A little help with my theater setup

[ryjam282]

Lensman, what else can I say but WOW!!!!!! That is truly awesome what you have done for me. I will show it to the boss and see what we can do. I like the idea of the third one but like you said, it could be expensive. I am skilled with a saw and could pull off that freestanding wall. I think I like version B the best though as I would like to get as many seats as possible to view the TV. Anyways, I will keep you all posted as to what I do, and when I get it all setup I will take some photos for you.

Lensman, I will try and get you some measurments of the family room ASAP as I want to see what kind of drawings you can come up with for that. I do know it is 24' long by 13' wide. And again, there is a sliding glass window in the back and an opening to the hallway and kitchen. I will get those together.

Thanks again.

Ryan

[PAT.P]

Set up B looks good to me also ! As for C you dont have to build a wall some office supply store have dividers ( cubicle ) already built to partition and are cover with fabric .But the B set up is open concept and lots of new home come with this feature .Best of luck to you and family in your new home ! Priority are family first ,home theater second !Pat .P

[ryjam282]

I agree 100% about the priorities. Thanks for you help as well Pat. P

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Ryjam,
Lensman has done some excellent work here, but even his work has some problems built in.

Diagram A:

Each main L/R speaker "sees" a different reflection point(wall). This will tend to shift the imaging to the speaker with the closest point to the side wall. If you are going to use this setup, you will need to get a room divider thick enough to reflect mostly all of the highs, mids, and lower bass(deep bass is handle by sub). The same for your side L/R surrounds. If one is located close to the wall, and the other is in open space, the imaging(and frequency response) will shift to the speaker closest to the wall. The fact that one whole side of your hometheater is wall less, will shift the imaging to the opposite side, and the frequency balance on the open side will be much different than for the side closer to the wall(or window whichever).

Diagram B:

Has the same problem as A. But you have now added an absorbtion point next to one of the surrounds.

Diagram C:

This is probably the best setup of the three. All surrounds see a wall, and the L/R mains both see open space. I vote for this one if you can get the necessary wiring right, and out of sight.

Where I see a huge problem is in the deep bass. This room is pretty large, and you will be driving the sub quite hard with some of the soundtracks that are out there. I would look into purchasing a second sub in the future to help give you some extra headroom in your system. Right now you have next to none unless you keep the volume pretty low.

Lensman, you are da bomb dude. Great work!

.

[Lensman]

Lensman, what else can I say but WOW!!!!!! That is truly awesome what you have done for me. I will show it to the boss and see what we can do. I like the idea of the third one but like you said, it could be expensive. I am skilled with a saw and could pull off that freestanding wall. I think I like version B the best though as I would like to get as many seats as possible to view the TV. Anyways, I will keep you all posted as to what I do, and when I get it all setup I will take some photos for you.

Lensman, I will try and get you some measurments of the family room ASAP as I want to see what kind of drawings you can come up with for that. I do know it is 24' long by 13' wide. And again, there is a sliding glass window in the back and an opening to the hallway and kitchen. I will get those together.

Thanks again.

Ryan

You're quite welcome, Ryan. Glad I could help. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the discussion with your wife. Sir T. has spoken truly (and I am honored by your compliment Sir T.) when he cautions that, regardless of layout, there will still be sonic problems with this room. Its symmetry, size and window lighting are all working against your efforts to create an optimum HT setup. This isn't to say you can’t have one you find satisfactory. But it may be possible to set up a more enjoyable one in your family room. I’ll keep an eye out for those measurements.

[ryjam282]

You're quite welcome, Ryan. Glad I could help. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the discussion with your wife. Sir T. has spoken truly (and I am honored by your compliment Sir T.) when he cautions that, regardless of layout, there will still be sonic problems with this room. Its symmetry, size and window lighting are all working against your efforts to create an optimum HT setup. This isn't to say you can’t have one you find satisfactory. But it may be possible to set up a more enjoyable one in your family room. I’ll keep an eye out for those measurements.

