HT Room help

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  • ajpoe
    Senior Member
    • Jul 2004
    • 439

    HT Room help

    I have gotten to the point now where I really love my home theater, but it is taking up almost all of my living room. I am single, so I can get away with it, but I would kind of like to have a "normal" living room again. I have a finished basement (bottom half of a standard bilevel). I am thinking of moving my HT down there as a dedicated game room/HT but I want to get some opinions. Attached is a diagram of what I am thinking. My concerns.... wall A and B are half wood panel on the bottom and painted wallboard on the top. Wall C is wood paneling from ceiling to the floor. I will probably put a couch with an ottoman as shown, but that will be about the only source of sound dampening besides the carpet. Will all that wood paneling cause some bad sound issues? Does anyone have any CHEAP ideas of how to get around them if so? I really don't want to spend a lot of money at this time but I thought it would be nice to have my 57" tv downstairs for when playing poker, darts, etc. on top of a dedicated area. If I end up liking how it all sounds, I would probalby do a cut out for an A/V rack in the wall with easy access to the rear via the utility room. I wanted to get some opinions on the paneling and such before I try taking all my equipment downstairs. Any help would be much appreciated!

    AJ

    P.S. I also listen to a lot of 2 channel.
    Attached Files
    AJPoe - - Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!
  • sikoniko
    Super Senior Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 2299

    #2
    When I was in a band, we used to practice in a storage unit. We lined the walls with carpet and it made the room acoustically dead like a drum booth in a studio.

    I'm not recommending you to line your walls with capet, but maybe you could buy a nice area rug that you could display on your walls that would help with sound? Perhaps you could also buy some fabric and staple it to the wood wall. I see them do it on trading spaces all the time.
    I'm just sittin here watchin the wheels go round and round...

    Comment

    • ajpoe
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2004
      • 439

      #3
      Thanks for the input sikoniko. I had already thought of carpet and I would love to put in new carpet and have it go up the wall to cover the wood paneling as well but this is an expense I cannot take on at this time. I could get a throw or something to hang on wall C but that still leaves the bottom of wall B naked. I don't think it would look very attactive to just hang fabric over the top of the paneling without doing it to the whole room and that would probably be pretty costly too. I'm most concerned with all the sound reflection that could go on with the speakers sitting inside a wood panel area that is only 10.5' wide, but I guess I'll just have to take the speakers down there and give it a listen. The back of the room might be open enough that I won't have any issues. In all my dealer rooms, they have those sound dampening panels in the corners and about a foot or two in front of the speaker on the side walls. May be something like that would help? Are those very costly to get or can they be made easily?

      AJ
      AJPoe - - Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!

      Comment

      • David Meek
        Moderator Emeritus
        • Aug 2000
        • 8938

        #4
        Guys, I'm moving this to Spaced Out, our theater construction forum.
        .

        David - Trigger-happy HTGuide Admin

        Comment

        • ajpoe
          Senior Member
          • Jul 2004
          • 439

          #5
          Thanks for the move David, I guess this would be a better area... If I were to get something like this, would I want to use the mirror trick fo find the reflection point and put it on the side walls at that spot, or would behind the speakers be best (or both)? I think one box would probably be enough for my little area.

          AJ
          AJPoe - - Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!

          Comment

          • David Meek
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Aug 2000
            • 8938

            #6
            You'll want to put absorptive panels on the side walls and front wall (behind the speakers), and IIRC diffusers on the back wall (behind your seating position)
            .

            David - Trigger-happy HTGuide Admin

            Comment

            • ajpoe
              Senior Member
              • Jul 2004
              • 439

              #7
              Ok, I've drawn up some scaled diagrams to see how I like everything before moving forward. I have a 57" TV and the squares with red dots are my subs. My surrounds are dipoles so I need to find a good spot for them. Picture 1 is what I would prefer, but I would have to probably put the rack as an inwall (area to right is a utility room) since there is limited space on the upper wall. It's only 10.5" wide. I could hang the surrounds on each wall on each side of the couch above ear level which is preferred. Picture 2 gives me a second option which seems to open things up a bit more and gives me a bigger wall to put my equipment along (12.5' or so). This would allow me to use my regular rack (upper right corner). If I were to use this setup, I would probably have to put the dipole surrounds on the wall behind the couch instead of beside the listening area. Does anyone have any experience with dipoles set up like that? The manual has 3 suggestions in order of preference... side walls, rear walls, then corner placement. Another thing I have been considering is this is going to be where I spend most of my time whether it's just watching tv, listening to music or watching movies. I do not have a bathroom or fridge or anything down there. A half bath may be an option as the plumbing is available. I don't know how much of a pain it would be to have to run upstairs for each bathroom break or snack. I would probably just put a regular tube TV in my living room and make it more of a normal living room but it wouldn't get used that much. Does anyone have any more thought or suggestions... may be I should just leave things alone. Ugh, I'm torn!

              AJ

              P.S. - the wall on the far left has the wood paneling 48" up. Above the wood paneling is an 8" top like a shelf so the wall is recessed. The dipoles are 8" deep so if I put them behind the couch on the wall, the front edge of them would be even with the paneling and back edge of the couch below them.
              Attached Files
              AJPoe - - Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!

