2. home-theater
  3. 1125632498

New Theater Room Help

Hi All,

I need to jump in and ask for help on something I know very little about. We just moved to Michigan and have purchased a spec home that is about a month away from completion. The builder has laid out a theater room in the basement and run some basic wiring for speakers.

The room is 11 feet wide by 15.5 feet deep with 8 foot ceilings. There is no problem with getting the room dark. It can be pitch black. The room is a little smaller than I would have liked, but the builder has done a beautiful job with wall panels and decorative moldings. The room will have acoustic tile ceilings and carpeting on the floor. I'll work on the acoustics separately, but I need some help on layout before we put the ceiling in.

I am much more into audio than video and will have a separate room for my audio listening. I do not need audiophile quality in the theater room right now as I am spending most of my cash on the house. But I would like to get the room set up.

Here's the help I need:

1) Based upon my room size, what size of screen do I get and how about some projector recommendations?

2) The door to the room is in the rear against one of the side walls, so I can't mount a speaker on the right rear wall. I'm guessing that means I'll have to use ceiling speakers or suspend some from the ceiling.

I have a set of Magnepan MGIIIa's lying around unused. Can these be used? If they would be too hard to blend in, I'd like some good speaker recommendations--front, side, rear, and sub(s). I do have a good Energy speaker I could use for the center for now. I'm okay going used. I'd like something good, but like I mentioned, audiophile is not important right now.

3) I have a workable 5.1 source. I'm inclined to use it for now. I'll run wires for a seven channel setup but may not add the amp right now. Unless you have some affordable recommendations.

I guess what I'd really like to do is spend the money necessary to get a good projector. I'd probably pick up either some good used speakers or okay new ones that could be swapped out when I decide to upgrade the audio. I'll just use my existing 5.1 amp and player for now. This should get me started.

Whatever you can do to help out with speakers and placement as well as projecter, placement, and screen size would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

Ken
iflyfisher

Showing 2 responses by iflyfisher

iflyfisher OP
10 posts
 
Stewart,

Thanks for the very thoughtful response. I need to spend a little time digesting everything you commented upon. I know I'll have some questions as I start laying things out, so I appreciate the offer to check back. I'm off to the inlaws for the long weekend. I'll do some noodling then get back to you.

Thanks again!

Ken
iflyfisher OP
10 posts
 
Thanks for the input folks. A little more insight on the room. I do have a recessed area built into one wall where all my equipment will be. This area will be accessed from behind, so all cables will be fed in from an adjoining storage room. This will keep all wires hidden and easily passed to the audio equipment.

The 5.1 channel amp I have is a Mitsubishi M-VR1000. It is a relatively high output unit with dual amplifiers. I believe one drives the front speakers and the other the surround, but I don't recall. It is nothing like my Audio Research VT-200 and SP-8, but I'll have the audio room elsewhere in the house. I'm sure I'll upgrade the receiver sometime down the road, but I'd rather put the money into video and speakers now.

If I could get the maggies to work in the room, I believe my receiver has a pre out so I could run the mains out to a Threshold amp I have sitting around that is perfectly capable of driving them. However, as Steuspeed warned, I may not have enough space for them. I looked into the MMG's. Seem to be an attractive option if I have enough amp to drive them all.

To tell you the truth, I am not a really big video buff. The room is more for my wife. I'd rather spin vinyl. She is not nearly as picky as I am on sound. However, I'd like the setup to be passable so I can watch a movie and not be annoyed by either the picture or the sound. I would like to keep the immediate cost below $10K if possible. If I can get extremely good results by staying away from the latest and greatest and pick up some great 2nd gen used gear at a huge discount relative to new, I'd do it. I appreciate Flrnlamb's recommendations in this regard.

I'm pretty clueless on what to look for that would work well given my space requirements. I'll see if I can track down some Home Theater rags and also research some of the suggestions from Flrnlamb.

Thanks again!

Ken
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