Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Home Theater Riser Construction

Jason,

You also want your eyes to be anywhere from the bottom of the screen to 1/3rd from the bottom. For me when seated in the front row, my eyes are right at the bottom of the screen, this way the folks in the back are at about 1/3rd up from the bottom.

In the drawing you show, it seems you'll be looking down to the screen, which won't be comfortable when seated or reclinging a bit.

Agreed Randy, unfortunately with the way the room is now, that's the compromise I'm stuck with. (It's either that or the back row is lower but can't see the lower portion of the screen, which is definitely the greater of two evils).

Because of the sloped low ceiling above the screen, it's going to be this way for awhile until I get creative on how to move the fixed screen frame I have and hang it from the sloped ceiling. It's not undoable, it just hasn't been a priority yet.

I appreciate it the advice for sure. I just don't have a solution to that problem yet. One step at a time. :-)

Jason,
I was referring to making only 1 box and elevating it to the correct height by using legs in the 4 corners (and intermediate points along the sides as necessary). You could also make very short stud walls, similar to the walls of a house, and set the 2x6 platform on top of these. This saves on material and gives the box more freedom to expand and contract with changes in humidity during the seasons. Plywood is much more stable and stronger than 2x material.

Thanks for clarifying Joe.

Jason,

I assume that pic is an offical pic of the recliners and not you and your wife, otherwise, you might go blind sitting that distance from your TV.

You're right about that, not us. We do sit a little closer than average, but that guys feet are about a foot from the screen.

By the way... kicked off the project this weekend. Cut all the wood and hauled it up the stairs to the media room. Assembly begins tonight or tomorrow night. I already had all the wood purchased before Joe's recommendation, so we're going with the original plan. Hopefully with lots of screws, wood straps, and corner braces, it'll be rock solid. Only one way to find out.

The project is now successfully completed. Carpeting was done by a local shop that carpeted our house. (installation was cheap enough that it wasn't worth the risk to me of having an ugly installation that the wife would comment negatively on). The rest of the work was done between me and a friend and turned out very well (IMHO). The only thing I'm waiting on now is the arrival of the new chairs to sit on and in front of the riser.

Below are a few pictures of the construction - several more are available under the link in my signature.

Initial framing with 2x10s



Added 2x4 bracing around all edges to secure 2 2x10s on top of one another


Cross sections filled with insulation to deaden resonance and BOOMY bass in the corners.


2" holes cut in front of riser to allow sound waves to pass through insulation-filled riser and decrease resonance.

Completed & Carpeted - now with registers cut in riser to allow sound waves to pass through riser and decrease low frequency standing sound waves... i.e. "boomy" bass in room corners where the riser meets the walls.

You will probably note the registers are cut off-center. This was done purposely to provide the best combination of structural integrity and sound absorption. I will have a row of chairs sitting right in front of the registers so they'll never be seen once the chairs are put up on the riser.

I did test the riser before I cut the front 2" holes and back registers and bass in the rear of the room was truly awful.
Booming, pounding ugly bass. The kind only 17-year old with a hatchback full of 15" woofers in a homemade box could appreciate. And, since I don't have of those around on a regular basis, I decided to try cutting the holes.

The reason I tested before cutting is because I was fairly skeptical that cutting these holes would have any effect whatsoever (considering I had little to no idea what I was doing). As it turns out, however, it had a very noticeable effect and response in the rear of the room is now much more normal. It is still not as good as in the main listening position, but it's MUCH better.

I will at some point run another response sweep and post the results, but I want to get the furniture in first before going through all that effort again, so I'll report back in a few weeks.

Jason

Finally, another view of the finished riser

Wow, looks great Jason! Very professional looking. Now, you've got me thinking I need a second level.

Your project turned out great, nice job.