              Comment

              • BlazeMaster
                Senior Member
                • May 2004
                • 644

                #8
                I like the setup on the left better where you can have further distance from the fronts. Your dimensions is really close to that of my living room. I just got some Auralex Studio Wedges Foams couple days ago. It definitly helped with some of the rooms acoustics problems. I have them in the first order reflection spots and greatly improved the clarity of the front stage.

                Comment

                • David Meek
                  Moderator Emeritus
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 8938

                  #9
                  AJ, the left is my preference too. It's nicely symmetric, which with the proper speaker set-up and acoustic treatments will give you a good balanced soundstage. The right image shows an arrangement that will leave you with possibly difficult acoustic setup issues. Basically, having a huge hole on the right side will minimize any reflectance of the sound on the right while your left side will be completely enclosed and very reflective.

                  Plus, with the left setup you can watch TV from the table. :tv:
                  .

                  David - Trigger-happy HTGuide Admin

                  Comment

                  • Burke Strickland
                    Moderator
                    • Sep 2001
                    • 3161

                    #10
                    One other comment (in addition to endorsing the plan on the left for the reasons already articulated by others above): the typical furniture arrangement is to have a big ole' coffee table in front of the couch, and in a standard living room without sound system issues, it is a sensible answer to "where do I put my drink" (and often a lot of other stuff). :>)

                    But a big coffee table out front can be an obstacle to accurate sound reproduction, and if it is highly reflective (like if it is made of glass and steel) its effect is even worse. A better choice would be a narrow-width table of couch-back-height BEHIND the sofa (typically one that would be the length of the couch). That's another reason to choose the floor plan on the left, since it gives you the opportunity to put a narrow table behind the sofa without pushing it closer to the front speakers.

                    That would still give you a place to sit your drinks, et al, but would not be an obstruction like an in-front coffee table. And not just sound obstruction -- a coffee table in front can be an unforeseen (and unseen) safety hazard if you or others get up during a movie with the room dark to get something from the fridge or to get rid of a drink (if you catch my drift). Barked shins are no fun.

                    An alternative would be to have a couple of comfortable individual chairs, such as low back recliners, instead of the sofa and put a small table between them. But that kills the opportunity to snuggle with your "significant other" while watching movies or listening to music. :>)

                    Burke

                    PS -- what David said about the aural balance is the MAJOR reason for going with the plan on the left -- if you were to try the setup on the right, you would have a major problem trying to balance the sound in front -- it would probably never sound quite right.

                    What you DON'T say may be held against you...

                    Comment

                    • ajpoe
                      Senior Member
                      • Jul 2004
                      • 439

                      #11
                      a table behind the couch is a good idea and i think i prefer the option on the left as well. watching the tv from the poker table and while playing darts would be nice. the thing in front of the couch is probably going to be a storage ottoman. it will give me somewhere to hide all my junk and act as more seating if needed because its pretty big. drinks can be set on some small nice looking tv trays i have if needed. thanks for all the input... i'm still torn on having my entertainment so separated from the upstairs bathrooms and kitchen area. this is where i would always be to watch tv, listen to music and watch movies with many trips upstairs.

                      AJ
                      AJPoe - - Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!

                      Comment

                      • David Meek
                        Moderator Emeritus
                        • Aug 2000
                        • 8938

                        #12
                        Originally posted by AJ
                        i'm still torn on having my entertainment so separated from the upstairs bathrooms and kitchen area. this is where i would always be to watch tv, listen to music and watch movies with many trips upstairs.
                        How about a porta-potty off in a corner? :B just kiddin'!!!!!
                        .

                        David - Trigger-happy HTGuide Admin

                        Comment

                        • ajpoe
                          Senior Member
                          • Jul 2004
                          • 439

                          #13
                          A bedpan and mini fridge next to the couch would be even nicer... I wouldn't even have to move! LOL Actually, I have the plumbing for adding a half bath downstairs, but that's a whole 'nother project. May be I should focus on that first, which would help the value of the house anyway and then move the HT downstairs after it's completed. Then the addition of a mini fridge would be nice as well. I didn't realize there was so much to think about when I started researching what I thought would be a simple movement of gear.

                          AJ
                          AJPoe - - Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!

                          Comment

                          • Burke Strickland
                            Moderator
                            • Sep 2001
                            • 3161

                            #14
                            So one simple "movement" moved you to move along on the half bath idea, huh? Movie to follow. :>) In addition to adding value to the house, having a half bath within easy walking distance of the HT makes it a lot more useful (you decide which one of those "it" refers to). :>)

                            As for the mini-fridge, I use one for all canned beverages and it's good to have -- the frequent opening and closing of its door doesn't affect any perishable food since that's all safely stored in the kitchen's main refrigerator.

                            One thing to be aware of, though is that some mini-fridges can make a lot of noise -- not dangerous levels, just annoying. So to be certain yours doesn't interfere with your HT listening, you'll want to locate it where it won't be right in your face, but still convenient for grabbing a brew mid-game (or movie or whatever).

                            Burke

                            What you DON'T say may be held against you...

                            Comment

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