Dedicated HT vs. Living Space

[SiliGoose]

The HT fantasy seems to be to build yourself a room dedicated to your home theater. A no compromise room custom built for performance.

I wonder how much use a room like that would really get at my house.

The problem with a dedicated HT is that all that fine equipment is locked up in one room. I think I'd rather have something more open...a place where guests naturally congregate.
Perhaps a basement entertainment area consisting of the HT/music system as well as ample open seating and a pool table or a bar or whatever. A place where people actually live and entertain.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this. I'd also like to hear from those of you with dedicated HT rooms and how you use that room.




-Sili

[Andrew Pratt]

Camp in our new house we have a dedicated HT room in the basement along with the office. Upstairs we have a large living room that's designed to be comfortable and easy to talk in. We find that TV's dominate any room they're in so a living room with a TV in it always turns into a room where the TV becomes the focus. For example any room with a TV in it tends to have the chairs positioned for viewing the TV not necessarily for chatting with guests so we made the choice to only have the TV in the HT room and leave the living room for entertaining. For day to day life though we're seldom in the living room and spend most of our time either in the kitchen, office or living room

[Lex]

So, even though this is really a topic for "Spaced Out", a good topic.

Andrew, the short side of this is, you have a room that see's very little use. Square footage down the tubes in my book. My parents have a living room like that. but in reality, it's not so much living, as no one is usually in there. Oh, it's pretty! But how often enjoyed? Not often...

I am with Camp on this one. I like a do all shared environment, not a dedicated HT really. I like my computer with my HT too.

Lex

[Andrew Pratt]

maybe but we all have moved into seperates from receivers for the same reason I moved into a dedicated HT room...food for thought

[George Bellefontaine]

Going dedicated, like I did a few years ago, means you will be giving up space that will be used for movie viewing. We also have two other rooms in the house, one ( sort of my little area, computer, equipment closet for feeding music to the living room, a Tosh 36" tv, etc) and one that is almost surrounded in glass that my wife uses mostly for doing her craft work. This room opens up to the sundeck. There's a 20" tv in this room that my wife usually has on while doing her craftwork.
Point is, we have lots of space so making the rec room in the basement a dedicated theater ( this included removing two windows) with plenty of light control for either day or night movie watching was not a problem. The walls in this room are a neutral grey and the wall behind the 16:9 screen is black matt, so it is not a thing of beauty, but by using some drapes around the screen, it has a cinema look to it, and that was what I wanted.
But when our four sons lived at home( we lived in a larger house then) every room was essential and we did not have the luxury at that time of giving up a room to a dedicated HT, so if you have a home with limited space, and have a medium sized family, a family room makes more sense.

Oh, and BTW, unlike Lex, there is no computer in my HT and smoking and telephones are forbidden. Nothing, absolutely nothing must detract from what's playing on my screen. Does that make me eccentric or something ?




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[efarstad]

Well, right now my HT is in our great room/family room and everything faces the screen...we'd like to turn that space into a place to gather and share life and people. That is why the HT room is being built in the basement...as you know when I designed my house I had this all intentionally planned. Fortunately our house is big enough for kids to grow up in and play and since my HT room is not huge at 12x18 it can always be converted to a bedroom if necessary.

My wife does not like "equipment" in her "pretty places" and thus I get blessed and my dream, to build my...errr...our theater room! 8)

I think it all comes down to space...if you've got it...you can build it...that is unless you don't want to!





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[Markj]

Here in sunny Southern California there are no such things as basements. So the family room is now a combination HT/family room. And as others point out you can listen to music while doing other activities and having my system in the living area of the house I can do just that.

The down side of the combination room is that you need to make compromises that can take away some of the performance of the HT.

[Andrew Pratt]

Mark why no basements?

[efarstad]

Them Californians don't have any hills to build basements into! It's all flat down there! :P

Seriously though, that is why as well as construction costs...why dig down when all you have to do is build up! 8)

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[Clive]

Camp, in our home we also use our basement for HT and as a great room. Not all our chairs faces the TV. We have a games table with five chairs and to one side Air hockey table and the opposite side has wicker-chair and recliner that can be turned to face each other when movies aren't being watched or turned to face the screen.

Upstairs however hosts a Teac A/V reciever with my B&Ws and an old Panny rv30 DVD player (which is now used to play CDs) and three matching sofa chairs. In this are which is right off from the foyer and hallway is the first stop sit-n-greet area with a mini bar (no TV) before moving to the downstairs if needed. Our house is double back split so halfway upstairs is a bedroom which we turned into my office/study room for my kids with 2 computers separate printers and fax machines plus a table with two chairs for reading. Then the other room halfway downstairs is our gym.

