Ded. Home Theater--Long wall or Short wall

[mmadden28]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but please humor me...I need guidance :o

I am still in the process of trying to build my basement Home Theater, that hopefully may also function as a 2 Channel room. But if its not in the cards, then the room will just be for HT and gaming--have no fear though, I'll find another dedicated space for the 2 channel rig ;). Originally the wife said no way that I am taking the basement guest room away. I have also been considering taking over another space in the basement and building walls to suit me. But now that she has seen the temp. setup in action, shes eager for me to complete it :cool::D So no time to waste; I need to make some decisions and move forward. I'll setup in this room and gain some lessons learned and think about another location later.

The room is 13x18. I currently have everything setup temporarily. Meaning no wires are run through walls or ceiling and the projector is not mounted yet. It's a drop ceiling.
Everything is setup currently so the 106" PJ screen and mains are on the short wall and the entry door is behind me (on the back wall toward the right wall from the seated position). All the gear is in a rack on the right wall close to the door. Ultimately the plan is to put the rack in the wall so that I can access the equipment from the next room-which will also give me more options for cooling without interfering with the HT room itself.

When shopping for some HT seating, I determined that to get the seating I want, I'd need space for a 12' wide couch-essentially to seat 4 or 5comfortably. 2 level seating just doesn't seem feasible in this small room. Obviously 1' is not enough clearance-remember the entry door is to the rear.

So I pondered repositioning everything so that the screen and mains are on the long wall. I'd still be able to put my electronics in wall (or in closet) as I had planned, there's plenty of room for the speakers (I think) and the screen, and I'd be able to accomodate the seating the way I'd want to.

The only issue is that almost every home theater I see in magazines are setup on the short wall. All the diagrams that talk about proper speaker setup show the short wall being used. So I did some quick searching and found comments both ways. Then I found a posting (http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70976)where Matt Polk stated "The front speakers will almost always sound best on the long wall." when talking about a HT setup. So I'm confused.

I checked out the Cardas speaker setup page (http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=26&pagestring=Room+Setup) and it suggested that for an 18' wide wall, I'd have to have the front of the speakers 8' into the room---In a 12' deep room??

Can speaker setup for HT and 2 channel differ that much?

I need some guidance guys....

I'll get a room layout uploaded soon.

[Sherardp]

In an HT setup I would suspect most use the short wall mainly due to speaker placement and in your case this will also include your projector. It will definitely affect your throw distance. In case your shorter throw = brighter image/more punch, longer throw = better contrast/black level. Also consider your side surrounds and rears if you decide on a 7.1 setup.

Also with your seating most HT seating only requires 3-4" inches from the wall for full recline. I would suggest a narrower seat also or consider a wrap around kind of couch that reclines. I have actually seen those and can tell they work well. I would stick to using the short wall as your screen as you can go large and still have space for your speakers. Even in your HT setup you will want to bring the speakers out into the room so it will definitely give you room.

In my own setup I watch a 126" image in my first row right at 12.5 feet. If you're going with 106" it may be ok, my only concern would be the brightness at that short a throw. See my pics in showcase to give you an idea, I would personally stick to the short wall as your screen wall.

[Sami]

For HT, I would set the screen and mains on the short wall. You have to think about what kind of picture size you want, and the seating placements you desire. Surround speaker placement is also thing to consider and that, at least to me, puts the screen on the short wall.

Since it's a basement, do room treatment and you're also set for 2 channel in that room.

[mshan242700]

http://rivesaudio.com/resources/listening_room/frame.html also has some good info, though I think it might be more dedicated to 2 channel than home theater.

[cnh]

I recently had a HT seller/installer tell me that there are some HT ratios that one needs to abide by when installing a dedicated home theater professionally! Maybe Mantis knows more and I can't remember exactly...but I think a smaller ideal size is something like 12-13 X 19 X 10' high! And the larger the room you can just convert from that. Not sure if I have those exactly right. The 19 X 10 I'm pretty sure about!

So your room looks pretty good for HT!

2 channel... is another story!

cnh

[mmadden28]

Thanks for the hints so far...
The current temp setup right now, the distance from the front of the PJ to the screen is 12'6" which enables it to fill the screen nicely. So if I did have to use the long wall it would still work with a few inches to spare. Its only at that distance right now because the Guest bed is still in the room right now :eek: Remember, the wife was initially totally against my taking this room over so I didn't move any furniture out. Just to get an idea on if the room would work I mounted the screen (only two screws) on the short wall, setup the AVR and all the speakers (again just laid the wires around the perimeter) and the PJ is sitting on top of a sub on top of a small rolling cart :o. Needless to say even though the room is setup in the odd temp arrangement that it is, our visitors are still wow'ed by it. Esp since since its so dark in the room when 'demo'ing. The biggest problem right now is seating--The bed is not a good choice of seating - well unless your watching one of those non-rated kinds of movies :eek::o

The PJ is a Marantz VP4001 (http://us.marantz.com/Products/1908.asp) (720p). According to the specs, for 106" the min/max throw distances are 126" (10.5') & 145 6/8" (12' 2").

I guess I'll have to play around with the PJ placement to see what my options are to see if I could get it a bit closer.
I really need to get the room layout done-hopefully I'll have enough free time at work tomorrow to git'r'done. I also really need to get the bed out of the room so I can better visualize how much room I have to play with.

I think I'm just going to leave the 2Ch rig out of the equation for now. I may try to work it in later, but since it involves SDA-SRS2's I think that may pose a problem. :rolleyes: Besides since my boys have control of the room playing xBox all the time, I think I'd rather have a separate area that I can listen to tunes while they play. :rolleyes: I thin kthe bigger more open area of the basement is likely more ideal for those speakers.

I'm definately going to do some room treatments, at least for the 1st and 2nd reflections and perhaps some corner traps, but that's later on my list. Might just line the walls with drapery or something. Its got some of that fake wood paneling over wallboard that I'm eager to cover. I am also considering adding some more insulation above the drop ceiling to help further insulate the sound to/from the family room above. Although so far neither has been noticeable (to the other) and both rooms have a sub. I may even look into some better acoustic ceiling tiles, but thats less of a priority right now. Although I will consider painting the tiles.

As far as speaker placement goes, my initial impressions are that I can mount the surrounds in a 5.1 or 7.1 arrangement either way. I am just concerned about the Mains placement and whether or not long wall placement causes any significant acoustic issues over short wall placement. Any thoughts on the SQ differences, etc.?