This Spring, I'll be having a Media Room built in our basement (finally). The dimensions look like they'll be around 14.5' x 19.5'. I've long ago decided that I'll be using a 7.1 surround setup, with 340's upfront and 4 170's as surrounds.
The couch will sit in the center of the room. My question relates to the back wall. My wife would like one of the back corners to be angled (this is where the door to the room will be). So then I began thinking, in the interest of symmetry, perhaps I should angle the opposite corner on the back wall as well (make it a closet or something). I'd be interested to hear any opinions on how this would compare to a flat back wall acoustically. Better, worse, depending on, etc.
I've attached a very basic layout of the 14.5' x 20' view of the Home Media room. The TV is obviously the front of the room, and you have the 2 angled walls mentioned in the previous message in the back of the room.
Again, I'm just wondering how these angles would affect the acoustics within the room. Better, worse, etc.
I made many attempts to make the image fit the criteria....so I hope it comes through properly.
Thanks for the response. I will be moving somethings around between now and then.....and I'm sure I'll pull the rear speakers in further as you suggest.
Curtis is right on. Pull the rear surrounds in to around the point where the angled portion of the wall meets the straight portion. As far as what the angles will do for acoustics, some lack of symmetry can actually be a good thing. Good luck on the project.
I've attached a drawing (not to scale) of my home media room that should be about 15' x 22', and will begin constructions around April 1. I'd like to give you a quick run down of what I'll be including and then some specific questions that have arose over some time.
I currently have the NAD T773 receiver and Xbox 360. I'll be adding a HD Cable box, and more importantly a new DIY Media Center Computer (Intel Core 2 Duo overclocked) with the xbox 360 HD DVD drive attached. I'll be getting an LCD flat panel and a Ascends 7.1 (340's across front, and 170's side and rear). Questions I have regarding this setup will be directed in another area of the forum.
As you see my room below it is a rectangle, except for a portion of the back wall, which is angled. To cover up piping at the ceiling and to use the angle this backwall creates , a soffit will be built about 2 feet from the side walls, circling the entire area. Due to the fact that this soffit will drop about 5" or so, I will not be able to place the 170 Rear above the door as initially planned. so what I propose to do is to attached it to the front side of the soffit, toward the middle of the room as shown (I would turn the speaker upside down and angle it down firing just above the listening position). Do you see any problems with this setup....would you suggest something else? Would an HTM 200 work on it's side? Or would that present an issue? Is placing the 170 against the back wall on the floor, angling it upward an option?
For speaker runs this length, what gauge wire should I use? Is there a major performance/cost difference between 12 and 14 gauge? And what is the best way to 'finish' each run at the wall, to make it clean and unnoticeable?
As far as speaker set up in general, what are your comments? My wife wants a flat panel entertainment cabinet from pottery barn, which will take a little work to improve ventilation, but should be be a problem. My issue is that it won't allow for a center speaker below the screen (unless I do a little work with the saw, and that isn't going to happen). I've seen the thread regarding using a TV stand from the wall above the tv, which is a viable option. But I've also seen some DIY stands that were made to sit directly behind the TV, same height as the TV and intended to hold the center speaker on top....this seems like a decent option. Do they make any stands like this out there, that actually sit behind the tv and the height is adjustable?
General speaker wiring question: is there a distinct advantage to bi-wiring the 340's?
Any specific or general comments are appreciated. I've got just about 2 more months of agonizing planning, then I'm able to put all this together. Thanks
I imagine most people would setup as per Dolby recs rather than THX, but depends on your receiver & preferred surround modes [Dolby/DTS vs THX modes). But, it always seemed odd to me to have the rears in such a position (that is, placed right next to each other) like THX recommends.
FYI; Your receiver might have a THX compensation setting to account for different rear layouts. I can configure my Pio 74txvi to accomodate different rear separation distances (<1ft, 1-4ft, >4ft).
Thanks for the response. Per the Dolby diagram link, it appears that I'm fairly close to that. I may need to pull my side surrounds back just a little bit as it relates to my listening position (or move the couch forward), and perhaps I need to separate the rear surrounds ever so slightly. Otherwise, it makes me feel confident.
In regards to the THX diagram, I had never seen that one before. I'm going to have to do some research as it relates to the rear surround placement...I agree that seems a little counter intuitive.
The NAD t773 is not THX certified. Should I assume that it doesn't have rear speaker distance adjustment then? I'll look into that as well.
Home Media Room Dimensions???
