Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater I want some opinions on my floor plan pic

This is a crapy cell phone pic of my floor plans for the house im building. I will be upgrading my HT speakers to some axioms and want to get everyones thoughts on the whole thing.

I am thinking the M80's, VP150, and 2 QS8 on the ceiling on the side of the couch. For the sub right now I have dual SVS 39CS+ (older driver) but I am strongly thinking about the new PB13 ultra they are coming out with.

The entertainment center wall is 18' and the room is 19' 3" deep and the ceiling is 11' tall. There is a 13' x 8' arched openeing on the back wall that goes into the kitchen/eating area. Also there is the little foyer attached on the back corner. I am worried that the room is to much like a perfect square....and I have read thats not good. Sub will be on the TV wall and can go on either side (whatever sounds better)

So...will it sound good in there...will that back wall kill the bass?

Well, you're right. It is like a perfect square and that's not optimal but you also have to be practical unless you're willing to change your floorplan.

Expect to have some significant booming between 30 and 50 Hz given your room dimensions but that can be tamed using some soft furnishings and bass traps if necessary.

I would not at all be worried about bass being killed with the two SVSs even though you have that opening into the kitchen. I have about the same volume you do, with a large opening for a very tall staircase and a single EP600 turned very low still makes the whole house rattle during movies.

One thing I will recommend you do though and you may not like me for it. Get rid of the entertainment centre. Mount a flat screen to the wall and get a low profile entertainment console instead. You will have better imaging and clarity. Your significant other may not appreciate it at first but give it time.

Also, if you can round your room corners and glue and screw 5/8" drywall (ceiling also) instead of 1/2", so much the better. And anywhere you have doors, make sure they are safe n' sound and install rubber acoustical gasket on the jam so that they don't rattle. And wherever you don't have doors, get some! Once you install your Axiom speakers, you will want to listen to them all the time without distracting others. Trust me on this one.

Well we did change the floor plan and I added 2 feet onto that room but it was supposed to make it 18 wide and 20 deep. But its more like 19'3". It was 18x18 before.

Bass traps are not going to happen...that has no WAF LOL. I have a EQ for the SVS to do some minor adjusments.

The entertainment system is coming from my old house. It's not like the picture either...the center TV part is deep but the 2 bookshelvs on the sides are not much deeper than the M80's. In the future will be a TV on the wall 60ish" and a different setup with bookshelvs on the side and a cabinet under for the equipment. The wife is cool with that...actualy wants a TV on the wall.

5/8" drywall sound proofs that much better than 1/2? I could tell the builder to use thicker just in the TV area.

The people around me will just have to warm up to the fact I like loud music when I can listen to it. There wont be a house around me for a few lots tho...well not yet at least.

The 5/8" is not so much for sound-proofing but rather to prevent wall resonance. I had 1/2" before just nailed to the wall and even with a much smaller system the walls rattled and flexed.

Hmm might have to tlak to the builder.

There will also be some new outdoor M3's on that rear porch

I wouldn't worry about the "squareness" of the room since most of the back wall is cut away and the side walls have windows on at least one side for much of their length. Glass tends to let the bass go through rather than bouncing it back.

Glass does make for nasty high frequency reflections, of course. Heavy drapes on the windows, right ? Open most of the time and drawn for HT and serious listening ?

You might want to consider mounting the QS8s on the back wall. My only concern with QS8s on the ceiling is that it's not clear how they should be oriented to give the same behavior as wall mounting.

My guess is that this is room is going to sound very good even without bass traps. What are you thinking about for floor and ceiling coverings ?

You're going to need a fair amount of subwoofage because the back wall opens into a much larger area but it sounds like you already have that covered.

Boo, welcome. It isn't the room size as such, but the fact that the dimensions are identical. When this is the case, room resonances build up at the same frequencies, making the response in the lower frequencies more uneven. If for example the room was the same overall size, but was 15x23 instead of 19x19, this would be better acoustically.

Also, a seating position exactly in the center of the room isn't optimal since there's a bass null directly in the middle. Sitting a little in front or behind the exact center, if practical, is a better idea.

room size

See "room sizes & shapes".

Thanks guys for the very informative replies, i'll have to keep that in mind.

Thanks for all the replies.

The room will have wood floors and the windows will have some sort of covering on them but im not sure what at this time. Might have an area rug too around the couch and table. The couch will not be in the center of the room. More like 14-16 feet back from the TV wall. Bass traps are not going to happen ever in this kind of room lol.

I guess my main concern is where to mount the rear QS8's I have heard on the celing and on the back wall. Honeslt I think I would prefer them on the back wall but can go on the celing as well. I have WAF on both locations.

So where should I put them??? The back wall is like 3 or so feet from the couch.

if the WAF is REALLY a factor, you can custom order your QS8s to match your wall color, just send a sample into Axiom.

Heh she already said she wanted the qs8's to be white if they are on the ceiling and the fronts black. I would rather have the rears black as well....if they were on the wall they would probably end up black. I just want them to sound good....it doesnt have to be perfect...but something good.

If its the back wall I would want to run the wire now and have it hanging out because of the way that arcehd openeing is built. It would be a royal pain to run the wire or even pop it out of the wall after the fact.

Based on your diagram, my opinion is that you will not lose much - if anything - by putting them on the back wall, and that such an arrangement will be far more aesthetically pleasing. That's what I'd do.

Aesthetically I would like them on the rear wall as well...but not if they would not sound right back there. I am kinda in a hard place because I cant "test" different spots.

If they are on the back wall how far appart should they be and how far up the wall. The ceiling is 11' and the top of the arch is at 8' and is 13' wide. The couch will be centered on that arched openeing about 3' in front of it.

Well, I'd get them out of the corner as much as possible and put them high enough that you're not going to bump your head when you walk by them (in what appears to be a relatively high traffic corridor). They're really pretty forgiving.

I am thinking definetly up at least 8'. Maybe a foot or two wider than the couch? If its like 8' then I would put them 10-12' appart?

Don't go nuts either way.

Unless you have really tall friends, 7' high will probably be plenty (and a bit better sonically).

Same with the width; I'd just pick a pleasing point on each side of the arch and not too far into the corner. Really, as long as you've got some symmetry going, you should be fine.

Thanks...back on the wall they go.