Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Plan "A"

The side surrounds seem to far back for 7.x setup. Also the front L/R appear to be way to far forward at 8'6" into the room, also don't see a center unless it is not labeled.

Its a work in progress. :-)

At one time I had every speaker the same distance from the sweetspot.
That's what I'll end with if/when we start the build.

My room currently has every speaker equidistant from the middle of my couch too. I just hope my new room sounds as good as the one I'm using now (it probably helps that this one is slightly octagonal, so it doesn't have any 90° corners).

We looked at a few different sizes and designs.
We even considered a round room.
This worked out because it could be built to stand alone, be built on to or fit across the width of our next basement.
Now that the "ideal" size was shown we'll look at it again.

That is a nice big room, I am surprised at only 3 seats. Otherwise I have nothing additional to add to the above comments.

UNPOSSIBLE!!!!

What's the distance from main seating to TV screen?

Also, am I seeing 3 EP800s?

The goal will be 10' from the screen and each speaker.
The exception will be the center which is +/- 12' and will be behind the screen when down.
A second row of seating isn't out of the question. I do want to avoid having too much furniture. I'm a little crowded now with half the cubic feet.

The 3 EP800's and the LFR's are included in my estimate.

I know, I know....

Maybe when we get to a Plan "B" with some of the adjustments I will chime in.

For now I will just subscribe to this thread.

How big is the screen? 3 EP800s?

The screen is yet to be determined. This will need to be though out a bit more. I'd like it to disappear into the design/ceiling or floor...I know, I know...wishful thinking but...
Whats wrong with three subs?
I've got 4 subs now,mind you there's only 2 in use.

Oh, you are using a projector then. I thought it might be a LCD/Plasma.

With 4 subs you may achieve LFE Nirvana i.e. pop nails on the drywall... You looking to adopt btw? I don't eat much and am pretty quiet when not watching movies and am housebroken (more or less).

i would get the LFR's as far apart from each other as possible.... Trust me on this one... If they are near the wall, it wont matter... Trust me on this also. :~)

I'll try to find the link to the page I used for this size of a room.
The equation shown dictated what I drew, then I added windows and the french doors.
I was hoping to line up the windows with the 1st and 2nd reflection points. The excessive drapery should in theory help.

Can't find it.

OK. I will chime in a little.

Get draperies that are really heavy, with a nice thick "texture" feel to them, and make sure that they are double layered, meaning that it is like two pieces of material sewn on the edges. Even then, you may only get the same equivalent as untreated drywall surface. Glass is SO sound reflective and transmissive (sound going through the glass.

My wife wanted glass french doors going into our theater, then I talked her down to a single door with glass panes, and then down to a single solid filled steel door. She thought that she would hate it, but loves the sound proof-ness (yup, made up that word) of it.

I would put the glass doors NOT at reflection points, still put thick draperies over them (although, why have glass doors if they are just covered anyway?), and then have your first reflection points be regular drywall that you can put some sort of acoustical panel on.

With a projector in the room, you are asking for a LOT of potential light leak and sound issues with all of that glass. Even with great draperies. Why spend the money on all of that glass if you are probably going to regret it later. Sort of like breaking a cardinal rule of an "ideal" theater room.

Now for other thoughts, I love the bass traps in all four vertical corners.

If possible, treat the entire front wall with basically one giant acoustical panel... (I can get you more details on how to do it for cheap). Doing that, with the bass traps, with F.P.R. being panels on walls (not glass with curtains) will do wonders for clean, clear sound.

As already mentioned, widen the front soundstage by moving the right and left another 50% closer to the outside walls and push them back a little - away from the seating.

Also, I would move the side surrounds *slightly* forward. In line with where the middle seat's "head" would be. You will be able to do this because you will have the glass shifted so that is drywall ( )

Rear surrounds should be fine. Since they are as close to the center of the rear wall as they can be (with the door in-between), it will help to draw the surround sound further back for potentially a greater overall surround effect. I messed with this myself thinking that wider made more sense, but it has its limits. Your configuration for those two looks good. As long as the doors are closed when playing something with surround.

Your room screams for an acoustically transparent screen, however, it also has the potential for a seriously large screen and the larger the screen, the more screen gain you are going to want. Problem is that despite manufacturer claims, the best current acoustically transparent screen you can get is about 1.1 gain in real world tests. That is ok for a 104" screen, but you can go really big. Something around 2.0 gain or greater should be looked at and that means no acoustically transparent screen. You could still do a minimalist screen wall. Put the front speakers behind acoustically transparent dark panels that surround the screen. Then the whole front is really clean. It hides the speakers, bass traps, above mentioned treated front wall, etc.

Here is a link for some ideas. Obviously if you DID do an acoustically transparent screen, the center channel could go right behind the screen.
Minimalist Approach to Screen Wall

Well, that's it for now. Tear up what I said above and make it fit your needs. There is always a balance between form and function and no matter what, you need to live with the room. I am just offering you some sound advice (pun intended) on the acoustical properties of "Plan 'A'"

Its all good.
Need more input....
We live in North East British Columbia. 6 months winter 6 months waiting for winter.
Good income keeps us here, I'd be foolish to leave.
The primary function of the room will be to help with the wifes S.A.D. It needs to be bright and open.
I'd happily make acoustic black out curtains, the one we have now works. I've got plans to use accordian style insulating blinds, hidden insulated blackout curtains behind insulating drapes or sheers (or both) of the wifes choosing.
Almost as importantly the room will become the party room once its setup. Kids can hangout in the family room while the adults suck down wobbly pops and visit the deck for the occasional smoke.
Then, on my rare 2 day weekends the lights go off, curtains etc get closed and I meld with the screen.

I feed on your replies.
More is good...even if its bad...

Seems everythings back to normal.
I had to put everything on hold for the last month or so.
I met the new president of the company and the boss retired, both by noon today.
Good news is we're moving forward.
I've read enough posts since I first wrote this that I now realize I'll need to have seperate rooms for HT and a happy sunny space.
Its a good excuse to hang onto my old equipment and or to purchase more...