We believe that our home should be so, that, depending on what one might want to do should go to that specific room or area to do it. I for one believe in separates. I'm sorry.




CLIVE




HEY!! Why buy movie tickets when you can own a Theater?

[Markj]

Well I am not an authority on basements but my guess is that they would add significantly to the cost of housing which is already high here in the golden state. Plus I believe in the costal areas the high water table can be a problem. I am guess here so there could be better reasons.

efarstad: If we need mountains Hollywood just mats it in! :LOL:

[efarstad]

Mark: You're right on in your assessment, costs!!! Unless you have the topography for a basement, there's no need. My father-in-paw built homes for 20 years in LA and never saw so many basements until he came up here to Seattle!

And yep, I love watching a movie that's supposed to take place in LA yet they shoot up here or in Canada and if you look closely can see mtns. in the background it's hilarious! :LOL:

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[Andrew Pratt]

Erik you don't need hills to build a basement..if you did there wouldn't be many around here since geographically we're about as flat as it gets (we're on the bottom on an old glacial lake) I'm not sure how it works for you but around here the only square footage that is assess is anything that's above ground so I effectively am taxxed only on the ground floor not the basement Besides the basement is nice and cool in summer which is a big plus for us since the central air isn't cheap to run. Anyway I was more curious then anything.

[efarstad]

LOL...of course you "don't" need hills it's just that builders "usually" won't dig a hole to build a basement that's all. It also depends on what type of soil is in the area...hard glacial til and I'll bet you don't see any basements...but like your area if you're on an old lake bed then that's great soil for diggin'!!! I know I'm boring you all with this type of talk but it's kinda what I do for a living....but I'll shut up now!

I like basements too...cool in the summer months as long as you don't have humidity problems!

Yep, we also get taxed on our basements...SUCKS!

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[Lex]

Gentlemen, whether you can build a basement is more a function of the water table than it is anything. Some areas, like Florida, coastal Carolinas, perhaps CA, have a high water table, in which case, you can't built a basement without special construction considerations.

Someday, maybe a room something like Sili talks about, with pool table and such will become a reality. In the meantime, I am limited to a single great room, and it has to do it all. All I am saying is, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Andrew, this is still a spaced out topic, really, whether dedicated or not.

Lex

[Andrew Pratt]

Erik talk away I love this stuff too but maybe we should start our own basement appreciation thread

[Clive]

Erik talk away I love this stuff too but maybe we should start our own basement appreciation thread

Before this thread gets flipped, I wanna let you know Andrew as a canadian I am ready. ;-x




CLIVE




HEY!! Why buy movie tickets when you can own a Theater?

[Robbie]

OK Guys,

Basements are determined by the frost table and in some locales like Florida by the water table but where the frost table excedes 3 to 4 ft, if you have to dig that far to put the foundation in you might as well ago the extra mile for a basement. Just makes sense. No frost table in CA DEEEEEP frost table in CN...

That is why the HT room is being built in the basement...as you know when I designed my house I had this all intentionally planned. Fortunately our house is big enough for kids to grow up in and play and since my HT room is not huge at 12x18 it can always be converted to a bedroom if necessary

I'll stay in the guest room when I visit efarstad's house

Robbie

[SiliGoose]

Well, there are no problems with basements in St. Louis. A friend was in a local home a few years ago that had at least 3 levels of basements (that he had access to).

He knew something was different about the design of the house when he got in the elevator. They had what he called a "normal" basement on one level, another level had a swimming pool (and they have an outdoor pool too), and the other level had a tennis court (and yes, the ceiling was high enough to really play). I've seen the home from the outside and it is very cool...modern but not overly so.

I like my computer with my HT too

That's something I'd very much like to accomplish. That way I could work on the computer while my wife watches TV (an activity I detest).

I think I'd like to end up with something like Clive has. A total entertainment room. Perhaps I'd create a dedicated 2-channel room down the road as well. However the HT in a social entertainment area would be ideal.

Obviously, such a set-up requires some sacrifice in over all performance. A non-dedicated room generally will not perform as well as a properly tuned, dedicated HT. I think that's OK with me. I'd like to improve the performance a bit more but there has to be a point where enough is enough (did my wife just type that?).




