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Home theater design help

Recently I discovered that a wall I did not I think I could move is actually removeable and thus I can more than double my current home theater room into a much larger home theater/ media/ entertainment space. I engaged what dealers remain in my area but none seemed all that interesed or capable of managing design and construction changes especially since I have most of the equipment already. Anyone have any ideas on how to pursue this?  I roughly know what I want but also know there’s likely a lot I don’t know around design, sound tailoring, decorating, acoustics etc.   kind of at an impasse currently. Thanks! 
esthlos13
esthlos13 OP
90 posts
 
Thanks for the responses.  I’m actually debating how to shape the room there are a few options.  If a perfect rectangle the room would be 16x 33. However there are bay window cutouts at each end so in the middle it’s about 36 long. As well on half of the room gets 5 feet wider for about 16 feet but there is a support pole at the 16 ft width mark. I had considered walking off this space to make an equipment and media storage space but that put me back in rectangle land which many have advised against. Another option I weighed as putting wall in front of the bay window cutout and putting equipment behind there so a projection screen and flat screen would have a flat wall behind. I’d like to try to isolate the room to some degree (room within a room kind of thing) but I have people telling me this could run 50k or more which seems crazy as in some parts of the country you can build a house for that. I’m thinking I’m likely going to have to design most of this myself and then find a contractor who at least understands this a little as I want a full electrical panel with numerous 20 amp outlets, conduit for wires in case I need to make changes, etc. the target is a hybrid theater/2 channel/ entertainment space and I can’t go full on black walls black ceiling so I’ve been trying to find online examples to get ideas with moderate success. Any continued thoughts appreciated. 
soix
9,456 posts
 
I reiterate to buy and read Premium Home Theater (applies just as much to music as it does to HT).  If you build the room properly then shape will not matter as much.  Better sound can work hand in hand with isolation as methods such as using resilient channels and various thicknesses of drywall (among other things) can dramatically improve both sound AND isolation at relatively little extra cost.  And again, any semi-competent contractor could easily understand and follow the instructions in the book.  Sorry to be redundant and maybe a little annoying. 

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

The room doesn't have to be a "perfect" rectangle, so having 36 feet instead of 33 feet is not going to make much of a difference.  I think I remember reading at some point that the "double-rectangle" is not the best solution.  It seems to me that the best shape is more like a 50% longer length than width.  So if your room is 16 feet wide, the length would preferably be something like 24 feet long.  Don't take this as a hard recommendation because I don't know for sure.  In actuality, smaller rooms have more bass problems because of the room nodes cancelling out bass frequencies.  So a larger un-even room will help in this case.

That room, even at 16 feet wide, is considered a large room.  I would make sure you had enough amplifier power as you will need a lot of watts or speaker efficiency to fill that room.  Getting smaller 100 watt per channel amps should be avoided if possible.

I would recommend that you have the electrician use 10awg romex.  Many will use the smaller 12awg romex, even for 20 amp circuits.  I have heard others that like to use larger 8awg or 6awg wire, but everything at that size is going to be stranded wiring.  10awg romex is the largest solid-core solution.  Just add as many direct circuits as you can.  Use high grade audiophile outlets, such as Porter Port or PS Audio, or even Furutech rhodium (which is best in my opinion).  VH Audio and Audio Sensibility are vendors that sell cryo-treated 10awg romex, if you want to go that far.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bay windows.  You can probably get projector screens that have solid-black backing.  Otherwise, you'll need light blocking material on the window behind the screen.

I don't think you need to black-out the entire room.  In my opinion, the most critical is the wall that holds the screen.  Most of that front wall should be blacked out. You can do this with curtain type material if you want.  A small amount of the side walls can be blacked out to help (maybe 5-7 feet if you really want).  The idea is to black-out the area around the screen so that your brain doesn't translate the "screen" as just a television.  Blacking out the area around the screen will help your brain "perceive" only what is shown on the screen.  Having a white/reflective area around the screen will distract your brain and you will lose the "immersive" effect of movies.

I would make sure the entire floor is carpeted (at a minimum).  Then you can play with certain types of sound panels at different locations if you really want to.

esthlos13 OP
90 posts
 
So the recommended book is on its way.  To note the bay window cutouts in the basement are not actual windows. It’s just the hexagonal half shape that breaks up a flat wall. The room and basement actually have no windows.  Do these forums let one upload pics?  Would be much easier to show the space and the questions I have around design 
ptss
1,964 posts
 
16 x 33 is a beautiful size for stereo/theatre room!  Space to breathe and decorate. Lovely!! Don’t worry about “filling the room with sound”. A pair of 88db efficient speakers and a solid 200 watt amp will give all the sound sane people can use. Some will want powered subs. I haven’t and my speakers were about 5 db down at 32 hz. You could describe your room giving exact measurements starting from a corner. Call your viewing wall North. I’m interested. 
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