Need help with placement

[Youthman]

I'm working on the layout for the theater room. I need help with placement for the surrounds. Take a look at photos 17 - 20. You will see that I have three obstacles to work around:

1. Double doors in the rear of the room
2. Sliding glass door on the back right side of the room
3. Window on the left top side of the room

To the best of my ability, I have made everything proportional, even down to the dimensions of the speakers. The room is not pre-wired for speakers. Not sure where my audio/video rack equipment will go. I want to have two rows of 3 seat theater chairs. I found some brand new for $650 each that I will be looking at this weekend. I might only get one row for now, then add the second later on a riser.

In the attached image, where all the lines meet in the center, is where the sweetspot will be. I based this off of the screen being 110" which is 8 feet wide. Using the logic from this article, I too like to sit about 3/4 the way back in the movie theater. 1.5 times the width of the screen would be 12 feet back from the screen.

Not sure where to put my surrounds. The attached image shows a 7.1 system.. I will start out with a 5.1 system and if 7.1 ever really takes off, I will want to add two more speakers later. I need some advice on which speakers I should get for rears or sides in a 5.1 system. Where should I place them? I have not measured the left top window for dimensions and height from the floor. I'll try to do that this weekend and update the attached image. Should I go with the RS-62's on the sides or the RB-61's on the back wall for the 5.1 system?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Michael

[Youthman]

Anyone have any advice?

[Cal Blacksmith]

UH, it looks like you have a good plan going. Only setting it up and tweaking it will prove yes or no. You should be able to work with the problems in the room. You need to control the light in the room and that should help with any reflections you may have with the glass. Let us know how it works out.

I can't offer any help with the R system stuff, I am a heritage guy. Good luck!

[Youthman]

Thanks Cal. I will be adding some form of window treatment to darken the windows. Would this work? I could put curtains over it to make it look nice but I really have no desire for any light to penetrate the room. I might eventually put sheetrock over both the door and the window. [] Who knows. Any good suggestions for darkening the window and doors?

[Cal Blacksmith]

I don't think the film will work, it looks to me like the film you tint the windows in your car with only in larger sizes. You need something like curtains to darken the room. We have two layers, one set of room darkening curtains where the "sheers" go on a double rod and a normal set of curtains over the darkening set. This also adds a layer of sound absorbtion material to deaden reflections in the room. I think this would be your best shot also. Sheet rock would be a bit extreme and then you still need to add sound dampening material anyway.

[Youthman]

Sheet rock would be a bit extreme and then you still need to add sound dampening material anyway.

You think so? [] I've never even hung sheetrock. Wouldn't the tint behind the curtains also help reduce the amount of light that enters the room?

Our original plans had a 15' x 25' HT with no windows and only one door. Change of plans...

[Cal Blacksmith]

I suppose the tint might help a bit, like it does in a car but something else would be needed for sure. As to the sheet rock,ya it is a bit over the top but if that room would never be used for anything else, I supose it is a viable option, perhaps a removeable pannel might be better though, it would be easier to reverse later if you should ever change the use of the room or choose to sell the home.

[WMcD]

A few comments.

The first is that you'll have to experiment to see what works for you. But . . . .

I think you'll be happier a bit closer to the screen for viewing. (I'm one of the guys who sits close to the screen in theaters. Smile.) One issue of how far back you sit from a screen is the resolution of the image. You don't want to be so close that individual pixels can be noticed. Suspect that with full 1080 you can work with getting closer.

There is an ISO - ANSI standard (somewhere) which manufactures of HT amps incorporate into their manuals. Surround speaker are placed at 90 degrees off axis from the listener, plus or minus 10 degrees. Putting surrounds in the rear is a holdover from quadraphonic systems but it comes up time and time again. Note that in commercial theaters most of the speakers are at the sides.

If I read your plan view (is the gap at the right the sliding door?) that brings the couch forward enough to put the surrounds slightly in front. It also winds up giving left and right mains a wider angular offset from center. You might like this.

Wm Gil McD

[Youthman]

Great advice William. Not sure I would like being too much closer though. If I sit in the middle of the theater, I feel weird, my eyes are strained from having to move left and right constantly to see what is going on on screen. I wear glasses too and this might narrow my field of vision a bit (lucky me huh). LOL. Sitting 2/3 back in the theater I can take it all in and still feel totally immersed in the screen.

Probably a good idea is to buy surrounds and get maybe two ladders and play around with placement before I permanently mount anything. Guess that would make better sense huh?

So should I just get the RS-62's then for the side surrounds?

[WMcD]

I think you're on the right track.

All of us here say, generally, that you have to experiment and there are no pat answers as far as speaker placement. Only favoroable starting points. Putting the surrounds in the back is not IMHO not a good one. Which is what I was saying.

As far as vision, I think that holds too;' it is up to you.

I was thinking, without knowing your situation, and OT: Eyeglasses may well inject a perception which is personal to you. I have an astigmatism in one eye and both are getting "old". No line (progressives) cause a swimming affect. Some of my solution here is to have a very careful discussion with the oculist and get a set optimized for computer screen distance. They will not do that unless we insist. FWIIW.

For the record. My very kind great-aunt took me to see the movie "Grand Prix" at a theater in NYC with three-projector, curved screen, Cinerama in about 1966. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world. She left the theater because she was getting sea sick, she said.

BTW, It may be that you'll want some acoustical absorbers in your room. Another thing to play with.

I have no experience with the surround speaker you mention. But I expect they'll do very well.

Wm McD

[Rich_Guy]

A great way to darken the windows is to use blinds with curtains over them. The blinds can be completely closed eliminating most of the light and then the curtains can finish the job.

[Youthman]

The room will definitely need some acoustic treatments, not sure how far I want to go with it but I'll at least try to make some panels for the first reflection points. Thick curtains will help in this area as well.

Might end up using the blinds & curtains as suggested.

[Youthman]

Ok, I went back and measured the Left and Right Walls. Below you will see three separate diagrams. One shows the left wall, one shows the right wall and one shows them both on the same diagramed layered. As you can see in the layered view, the left window and the right door overlap a bit. I would like to have the surrounds placed the same height and distance from the back wall. Any suggestions on a good starting point? I will likely be purchasing the RS-62's which are 15" Tall and 15" Wide. They definitely will fit above the left window but wouldn't this be too high for surrounds? If I put them below the left window, then I would have to position them either in front or behind the right door. Does that all make sense? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Here is the left wall

Here is the right wall

Here is a layered view

[willland]

I wouldn't drywall this area in. Maybe uninstall the sliders and install french doors and add dark curtain to dampen sound and light. Here is a suggestion:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=156109-44176-SBHBBGTRIS&lpage=none

Bill