I Moved! Now how to set up new HT space??

[KEtheredge87]

Hi Guys,
I finally have a minute to say hi, and ask for opinions. I traded up to a new house in town, and the prior owner left me a ROCKIN projector setup in the basement

While his taste in screen size is in league with mine (155" projected on the wall!) his choice of projection screen location leaves me a bit perplexed on how to set things up for the best sound. The screen sits at the end of a 6 foot deep area of the basement, which I'm guessing is about 20 feet from the couch. My Swope tower speakers could fit in there beside the screen, but then they're tucked in against the back wall and one side wall immediately. Feels like that would do all kinds of annoying things with reflected sound.



Does anyone have an idea how they would get around the acoustics issues in this space? Thanks in advance!

Keith

[bjaurelio]

Since you have a lot of space to your couch, I would recommend putting your subs in toward the corners and pulling the towers forward while keeping them close to the alcove walls for best screen visibility.

[bolland83]

I would say leave it for now, plan for an acoustically transparent screen later on. But those speakers just look too good to hide.

[dld]

The speakers are 20' from the couch? How close is the couch to the wall behind you? how wide is the alcove the speaker are in? The screen is just painted on the wall, right?

[KEtheredge87]

The speakers are 20' from the couch? How close is the couch to the wall behind you? how wide is the alcove the speaker are in? The screen is just painted on the wall, right?

Hey dld, the measurement from the painted on screen to the wall behind the couch is 21.5 feet. The couch is up against the wall, but that's not set in stone. The alcove for the screen is 13.75 feet wide and 6 feet deep on the left side, 8 feet deep on the right. The right wall is just longer. That beam with wood trim ends 14 inches back from the 6 ft section, so maybe an acoustically transparent screen will be in my future. Thanks for the responses so far everyone! Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[augerpro]

With that cove and the couch against the wall, some sort of treatment is going to be mandatory I'm thinking. Lots of options there, but check these guys out: http://www.questai.com/products_Brochures.php .Specifically the Q-Perf for side reflections is very smart, using a mix of absorption and diffusion. Over at AVSforum there was a GTG where just using these made a much bigger impact to the sound quality than all the different speakers that were used that day. Rear reflections are almost totally about about absorption, so those could be fabbed by yourself with some 4" rigid fiberglass. Of course, pulling everything out of that cove as far as possible would be a good starting point.

[Psycoacoustics]

How about building a BAR into the cove and flipping everything around so your back is to the cove. I know you'll lose the screen, but really, how well can a "Painted" screen perform? I do not believe using that cove as is would produce satisfactory results.

Good Luck! Mark

[Sydney]

... The screen sits at the end of a 6 foot deep area of the basement,...

You could determine this, my concern would be that this recess might be a source of resonance.
in somewhat similar circumstances this was the case and fixed be moving the speakers out of the recess.

[Dewmiester]

Make the cove a storage room, put up a wall, have a door, or opening to the left.
Put a new screen on the new wall.

[dld]

Hey dld, the measurement from the painted on screen to the wall behind the couch is 21.5 feet. The couch is up against the wall, but that's not set in stone. The alcove for the screen is 13.75 feet wide and 6 feet deep on the left side, 8 feet deep on the right. The right wall is just longer. That beam with wood trim ends 14 inches back from the 6 ft section, so maybe an acoustically transparent screen will be in my future. Thanks for the responses so far everyone! Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Keith- couch against the wall is pretty bad, I would avoid it at all cost. The alcove seems wide enough for the speakers. I would recommend a smaller screen so you can pull the speakers off the side walls and off the wall behind them. I would also recommend some room treatments in the alcove at first reflection on the sidewalls and on the ceiling and in the corners since you cant treat the wall with the screen.
good luck

[KEtheredge87]

How about building a BAR into the cove and flipping everything around so your back is to the cove. I know you'll lose the screen, but really, how well can a "Painted" screen perform? I do not believe using that cove as is would produce satisfactory results.

Good Luck! Mark

I like the way you think! I am still considering flipping the arrangement around to make better acoustic choices in the space. I know there are wires running through the ceiling for speakers and HDMI. The previous owner left me his Onkyo HTIB with the small plastic speakers still mounted and wired on the wall. Since the ceiling is drywalled and textured, I'm less willing to try flipping things around at the moment. I did ask if there were any pictures during the build process to see where things were wired / what direction the studs/floor joists are running, but no response on that one yet.

Painted screen performance is a major mixed bag. I've done it before, and it was OK for the money I put into it. You need a stupid smooth wall and very tight nap paint rollers to make it passable, otherwise your movies will look like they were projected on a giant orange peel! In this particular case, I don't care about the screen that was painted on the wall. I could happily sacrifice screen size for acoustic benefits. That's probably why I'm a member of PETT instead of HTGuide or some other forum!

[KEtheredge87]

With that cove and the couch against the wall, some sort of treatment is going to be mandatory I'm thinking. Lots of options there, but check these guys out: http://www.questai.com/products_Brochures.php .Specifically the Q-Perf for side reflections is very smart, using a mix of absorption and diffusion. Over at AVSforum there was a GTG where just using these made a much bigger impact to the sound quality than all the different speakers that were used that day. Rear reflections are almost totally about about absorption, so those could be fabbed by yourself with some 4" rigid fiberglass. Of course, pulling everything out of that cove as far as possible would be a good starting point.

Thanks Brandon, I've got some research to do on room treatments. Until this point in life, I hadn't learned enough to realize I needed something! I like the idea of DIY (go figure), so we'll see what I come up with. As far as pulling things out of the alcove, That's certainly an option. Might look a little funny, but as a temporary solution I'd let it slide. This has "Man Cave" written all over it, so the missus isn't likely to care how the speakers are set up just as long as the walls don't get covered in SI Swimsuit model posters

[rpb]

DIY is great for all aspects of a man cave / HT. That painted screen may be perfect as is, but if you have enough lumens, I think a grey screen is better. As for acoustic treatment, I would suggest keeping it simple. Identify the problem, and work to fix it. Don't just go all out treating every surface of the room.

Do you have a speaker you can use as a center?

[tomzarbo]

Keith... turn that cubby into an acoustically dead measurement room/man-study area for all things speaker related. You could have your crossover building/testing area there with a dedicated laptop for simming crossovers, and doing measurements. It looks big enough to do all of that in that space.

I'm half kidding I guess, but you could do that. It would also free up a room elsewhere in the house if needed.

Congratulations on the new place! I'm concerned though with the drywall covering up the foundation walls... you might not see all the structural damage your dual subwoofers are inflicting until it's too late!

TomZ

[rpb]

I used to have a 24' long room, and for a short time, a 150" picture projected onto the wall. It was a different experience than watching a 55" to 65" TV. Now my room is just under 14', and my screen is 86". I have another room that I could use that is 17' long. I can get the screen size over 105" I think. I like that size, and viewing distance, but the room is not really set up for a projector. It doesn't have sufficient light control for use in the daytime. It would be OK after dark, but would be better with much darker paint color. That's not an option for the bigger room, so my HT is setup in the smaller room where I could paint the walls darker. I guess in a roundabout way, I'm suggesting trying different screen sizes, and viewing distances, while also checking out the sound quality in various seating areas.