling?

[f0rge]

what about 3-4 set of in-ceiling speakers all running as if they were the 2 main stereo channels? that way you wouldnt have to worry about surround sound

[bbri14]

f0rge - That sounds a lot like what I was thinking. For that, I take it I would just buy a separate DVD player, audio receiver, and then the speakers (as opposed to an all-in-one home theater system)?

[f0rge]

yeah, but the trick would be finding something that could output sound to that many speakers

[blackraven]

Consider 2 sets of bookshelf speakers like the Infinity Beta 20's if you can still find them or the infinity primus 162's. They play loud, are easy to drive and are about $200 a pair.
Then consider a Harmon Kardon 3485 2ch receiver for about $250 on amazon.com, its 120wpc and high current. Other receivers to check out are the Onkyo TX8522 100wpc and the cheapest, the Sherwood RX1405 for about $100.



I prefer the Infinity Beta's, they play really loud and have metal grills so they wont be damaged by balls.

These speakers can be found at www.crutchfield.com Also check out the Polk Monitor 40s here as well.

One last speaker that my be the best fit that I can think of is the Pioneer SHF41LR. Its a 3way design and has an 8" woofer with up to 160wpc of power handling. Its a larger bookshelf and probalby plays loud. Circuity City has them onsale for $89.

Good Luck!

[Luvin Da Blues]

I agree with Blackraven about the Infinity Beta 20s. I have a pair for my bedroom system that used to be used as the primary speakers in my main system. They are a smokin' deal for the price.

[bbri14]

Sorry for the delay in replying - I've been trying to research some of your ideas. I appreciate everyone's input here so far. They seem to be very close to what I'm looking for, both in quality and price. Thanks!

First off, I'm leaning towards the Onkyo TX8522 Home Theater Receiver right now. If I'm reading the specs correctly, this should hook up just fine to a DVD player for some solid sound. Not sure if it will work for a laptop though. Anyone know for sure? That's not as big of a deal though.

As far as the speakers go, I really like the Infinity Beta 20s (it appears there are two options for the Beta 20's although I can't seem to see what the differences are). But my concern with these are that they might be too heavy. In the area the speakers are installed, there will be kids that will actually try to break them if they are visible. Therefore, I think I may have to go to some in-ceiling speakers. Does anyone have any suggestions for those? I have a feeling that the quality of those will be much less than the Beta 20s. Hopefully I'm wrong. My other thought is to get one set of Betas for the front of the room and a set of in-ceiling further back just to make sure the sound gets back there. Again, I'm not sure combining those two types of speakers is a bad idea or not.

I think that's it for now. Thanks again to all that have helped so far.

Brian

[GMichael]

Here is one source for in ceiling speakers. You are right, they won't be as good as the Infinity's. But at least they will live through the week.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CAT_ID=59&ObjectGroup_ID=310

JBL makes decent mass market speakers. And the Daytons are usually a good bang for the buck product.

[blackraven]

I would build some sturdy shelves for the speakers and run a couple of screws up through the bottom of the shelf into the speaker and place them high up near the ceiling. You can build the shelf with a little angle downward with a small lip on the leading edge and lay the speaker on its side so the speaker is angled down a bit for better sound. As long as you can screw the shelf supports into a wall stud you should be ok with the weight of the speaker. Just mount them high enough so the kids cant reach it. The Beta speakers are built like a tank and should hold up well.

If you dont want to use screws then use liquid nails but that may be permanent.

The other thing you can use to mount the speakers is a TV wall mount. Again you may have to run some screws into the speaker.

Brian, that Onkyo receiver is just a 2ch receiver not a Home Theater receiver. You can run a DVD analog input into it just like a CD player to get the audio. And it should be able to run 2 pairs of speakers on the A and B channels. You should be able to find refurbished models of it for about $129 as I have seen it for this price. The Harmon Kardon 3485 will play the loudest with the least effort though.

Another thing, if you will have long runs of speaker wire over 15', try to use at least 12g wire if you can and certainly nothing above 16g.

[bbri14]

Home Theater Systems - are those mainly 5.1 or 7.1 channel systems? Our kids just need to be able to see and hear the movies so that's why I thought the 2.1 channel system would work just fine, especially if I added a extra pair of in-ceiling speakers near the back for extra measure. I think maybe my terminology just isn't the best here. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for the ideas for the wires, the in-ceiling speakers and mounting the front speakers. I think I just need to make the final decisions now and make my purchases.

Thanks again to all those that helped!
Brian

[blackraven]

Your correct, HT systems are 5.1 and higher. The 2 channel system is what you want for what you are planning on doing. I would still try to run 2 pairs of the infinity beta 20's for better sound quality and volume matching. Different speakers models and brands will play at different volume levels and be mismatched. You can even run a pair of beta 20's for the front and beta 10's for the rears if money is a concern.

[bbri14]

Awesome - thanks for all that. Actually my main concern in the back is mounting the speakers. We're not going to want them to be out in the open and I don't know that we can do anything for shelving. I believe the Betas are fairly heavy from what I've read online. Maybe we can make our own brace so we can mount them in the ceiling facing downward though. We have some maintenance guys that are pretty clever with that kind of thing.

Thanks,
Brian

[bbri14]

Is anyone able to tell me what the difference is between the Infinity BETA20BKS (EA) Beta 20 Black 2 WAY Speaker ($118) (http://www.nextag.com/Infinity-BETA20BKS-Ea-Beta-78182825/prices-html) and the Infinity Beta 20 2-WAY 6-1/2 ($125). (http://www.nextag.com/Infinity-BETA-20-2-62775677/prices-html)The cheaper one says it's magnetically protected but that's all I can find.

Thanks,
Brian

[blackraven]

Its the same speaker!