A little help with my theater setup

[ryjam282]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. My daughter does love to get into everything. I will try that out and what the boss (wife) says about it. I don't know if she will go for blocking the patio door though, but it's worth a shot.

[PAT.P]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. My daughter does love to get into everything. I will try that out and what the boss (wife) says about it. I don't know if she will go for blocking the patio door though, but it's worth a shot.

I know mine would kill me if I would block any window ,she likes the sun light in the day.Also to consider when your daughter gets older she'll want to play outside via patio door ,how are you going to keep a eye on her outside from living room?(just a thought) Pat.P

[ryjam282]

Good point. I really need to figure something out. This is killing me. Where I have the TV now, in my setup drawing, there is 2 windows right there and the wife wants to put the Xmas tree there so it shows through the window. I am really in a dilemma here. I never thought I would have this much trouble figuring this out....Oh well, I sure do appreciate everyones help on here. We'll figure something out.

[PAT.P]

Good point. I really need to figure something out. This is killing me. Where I have the TV now, in my setup drawing, there is 2 windows right there and the wife wants to put the Xmas tree there so it shows through the window. I am really in a dilemma here. I never thought I would have this much trouble figuring this out....Oh well, I sure do appreciate everyones help on here. We'll figure something out.

You still have that 28 feet wall ! Surround could go on each side of couch (3 feet higher than headrest) your back speaker on stand on each side of couch 2 to 3 feet out and pointing toward couch .( my surround speaker are on wall like this and sound great before this was using bookshelf speaker on end table at angle toward couch and was also great )PAT.P

[Lensman]

Damn Lensman. That is a great drawing. I will see what the wife thinks about that. But, that back door that will be behind the TV is a sliding glass door to the patio. But there may be a chance of this, as we can still use the door, just have to use it from the side of it and not open it all the way....I like it...We'll see, thanks a lot.

Good point. I really need to figure something out. This is killing me. Where I have the TV now, in my setup drawing, there is 2 windows right there and the wife wants to put the Xmas tree there so it shows through the window. I am really in a dilemma here. I never thought I would have this much trouble figuring this out....Oh well, I sure do appreciate everyones help on here. We'll figure something out.

Thank you for the kind words (Pat P. as well). Didn't realize that wasn't a window. Obviously blocking a door isn't ideal. Can you tell me exactly where all the doors and windows in the room are and how wide they are? I could revise the drawing and take another look. If you have measurements for your furniture, I could adjust the drawing for those as well. The drawing is accurate to scale based on the dimensions you posted earlier and the TV is also the correct size (I looked up dimensions for it). Also for consideration, you've mentioned wall mounting your surrounds. Could you ceiling mount them as well?

Given the shape of the room and number of doors and windows in it, I must ask one final question. Is there no other room that could house your HT system?

[ryjam282]

Lensman, I will get the measurments for you when I get home. I will post them after that and we can go from there. Ceiling mounting wouldn't be out of the question, although, that room does have a vaulted ceiling but I have no problem mounting up there. Thanks again for all your help.

I do have a family room but it is a lot smaller and I am not sure if it would be ideal for the rear surrounds. I definitely want to get those up as I love the PLIIx setting on my Yammie and love the full sourround "feel". Plus, I am not sure if the sectional would fit in that room either.

I will get you a measurment of that room too, it more of a box shaped room.

[ryjam282]

Alright Lensman, here you go. Let me see what you are thinking. The wife shot down the last layout, because of the blocking of the back sliding door.

It might be tough to read, I just threw it together. Let me know if you have questions.

[jeskibuff]

The wife shot down the last layout, because of the blocking of the back sliding door.

Your room is long. You could go with Lensman's layout (which is pretty close to what I was suggesting), just moving everything towards the other side of the room by 5 or 6 feet.

That would leave the TV in the middle of the room, tough for power cords and connections. Also, there would have to be enough space to walk by your front speakers without the danger of knocking them over. You could use some kind of screen to aesthetically cloak the typically ugly backside of your TV so it won't look so bad from the perspective from the patio doors.

If you put the equipment along the long (28') wall, I think you should downgrade to a 5.1 setup, but it sounds like you don't want to go that route. I don't think you've got the room to take advantage of 7.1 that way. If you do try it, it would be VERY compromised.

[Lensman]

Alright Lensman, here you go. Let me see what you are thinking. The wife shot down the last layout, because of the blocking of the back sliding door.

I do have a family room but it is a lot smaller and I am not sure if it would be ideal for the rear surrounds. I definitely want to get those up as I love the PLIIx setting on my Yammie and love the full sourround "feel". Plus, I am not sure if the sectional would fit in that room either.

This is definitely not an easy room to work with. The three doors on three walls and the accessways they need, plus the three large windows prevent much of the room from being used for your equipment. The sheer size of the room, plus the fact it has a vaulted ceiling may also make it a distinct possibility the volume of air will be too great for your system to excite, resulting in a weak or unencompassing surround sound field regardless of where the speakers go. I'd really give some serious thought to that family room you mention.

That said, here's my two cents on this room. The drawings below show three possible setups. I've resized the furniture per your dimensions and placed your family's Christmas tree in the window as your wife desires.

Room A could be the easiest to set up. The rear surrounds could be mounted to the wall. The sides could be mounted on the wall and from the ceiling or they could be placed on stands. You will have some reflection problems and your right channels may have to be adjusted 1 to 2 db lower to even the volume out. A folding screen (shown) could help some with the reflection issue. This is the least ideal sonically.

Room B has the system moved as close to the center of the room as possible. Again, not ideal, but a little better as far as sound issues go. In this case, the couch in the lower seating area would actually work in a similar fashion to the screen in room A. If you cannot use the ceiling for your surrounds (and if the height is significant here I wouldn't), you might need to use light stands for the left and right surrounds that you could move behind the couch when not in use. Or you could move the left and right surrounds farther from the couch so the left isn't in the window. I moved the La-Z-Boy to show how it could add seating for socializing/casual viewing in this area, though it is outside the surround field.

Room C shows what I feel to be the best solution sonically. It also places the couch at a better viewing distance from your screen. But it's also the most involved and expensive. Basically, you'd build a freestanding wall (gray rectangle) and wire it for cable/dish and electricity (though you might also be able to do something creative with bookcases). The one I've drawn is 78" wide, leaving normal door-sized openings to the left and right. You could then place you TV and mains against it. All your surrounds could then mount on the walls (above the patio door for the rears). The patio door would be easily accessible behind the couch. If you mounted one of those fake electrical fireplaces on the other side, it'd also spruce up the front sitting area.

Hope this helps.