damonrpayne Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 This week we will likely begin the process of meeting with home builders and reviewing home plans. I would like a home theater room in the basement as part of this home plan. Because we are looking mostly at 2-story homes basement space may not be plentifull. I have three main questions: 1) Will the ceiling in a standard basement be tall enough after ceiling is added or will we feel cramped? 2) Other than drywall, is there anything I will want to add to the walls? Any kind of treatment or somesuch in between studs? Two of the walls will be concrete basement walls plus studs. I think I'll want wire conduit in the wall, and of course several discrete electrical circuits. 3) Room dimensions: I have read here and there than MINIMUM dimensions for a decent Klipschorn room would be 18'x20', with the horns on the wide wall. Will this work for a 7.1 home theater, and could I get away with a smaller room if need be? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 ---------------- On 6/21/2004 10:53:56 AM damonrpayne wrote: This week we will likely begin the process of meeting with home builders and reviewing home plans. I would like a home theater room in the basement as part of this home plan. Because we are looking mostly at 2-story homes basement space may not be plentifull. I have three main questions: 1) Will the ceiling in a standard basement be tall enough after ceiling is added or will we feel cramped? 2) Other than drywall, is there anything I will want to add to the walls? Any kind of treatment or somesuch in between studs? Two of the walls will be concrete basement walls plus studs. I think I'll want wire conduit in the wall, and of course several discrete electrical circuits. 3) Room dimensions: I have read here and there than MINIMUM dimensions for a decent Klipschorn room would be 18'x20', with the horns on the wide wall. Will this work for a 7.1 home theater, and could I get away with a smaller room if need be? Thanks! ---------------- Answer to #1, you will NOT feel cramped. #2, add insulation between the studs and always use a treated stud on the bottom in case of water damage. #3, my 2 story basement is 20 x 29 with the k-horns on the 20' wall. i sit about 10' back and it sounds great. have a pool table behind the couch and it sounds great at 27' with heresys on the side and one for the center. see ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Daymon.. I have 10 ft ceilings in my basement... 8 foot is the minimum, but if you can go for 2 feet more if possible/ in your budget 10 feet is wonderful!! You might be surprised a few dollars more in the long run spent will not make it "feel like a basement" if it is 9- 10 feet. (You have to remember you might also have duct work and other things too hanging down from the 8 footer... One of the best things we did when we built last year. Do not forget good insulation even against the concrete wall and ceilings too. The more airtight that room is..insulated wise...the better it will not leak out later!! (up above and into other parts of the basement!) Last, separate the lights of course from the audio plugs to your junction box. Buy good dimmers (you can install them yourself no problem like Leviton that are silent to electrical on or offs when dimmed.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 As for ceiling height, the higher the better! We did 9 foot basement wall when we built our house and ended up with a finished ceiling height of 8 feet and 8 inches (you lose about 4 inches due to the concrete floor thicknes). So I would definitely do at least 9 ft. walls. Length and width dimensions are critical, too. In the HT room, avoid any mathematically related dimensions if possible (15x20, 20x24, etc). Of course, this applies to the ceiling dimension, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Extra height is a good thing. If you can get 9 or 10 feet that would be great, especially with Klipschorns. It doesnt really have anything to do with feeling cramped, but Klipschorns will benefit acoustically from the higher ceiling. I would add a layer of ½ Celotex, Homosite or Roxul rigid insulation under the drywall. Or better yet, build two layers of drywall/rigid insulation, with a 1-2 air space in between. Seal the seams and any air gaps with caulking. Between the studs (and ceiling joists) place unfaced fiberglass insulation to reduce any potential resonances. It would be wise to have a separate electrical circuit for the A/V equipment, ideally with a separate isolated ground. I wouldnt make the room dimensions any smaller, by the time you get a pair of Klipschorns in there plus 5 additional speakers, equipment & seating, etc. you wont have much usable listening area left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted June 25, 2004 Author Share Posted June 25, 2004 Thanks to everyone for their advice. I think we have chosen our floorplan and I can get at least an 18'x20' room out of it. If I can get more space I will, as long as I don't end up with a 19ft. dimension(60hz electrical hum, right?). I am going to see what the extra cost is for 9ft ceilings, it should only be in the $2,000-$5,000 range if I'm estimating right. If its less I'll go with 10'. I had planned on running three discrete circuits to the room: 1 for amps, one for preprocessor and dvd and such, and one for the projector and lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 ---------------- On 6/25/2004 12:06:27 PM damonrpayne wrote: Thanks to