-Sili

[Burke Strickland]

My living room is my HT is my living room is my HT,,, although the room is painted 18% neutral grey (ceiling and walls except for the black wall with the projection screen) and it is pretty obvious with the equipment racks and tall panel and tower speakers (to say nothing of the 10 foot diagonal 16:9 projection screen) :>) what the room's primary focus is, I have lightweight but very sturdy and comfortable Ekornes chairs that can easily be rearrranged from "theater-style" row arrangement to a conversational arrangement. When the chairs are facing each other, the focus is on the people in them, not the HT equipment that shares the room. And lap trays make a great substitute for a dining room table (talk about a never used room) :>) whatever the chair arrangement.

Burke

PS -- no basements in Houston homes -- flat topography mixed with a water table that must be about 5 inches below the slab foundation, :>) there is no way a residential basement would be practical.

[efarstad]

Andrew: :rf

Robbie: Anytime...the guest bedroom will be right outside the HT room or rather in the basement as well...so easy access to the HT room for those late night urges!

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[Bruce]

Another good reason for not having basements in California is because of earthquakes.




Bruce
____________________________________________

[Paul_C]

Well, me new house is what they call a "West Coast Entry". Otherwise known as a walk-in basement. Since us west coast people actually have mountains, if we build on a slope we usually walk into a basement area and then walk up stairs into our main living area.

In my case, my backyard will be about 10' higher than my front yard. I can walk right into my backyard right from my main living area upstairs. I guess you could call it half a basement. :LOL:

I am having a 14 X 20 room behind the garage reserved for my HT. I will have another HT in the upstairs for basic cable watching. I think my dedicated HT will get a lot of use. My friends and relatives can't wait until it's finished so they can come over for free movies. Little do they know that popcorn is really expensive.

One of my wife's issues was "all that stuff" in our living room. I created a stereo cabinet in the basement and will run everything via hardwired IR. I knew all that old stereo equipment would come in handy someday.

Paul.

[Andrew Pratt]

Paul I'm doing something similar for our living room upstairs since I'll be running my second zone from my Rotel to that room so we can listen to the jukebox upstairs...the nice thing is other then a pair of speakers (yet to be determined) there won't be any gear up there which scores lots of WAF points

[David Meek]

there is no computer in my HT and smoking and telephones are forbidden. Nothing, absolutely nothing must detract from what's playing on my screen. Does that make me eccentric or something?

Nope, not at all. It just means you like your movie experience to be un-interrupted.

We made a concious decision to have a dedicated (sorry Lex :B ) HT room. We have a large living area that is set up for entertaining and gatherings. We have a family room upstairs that is set up for general TV, lounging and computer work. The dedicated HT means that audio and video issues can be isolated and minimized for better picture and sound. As far as it being wasted space? Not in my book. One of the good things about living in Houston (maybe the ONLY good thing other than the restaurants? ) is the cost of house construction is markedly lower than the rest of the country and that makes a dedicated (oops) room much more achievable.

Andrew makes a good point with his comment about moving into a dedicated room is just an extension of upgrading to get better results.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Sonnie Parker]

Personally I've always wanted a dedicated HT room. I'd have to leave the big screen in the family room. My wife is not that big into HT but she loves the big screen. I'd rather have some type of projector system for a dedicated HT anyway.

The biggest problem we encounter with a shared configuration is if we are watching a movie and have just about any kind of company pop in (happens frequently at our house)....we have to turn the system off and continue later. We don't really have any place else to go unless it's outside. The sound (especially the sub bass) travels all through the house and it's really loud in other rooms.

If I had a dedicated HT room that was fairly sound proof then if some of the family or friends came over they could choose to join in or go to the family room and chit chat (which woman seem to love to do....you know the gossip box thing). Plus late at night I wouldn't have to worry about waking up the family.

As it stands for now, I'm stuck with the shared deal. I'll just have to be happy with it.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[Paul_C]

Andrew;

What are you using for IR distribution?

I was thinking of the Xantech stuff. Seems relatively simple to use and not that expensive.

Paul.

[RickS]

Hi, guys!

Well, like Andrew I have a tax free HT!! No, tax on basement space here. We use the room for music, guests......and HT. The FPTV makes it a multi purpose room. the space is used alot more than our upstairs living room with the pictures/plants/sofas.







Rick




The Home Theater
DVD Collection

[George Bellefontaine]

Nice looking taxfree HT, Rick.




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[Andrew Pratt]

Paul right now I'm not using any IR reapeaters...I'm going to start the second zone install this fall..just to many other projects on the go right now to make it a priority. I'm still not sure if I'll go hard wired or just try those powermids.