Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Looking for some feedback on HT room design.

Hi all, been a while since I've posted. I've moved into a new home (had twin baby girls) and am starting my design for my new HT room in the basement. I have two design options right now. The fundamental issue I have is deciding how to address seating. This room is going to be multipurpose as to what we use it for... movies, music, TV shows, sports, games. I'd like to get regular seating for about 8 people, if I have a party and need more, well those folks will need to use folding chairs or lay on the floor! I can't spend a ton of money on the furniture (would be no money left for the electronics!) so at first I thought I could use regular recliners, couches, love seats etc but as you can see from my (crappy) drawings I don't think those would work very well. So that leaves HT style seating.

HT Narrow
HT Wide

In the wide arrangement I would need to put all 8 in a row arching around the TV. The narrow arrangement I'd need to have two rows of seating. This was my original plan but I'm starting to like the wide design better as figuring out how to configure the 2nd row raised area with seating seems to be very difficult and it's not as symetrical as the wide design. My (crappy) drawings are to scale, I'd say accurate to about 4 inches or so.

I'm not looking to buy seating today but I need to know what's out there so I can build the room and then get seating that will fit it. I've only come across one 8 person seat and it was $10k which is way too much. Most of the stores I find have per person seating, usually around $500 a seat which would make it $4k but usually only in 3-5 person configurations.

I've valued the opinions of folks on these boards in the past and am looking to see what feedback and suggestions you might have. I am planning on using Axiom speakers again as I love the ones I currently have (M3, VP150, QS4).

I'm in the same situation with a similar size room I am looking at doing. I'm planning on the narrow config, so that everyone is straight on looking at the screen (doing front projector). I haven't looked into seating yet, as we are still getting estimates and finalizing the exact layout of the floorplan. It's possible some of the seating will be what we used to use in the family room, which got slip covered and put in the living room when we moved, although that would mean new living room furniture that would never (almost) get used. We have a sofa and loveseat in there now, and they are super comfortable. Recliner seating is another option we'll look at too though.

Seating can be rough. Right now I just have a sofa with a chaise longue (not lounge, though those seem popular--ha ha) end on one side, but I'll definitely be changing seating when I move my system. I want to see the state of D-BOX at that time and see if there's a financially viable way of incorporating it into at least the front row. I'm planning two rows of seating, with three seats in front and four in back, making it so no heads are directly in front of other heads and making the center seat in the front the ideal sweet spot. As far as brand and exact style of seating, I'm at a loss, so I'll be watching this thread.

I would start by deciding what use you want to prioritize the most which IMO will dictate the better seating arrangement.

I think the narrow setup will work better for HT as all seats will have a more direct angle to the screen and the screen. Especially important should you upgrade to 3D. Also this will make the screen the primary focus. I’d consider moving the surround speakers back a little bit to get better coverage of your back seats. Maybe ceiling mount the right surround farther out off the wall if that corner is an issue.

I think the wide setup will work better for sports and more informal GTGs as all the seating is facing in lending to better interaction between viewers. I would just make sure your screen does well with off angle viewing. I would also consider moving the back speakers off the wall and ceiling mounting them further out in the room if that corner is an issue for the left seats.

If I were in your shoes I would prefer the wide seating. I think it would be better all around for the uses you plan.

As for the seats themselves good luck that was the hardest thing for me to find since I wanted to be able to actually sit in the seats before buying them. If you haven’t already just do a search for “Home Theater Seating” to see what’s available but the minute the label HT goes on something the price goes way up.

Clearly sectionals off greater flexibility but at an increased cost especially if you get the “wedges” to fit between seats. I found a great deal on a HT sectional at “The Room Store” 4 seats (reclining or chaise) with 2 wedges for about $1,500. However, they weren’t firm enough to support my bad back.

A combination of couches and say love seats would probably get you more seating cheaper and probably work well in the wide setup. With some ottomans or coffee tables for people to put their feet it could work pretty well.

