Moderators Youthman Posted October 19, 2008 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2008 The ceiling has been painted black and the walls are painted a dark red (swatch is called Spanish Tile). I have drawn up two diagrams (shown below) that are to scale to help me in the design stage. I drew the top layout awhile back and at that time I drew it with a 110" screen. The Front image shows a 120" screen. I'm currently looking at gettng a Panasonic PT-AE2000U Projector. Please don't think I'm a nerd (ok...maybe I am) but I actually busted out my old Trigonometry math using this online calculator. LOL. If I have my first row at 13' from the front wall, using a 120" screen (which is 5' tall), the horizontal viewing angle from my eyes to the top of the screen is 21 degrees if the bottom of the screen was at eye level. This THX Diagram suggests that the angle should be 15 degrees or less. In order to achieve 15 degrees or less, I would need to lower the screen so that the bottom of the screen is below eye level. I lowered the screen just to the top of the center channel speaker to get it as low as I could. I did not redo the math to see if it would then be less than 15 degrees. Should be close enough. Told ya I was a nerd. The AV rack in the front is not necessarily what I'm going to use. I just pulled it off the net to give me an idea of what it would look like with an AV rack up front. Ha! I just realized I didn't add my Velodyne sub in the image. Oops. It should fit between the front speaker and the AV Rack. Any thoughts on my plan so far? Is there anything that I'm off on? Front View Top View Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InVeNtOr Posted October 19, 2008 Share Posted October 19, 2008 looks like you are doing the same thing i was doing. i drew my entire living room in 3d and was able to look at all angles of the room. it was worth the trouble...found problems before i bought any equipement. in fact i designed a et center so my center channel was at the perferct height with the tv mounted. that et center is now in work and i should have it next week. one neard to another...good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 19, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2008 Thanks. I have a long road ahead of me...but it will be worth it once I'm finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Yikes! Check my post on Colter's placement rules. Nice diagrams though, here's some fine tuning. Looking well-thought out, better to plan a lot and build once than skip the planning and be scooting things around forever. Screen- I'd want it higher on the wall. Kick back in a recliner and see where your eyes naturally travel- that's where you want the center of the screen. Sometimes you have to forget about rules or just use them as a starting point. Proabably a 1-2 feet from top of wall for my tastes. Your front row of people will block the sound from the center from reaching the listeners in the rear row. If you can, get perf screen, stagger seats, or mount the center up high. 83's ok 1 foot from the wall, toed in somewhat to reduce early reflections from the side wall.Use THX rule of 1.728 x screen WIDTH as the distance from screen to principle row of seating. (where did you get 1.5x?) Probably around 14-15 feet. Now aim your speaker so those seats get a good sound field. I don't know about 'sweet spot' being in the exact crosshairs, experiment there. Depending on where your rear row of seats are located, I'd say that your diagram shows the surrounds much too far back. You'll get equal sound from the front and back of them, the back panels will reflect off the rear wall. Typically a starting point for placement is midway between the seating rows or right beside the principle (front) row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 21, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted October 21, 2008 First of all, thanks for the suggestions Colter. I am a planner...and definitely do not want to have to find out the hard way. That's why I'm asking a lot of questions and trying to get it as close to "right" as possible the first time. If I place the rear seats on a 6" riser and angle the center upwards, would that be sufficient or should I really try to get a perf screen? Are they much more expensive than regular fixed screens? The 1.5x was found in a review on www.projectorcentral.com. They actually suggested go to a local movie theater, pace off the width of the screen, then pace off from the front of the screen to where you would normally sit and that will give you a good ratio of what is comfortable for me, not necessarily what THX recommends. I usually sit 2/3rd back in a theater, at least slightly farther than midway. Just my preference. Rears - If you take a look at my diagrams below of the side walls, I have some doors/windows that are in the way of the ideal placement for my surrounds. Arggg. LOL. The right door is pretty high and if I place them further towards the front row of seating, it will be in line with the left window and as you can see, the speakers would need to be placed above it so it would be very high (probably too high). If I want them lower, I either have to place them in front or behind the right sliding glass door but I'm afraid that will be in front of the front row which isn't good either. Any suggestions there? On a personal note, why are you leaving the forums when you have soooo much to offer to this great community. We would hate to see you leave? Just a word of encouragement to stick around. Michael Left Wall Diagram showing windowRight Wall Diagram showing sliding glass doorBoth Walls overlayed on top of each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 You've probably already found some of these, but here are some calculators to help with computing distances, angles, etc... http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html http://www.carltonbale.com/home-theater/home-theater-calculator/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 21, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted October 21, 2008 Thanks Doug. I had seen the first, but have not seen the one by Carlton. That one is pretty detailed. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo1 Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Just to throw another monkey wrench into the works, there's also the 38% rule, that your seating position should be 38% from the front or rear wall for optimum sound. Amazingly, I haven't heard a single person say that it isn't 100% true! I moved my seat from 14' to 11' 8" and the difference was quite noticable. Unfortunately, sitting that close to the screen was unacceptable to the wife. So I had to move the seats back some, and we're sitting in a bass void. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 24, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted October 24, 2008 Based on that rule, since the room is 19 feet long, I would need to sit around 7' from the front. Based on this projector, I would need a 64" screen or smaller to be able to sit that close. Doesn't make sense to me. 7' from a 110" to 120" screen would be insanely too close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 24, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted October 24, 2008 Sorry, I just re-read your post and see that it can be 38% from the back wall too. If that is the case, that would put me about 12' which is what I was planning on doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo1 Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Lucky Dog! The sound change was noticable for me when I hit that magic mark.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 24, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted October 24, 2008 Lucky Dog! Huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 1, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted November 1, 2008 Ceiling has been painted black, walls have been painted and curtains are hung. This morning I picked up a great deal on this set of theater chairs. It is 2 years old, perfect condition, no rips, tears and has electrical recliners in each seat. I am totally pumped! He paid around $2500.00 for them, I picked them up for $750.00. Now I just need to find another good used set just like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 Very cool indeed on the seats. I am looking to get another pair without the middle arm, so a love seat, next month. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 1, 2008 Author Moderators Share Posted November 1, 2008 I am looking to get another pair without the middle arm, so a love seat, next month. You could get one like mine in the 4 seater version. The two chairs in the middle do not have a center armrest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Youth, thanks for the link..............when I move down to Fort Myers, I found a store !........................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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