Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 8
regular
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OP
regular
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 8 |
Hello, all! I've been reading about Axiom speakers for a long time, but just discovered your forums. I'm new to the home theater world, and am currently planning on building a dedicated HT in my basement. I have a question on room size. I will be working with one side of our finished basement. Two of the dimensions of the theater will be fixed since I'll be working with existing walls: The ceiling is 7' with a tongue and groove drop ceiling already installed. The width is 10'4'" with paneling that I plan to paint and treat with curtains and/or acoustic panels as needed. However, I have almost complete freedom as to the length of the theater; I just need to decide where to build the back wall. I was reading about the 'golden ratios' for room size. Some of these calculations give an approx. 16' length. I was thinking more of 20' or so. Based on my existing height and width, any opinions on the length I should go with? I plan on using a front projector/pull-down screen set-up for the video. For audio, I'm planning on floorstanding M60s or M80s with sub, surrounds, etc.
Any ideas or opinions on how long my theater should be would be appreciated. I'll be working on building/finishing the room this fall/winter, but need to decide the dimensions.
Thanks all!
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444 Likes: 16
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444 Likes: 16 |
Howdy....
Mine’s 12’ wide by 16’ deep and it’s too damn small. My next HT will be 16’ wide and 24’ deep.
You will have to decide if you want one or two rows of seats first. But if you go with a single row, I’d still make it a minimum of 20’ in length just so you have room for proper 7.1 speaker placement, furniture placement, your equipment and storage.
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,189
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,189 |
Mine is 13' x 24. I wish it was a little wider, but works well. If you are limited by the 10'4" dimension, don't make the length a multiple of that (i.e. 20' 8"). Make it 23' or 24' if you want 2 rows. You'll need the space. Or 16' is fine if you are doing only one row.
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,848 Likes: 14
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,848 Likes: 14 |
Mine is 15ft x 31ft, that opens into an overall 31ft x 30ft x 9ft room. First row is 13ft back, followed by a second row on a platform. Behind that is all the kids toys and walkout door/windows.
M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350 AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,654
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,654 |
Danno, welcome. If possible, avoid having the length almost exactly twice the width(or three times the height), since that ratio leads to a unfavorable concentration of room modes. 18' or 23' would be suitable lengths from that standpoint.
-----------------------------------
Enjoy the music, not the equipment.
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379 Likes: 7
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379 Likes: 7 |
I played around with Modecalc (which you can download from the RealTraps site) and found that 17.5 feet and 25-26 feet seemed to give the best distribution of room modes.
M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39 M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1 LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 8
regular
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OP
regular
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 8 |
Thanks, all! I was planning on two rows of seating, so it looks like I'll go with approx. 23-25 feet.
I'll keep reading and learning from your forum, and I'm sure you'll hear from me as my project moves along.
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444 Likes: 16
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444 Likes: 16 |
If you decide to go 23-25’, stick with 24 or slightly less. When building, always try to stay in four foot increments as all sheet goods come in four foot incremental lengths. Plus your framing is in four foot increments. If you go slightly over that four foot rule, you’ll cause yourself a lot of grief and wasted costs.
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,102
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,102 |
Quote:
If you decide to go 23-25’, stick with 24 or slightly less. When building, always try to stay in four foot increments as all sheet goods come in four foot incremental lengths. Plus your framing is in four foot increments. If you go slightly over that four foot rule, you’ll cause yourself a lot of grief and wasted costs.
Heed this advise! My room was EVEN incriments and we had very stupid problems drywalling! TO be fair it was something like 14'5" long and 16'wide, so needless to say we had to make more drywall creases then desired.
Also, if you are starting from scratch, I would advise using staggering studs in a 2 x 6 on all walls to increase the STC factor of your room.
Here is a little article I found in staggering studs. In the end you will loose 1" of space between walls compared to using regular 2x4s, but the benefit you gain is substantial.
-Robb.
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Re: Newbie Home Theater Room Size Question
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379 Likes: 7
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379 Likes: 7 |
That's a good article and a pretty neat site.
M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39 M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1 LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8
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