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All,
I bought a new house last Oct that has about 1100 sq ft of unfinished space off of the bonus room on the second floor. The roofline there is an A frame that is approx. 20' tall. I am wanting to do a nice home theater in there with the tiered seating, projector, the whole nine. I have a very good understanding of the tech side but I would like to at least get someone out to help me think through the best way to lay the room out. I don't know if I should go somewhere like Audio Advice and get them to come out or if I should get a good contractor to come look, an architect, etc. What do you think?
I'm thinking your home theater will be size of my house (no joke) and for that I give you a high-five. There have been a few threads about home theater installers but I can't remember the names. You might want to try a quick search. Good luck!
We have a home theatre and the tech guy we used was the most helpful in designing the tiered seating, etc. He was able to tell us where the best place was to put the seats, etc based on the screen size and speaker positioning. Feel free to PM me and I'll give you his info.
I haven't had Audio Advice do any HT design for me, but the times I've visited their store, they've been very professional. I doubt they would be the cheapest option, but at least asking them about what they could do for you wouldn't be a bad idea.
Or you could always experiment and DIY, checking around on various audio/HT forums. I designed my own basic HT (not the room, but equipment, layout, etc...) since I was budget-limited, and am happy with the outcome.
Since you said you have the tech side down, here are a few non-tech considerations for converting a top floor, unfinished space in to a HT.
Acoustics, external: you will want to have this space isolated from the rest of the house, so you can really pump up the vol on the base. If you take a standard sheet rock wall, and add an additional layer of sheet rock on each side, and fill the space inside with foam insulation, you get a pretty significant amount of mass that will suffice for low-band attenuation, and it's pretty simple and cheap.
Acoustics, internal: Sheet rock walls and ceiling are pretty acoustically sharp. you will want to have them covered with acoustically-soft materials to keep down reverb and such. Maybe cover all 6 surfaces with a soft carpet or carpet tile squares.
A/C, the equipment will be putting out a LOT of heat. And it need air that is not only cooled, but relatively clean. If you are drop the big $$ on a HT, maybe this room could get it's own HVAC unit. But pay attention to the inside units sound generation.
Media Storage: A friend of mine did a HT really well, and they had a simple, easy, useful, and CHEAP method of storing the media. They had a wall with the screen, and three stepping up rows of Lazy Boys facing it, with a walkway around the two sides and rear. Against the side and rear walls he built in shelving to hold his huge stash of DVDs and old VHSs. It made them easy to find and use and put back in place.
I know you said you had the tech side OK, but here's another idea from my friends installation that was pretty cool, and not too obvious. He ran cable from the amp output to each chair so that anyone sitting down could put on headphones if the main speakers needed to be muted.
Power Supply & Conditioning: You will want to have the power that feeds this room to be on it's own circuit from your house breaker. Maybe even to feed a sub-panel depending on the room's amp requirements. But that isolates it from transients and such you get when you plug in a hefty motor like a vacuum cleaner. And on that circuit, make sure you have a quality lightning surge suppressor. If you aren't loading up the room with power hungry equipment and only have a flat screen + DVD + amp, then the power requirements may be low enough for you to utilize a computer type UPS battery/surge system. The prices for the big units have come way down, and at least you can be confident on the surge capabilities.
Safety: I hope you thought to talk to your home owners insurance for a rider, and also maybe think of a security system? Also, it might be prudent to put in a bottle of an electrical-fire rated fire extinguisher.
And of course, there's the mandatory theater-style popcorn machine. Don't put it inside the room. Find a place just outside because you need enough light to see to load it, and you want to keep the sound contained.
Ed, I love the popcorn comment. I am contemplating a small lobby type entrance with movie posters and such. Aldamon, this has been a dream of mine since I was a child. I bought this house for this exact purpose, among a few other things my wife likes about it. I am all over AVS forums for help on this and some local members have reached out to me. I appreciate all the advice and I'm sure I will have many questions as I will be doing most of the work myself and subbing out some things like the drywall finishing. I'll make sure to post links to the pics of my progress. Right now we are on track to start on the project in the spring.
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Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am all over AVS forums for help on this and some local members have reached out to me. I appreciate all the advice and I'm sure I will have many questions as I will be doing most of the work myself and subbing out some things like the drywall finishing. I'll make sure to post links to the pics of my progress. Right now we are on track to start on the project in the spring.