everyone for their advice. I think we have chosen our floorplan and I can get at least an 18'x20' room out of it. If I can get more space I will, as long as I don't end up with a 19ft. dimension(60hz electrical hum, right?). I am going to see what the extra cost is for 9ft ceilings, it should only be in the $2,000-$5,000 range if I'm estimating right. If its less I'll go with 10'. I had planned on running three discrete circuits to the room: 1 for amps, one for preprocessor and dvd and such, and one for the projector and lights. ---------------- On your discrete circuits: 1) It would really behoove you at this stage to make an investment in a transformer isolation system for the amplifier circuit, rather than having to suffer with inferior post-outlet line conditioner systems. If you feel up to the challenge, I have a great set of plans for a DIY heavy-duty 20amp conditioner unit - or even if you don't want to build it, talk to your electrician about building it - it's not a difficult job, and it's well worth the added expense up front. 2) Do not put the projector on the same circuit as the lights. Leave the lights and other non-a/v components on their own circuit and put the projector on its own circuit. You'll really appreciate the reduced video noise. 3) If you can help it, get those stud walls away from the concrete - 6 inches should be plenty of space for acoustic isolation. Yes, you're still connected to the floor, but standing waves will be much easier to tame when you're not battling concrete, and the process of soundproofing will be much easier as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Griff, I'd be interested in the plans for the conditioner unit, if it looks overwhelming to me, I know a couple electricians that might do it for beer money. I'd also be interested in how you float the studs 6" off the floor. They have to connect to something that connects to the floor, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted June 25, 2004 Author Share Posted June 25, 2004 Griff did you mean the walls 6" away from the basement walls? For flooring, will I be OK with carpet padding + carpet right on the concrete basement floor? I don't want to spend all this $$ on pouring a higher concrete just to eat it up with flooring. We are touring the plan we intend to build next week. After that I can sit down with my visio room layout tool and figure out exactly how much space I have to work with and come up with a design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Damon Is the builder going to finish the room for you or are you going to do it later? If your going to do it later, make sure your builder tells his sub contractors not to put any mechanicals in that space. The last thing you need is a water heater or furnace sitting where you planed to put a KHorn. Try to keep the HVAC ducts out of the room too, they steal precious room height and become a central music system throughout your home. I had to pay a bit extra to put in larger trusses to eliminate two extra posts in my room too. Your builder should be able to tell you where all the footings will be. You don't want a pole in your sweetspot where you were intending to put a couch If you know where you eventually want to put Khorns, have the builder put the studs on 12" centers till 4-5 feet from the corner instead of 16". The stiffer the corner the better. Artto's idea for isolation is cool. Griff's 6" gap seems pretty big too me, but he is an installer. It all really depends on your budget. Let's take a road trip to Artto's soon, you should see his room before you build. I had my electrician keep my grounds and nutural wires for my systems on a separate block in my box, and separate real world ground from the rest of my house. There is no extra cost for that, and will eliminate a lot of ground noise from motors etc in your home. Next time your over, I'll walk you around my basement and point out a few things I would have done differently. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Don't you know that when building a new home that you design a 10'x10' kitchen, one maybe two 10'x 10' bedrooms and one bath no more the 5'x10'? Then the other 2000 to 3000 square feet is for the theater room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 I'm not there yet, but will soon be dealing with the HVAC guys. There is in floor heat, but need to have vents for the A/C and ventilation. I know to make a couple corners into the room to cut down noise. How much of the ducting needs to be isolated from the joists, all of it I assume? Since this is in a downstairs, all of the ducting will be coming in overhead. When I think of it, should I have thought about making the corners in the ducting before the joists were made/installed? Can they take out a section here or there to make a bend in what would otherwise be a straight run? See my signature, though I think I'm failing miserably at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 I'm not sure if I will be finishing the room on my own or not. I'll get quotes for everything but I don't know how much of this I'll be able to do, I can't justify spending $20,000 more on this room. If I end up with a whole house music system, so be it; the area is under the living room and dinette not any bedrooms. We are touring the model we want to build so I'll be able to tell where the mechanicals and beams are, the salesperson seems confident nothing is in the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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