Lensman, here is the quick measurments for my family room. I really don't think it is feasible to do it here but let me see what you have in mind.

I spoke with the wife and she wants to see what you can come up with in the family room before we make any decisions. She loves that you put the xmas tree in the window like she wanted : )

Ryan

[Lensman]

Lensman, here is the quick measurments for my family room. I really don't think it is feasible to do it here but let me see what you have in mind.

I spoke with the wife and she wants to see what you can come up with in the family room before we make any decisions. She loves that you put the xmas tree in the window like she wanted : )

Ryan

I'm glad your wife liked the drawings. Home theaters should bring people together. While it's important to try to optimize the layout for best sound, it's important the layout also works for the people living with it. Of course, the best layouts do both.

I think your family room will actually work better for your setup. Although there are non-ideal openings, the smaller size (and I assume non-vaulted ceiling) will help you maintain better bass levels. You should also have fewer acoustic problems in this room. In addition, it will also be easier to control the lighting having the single patio door and no windows.

I've attached what I feel is the best layout for this room. By placing your seating and TV across the center of the room, you should be able to get reasonably decent symmetry with your speakers' reflections. Being a foot wider, this room will also allow you to place the seating farther from your TV. I've placed a 6' sofa and two La-Z-Boys to show how the layout could provide more view seating within the soundfield.

As subs generally provide better response in corners, I've placed yours in the top left. It could also go in the bottom left. You may be able to place it elsewhere, such as along the wall with your mains, you'll just have to experiment.

Your surrounds should be placed about 2-3 ft. above your head when seated. The rear surrounds can mount on the wall. The left and right surrounds could be mounted on tall stands or attached to the ceiling. Figure A shows this. You could also mount them to the walls as shown in B, though this is less ideal.

With a couple of small end tables with tables lamps near the La-Z-Boys, or floor lamps to the outside of each of the rear surrounds, and maybe a media storage rack or bookcases along the bottom wall, this could be a very nice entertainment area.

[PAT.P]

Lensman your at it again! This room would be great one for home entertainment centre I like your drawing A with speaker on side of couch I would also add another sub at other corner it is a very large room.My living room is 26 feet long X 16 and added another sub it really added the extra bass without concentrating on one corner ,now it just blend in .Fine work again! Pat.P

[ryjam282]

Here is what we decided on. She didn't want to use the family room. So, here is my dilemma, the side surrounds, right now, I have them mounted about 1 foot in front of the listening position (the couch next to the lazyboy, that is where we sit 99% of the time). Should I move those back a bit and angle them a bit forward? But, if I do this, will the sound from them blend too much with the rear surrounds that are mounted above the rear window? Please help on what I should do with this lay out. Much thanks to all.




Ryan

[jeskibuff]

So, here is my dilemma, the side surrounds, right now, I have them mounted about 1 foot in front of the listening position (the couch next to the lazyboy, that is where we sit 99% of the time). Should I move those back a bit and angle them a bit forward?

In my opinion, you should move them further BEHIND you, maybe 1 or 2 feet behind your heads. Don't bother angling them forward. Where they're at now will NOT put you properly in the surround field. What you sense should be happening behind you will actually be "happening" in front of you, which is not the way it is meant to be.

But, if I do this, will the sound from them blend too much with the rear surrounds that are mounted above the rear window?

If you can properly set the distances of both the sides and the rears using your preamp/receiver, you won't have to worry about improper "blending".

If you spend 99% of your time on that couch, I would try to center it between the side walls. Move the recliner to some other spot and you should have plenty of room to get to the play area on both sides of the couch. Your listening position is really screwy right now, off-center from ALL the speakers.

[ryjam282]

Bump for Lensman reply. I need to talk with when you hav a second. PM or email me when you can, thanks a lot.

Ryjam282@bellsouth.net

Ryan