Might be building a new house!

[holtrp]

We are looking at building a new house and I am planning on leaving an un-finished basement for a HT room.

I am looking for ideas.

I have a RF system but think I will upgrade to Heritage down the road. Maybe 3 LaScalia up front and 4 Cornwalls in the rear. I would like to have a in-ceiling drop down projector screen.

What size room should I go with? I had read some ratios somewhere. 1:1.24? I am also thinking about 9' ceilings in the basement.

I would love to hear some ideas from people that have done something similar, specifically, anything I need to consider during initial construction. I likely wont build the HT room for a year or two.

Thanks!

[cornfedksboy]

Just finished my basement HT. Things you should do:

Plan for an AV rack/closet. Think about where you want your equipment to be. Do you want it visible or hidden, as blinking light distractions or a show piece? What is the best way to access the cables (mine has a removable rear pannel accessable from the utilities area)?

Have the interior walls built with staggerred studs in order to create a sound barrier via an air pocket, or build two walls 3 inches apart.

Ventilation should go directly from your furnace/AC into the theater room with no legs to other rooms. This will prevent any noise from traveling through the vents into other rooms that share the leg.

Get a seperate circuit breaker.

Sound insulation in the walls and ceilings and get insulated doors at the rear of the theater.

Control all ambient light.

Plan for seating to be 30 inches per chair...add 30 inches to each side so you can walk through on boths side, i.e. if you want 4 seats in a row, you'll want your room to be about 180 inches (15 foot) wide.

The 1.24 ratio is a good place to be, so about 15 x 19 foot would be a great size for 2 rows of 4.

It's best not to have any parallel walls, but that isn't always the best investment. If you can swing it, the front should be slightly narrower than the back and the rear wall should be curved. The ceiling should slope slightly downward.

Now, what I did to an existing space was to build a standard 4 foot closet (no doors) for the AV, added sound insulation and plugged the windows. The room is only 11 by 24, so it's narrow. The walls are all parallel and the ventilation leads directly to the bedroom. The sound is greatly muffled, but still there.

Hope that helps.

[Chris A]

What size room should I go with? I had read some ratios somewhere. 1:1.24?

Here is a paper from PWK on that subject (enclosed).

I am also thinking about 9' ceilings in the basement.

I would recommend no lower than 9 feet - less than that starts to cause ceiling bounce issues. You are also having to deal with doubled-up room mode issues, too, with low ceilings.

Chris

Room Proportions_PWK.pdf

[artto]

In regards to room proportions, the"recommended" ratio is 1:1.26:1.59. Don't forget, this is a 3-D exercise.

If you have the opportunity to build new from scratch I would make the ceiling higher, maybe 10' or more and then calculate the other dimensions from there. This is really only for rooms with parallel surfaces. If you have the opportunity to build new from scratch you would be doing yourself a great favor if the basement wall dimensions are larger than what you want the "interior" room walls to be. In this way you could angle the side walls for instance and that alone would improve the acoustics substantially as would a sloped ceiling. Then you could forget about the ratios. The ratios only work up to a point. Once the room dimensions get substantially larger than the wavelength of the lowest frequency produced it doesn't tend to matter as much. And with enough room between the basement wall and the interior walls you could have access for servicing or upgrading wiring and such later as well as recessed areas for equipment that could be easily accessed from behind the wall. You might even consider a room in front of (behind) the front wall for subwoofers in an infinite baffle.

[DizRotus]

Anyone building a new house, or extensively remodelling an existing home, would benefit from reading House by Tracy Kidder. It's a well written book with useful tips on the building/remodelling process.

[Boxx]

Always consider the corners in a room that you may, in the future, locate some khorns....

I've heard way to many fella's say that they regret they did not consider this when building a new home.

Just a suggestion.....

[bobdog]

Always consider the corners in a room that you may, in the future, locate some khorns....

I've heard way to many fella's say that they regret they did not consider this when building a new home.

Just a suggestion.....

When I was shopping for my latest home, I put Khorn corners in a room that could be used as a media room on my must have list. Looked at probably 30 homes and never found one with a good Khorn room. I ended up buying a place with a good sized room but had to gut it, fill in three windows with concrete, and rebuild. It was worth it but it was a lot of work. If I was building from scratch and had any interest in Klipsch Heritage I would have my room built with very square rigid corners. I used 3/4"plywood under 5/8" drywall with greenglue between. Studs spaced on 8" centers with extra bracing. The walls are solid and it makes a difference. Pull more wires than you think you need. 7channels plus multiple subs. I ran enough wire to run all three front speakers active three way even though I have no plans at this time. As has already been said the higher the ceiling the better. I wish mine was taller but there is nothing I could have done.

[USNRET]

With apologies to holtrp (the OP)....We are also building a new home so I hope to read along here.

We are at the stage where we have selected a builder and are looking at designs and lots. As we are unable to have a basement here in S. Texas, a proper room has been an issue between the wife and I. I can not find a 'model home' that has any room worhty of setting up a system. I am told what I need is termed a Texas basement. This is a one story ranch with a room built over the garage. I will be meeting again soon with builder to discuss plans as they have found a lot that will work for use.

Waterfront lot large enough to support a 3 car garage and pool in the back has put a large crimp in the budget so I am looking forward to hearing ideas posted for your build Holtrp.

[holtrp]

That is why I love this board, these old threads pop up from time to time.

So, we ended up not building. Land was too expensive and we didn't really find the perfect lot. We ended up buying a home that is about 10 years old. in order to get my dream HT room, I am going to need to completely remodel the basement, a project that isn't going to realistically get done for another 2 -3 years. So I am sort of in a holding pattern here. Currently though, the room isn't all that bad, it is somewhat mishappen and non-uniform, but I have a nice recess that loads my subs up very well, I don't think they have ever sounded better. Plus, it is nice to have an entire room for all my gear, opposed to doubling it as a living space that has to look nice for company.

Speaking of the living room and changing the subject completely around, I recently picked up some Heresy I's, cleaning up my Marantz 2235 and came across a Thorens TD 126 MK III turntable, so that has taken center stage in the hobby department.

Cheers all.