It took me 9 months to find the right seats for me. On thing I found was that the local furniture stores tried to rotate their inventory quickly so I hooked up with a reliable sales person at each nearby store letting them know what I was looking for and to call me if something like it came it. This helped save a lot of time running around to furniture stores every few weeks.

Cheers,
Dean

Have you also explored the possibility of having your screen mounted diagonally across the top right corner, and using a right angle sectional facing it, having the focal point of the "V" opening/facing the top right corner leaving space at each leg end of the sectional as a walk around? as Dean mentioned, for optimal placement of the surrounds, you might consider ceiling mounting if side/back placing proves unacceptable.

I've recently bought some top notch sofas and chairs at Sears Outlet for roughly 30 cents on the dollar. They had quite a few sectionals on the floor, at all the outlet stores I went in, you just have to keep your eyes peeled for that "one day 40-50% off already reduced sales" that come up quite frequently(here).

One idea I've been toying with for seating is using comfy office chairs. The one I have at my computer at home I can sit in for hours with very little fatigue so I've been searching for something better. Occasionally I buy one, only to return it the next day because of the comfort issue. Somewhere out there there must be office chairs comfy enough to support hours of sitting.

The advantage of this system is you can roll chairs in and out to support any seating arrangement you need at the time at a much lower cost. Plus have one with better back support for friends with back problems.

Another advantage is they should absorb lest sound having less impact on the overall SQ of the system. Leaving that to specific room treatments if desired. I also looked at that option but never found anything that I could sit in for any length of time.

Some great suggestions here, I really appreiate it. I agree that the wide setup is more appealing to me since movies aren't the only function of this room. I don't think I'd personally go the route of rolling chairs thou. I'm starting to really dig the idea of HT seating, but price and availability will be the ultimate factor there.

Ben, I don't have any worthwhile seating suggestions, but I'd like to congratulate you and your wife on the two new additions to the family

I was going to say... twin baby girls *and* a new HT, it doesn't get much better than that

EDIT - I tried a few additional configurations including various angled arrangements, and the best I could come up with was your "HT Wide" layout flipped vertically, assuming the main entrance is the in-swinging door at the bottom center.

That would make access to the sets a lot easier.

Ok Ben, I don't expect you will go with my suggestion, but I'm going to throw it out there at you anyway... If it were my basement (this is a basement, right?), I would flip your HT wide sketch around, and build a wall across that recessed area, which in effect would make that a rectangular room. I would install a door to the new closet (I'll call it your AV closet) space down at the end (right side) of the wall in the corner, unless that is a door down at the bottom and to the left in your sketch. If so, then that would be perfect, no need for a door built into the new wall at all. With that small section now walled off, you can run all of your electronic wires and everything in there. Stick all of your AV gear in there, plus keep all of your movies, CD's and all kinds of other stuff that usually clutters up a room, neatly away in that little AV closet hidden away from view. It really cleans up a room, let me tell ya.

To see an example (sort of) of what I'm talking about, just skim through my thread (The World's Newest Axiomite it Born...) to see the pictures I posted up of the AV closet I built for my HT. I built a couple of shelves (1 above, and 1 below the TV) to house my computers, reciever, DVD player, amp, external hard drives, and wireless modem in. All wires run through holes cut neatly behind the TV, and right into the backs of the AV gear mentioned. Absolutely no wires can be seen besides the 12 guage wires running from the back of my M80's into the AV closet. Super clean look, you'd love it!

So after you build that wall, that's where I'd hang your TV, or screen if you're considering going with a projector. As well as hang your M3's (I think you're the first member of this forum that I've seen with M3's), and VP150.

Ok, so that is my suggestion. And like I said, I don't really expect you'll do this. But it truely is what I would do if that were my basement (damn I wish I had a basement). Because I think it would be completely fabulous!

Thank you very much



The girls are great fun. Can't wait to raise up right with a proper HT



You mean with the TV on the bottom instead of the top? I kinda like the entry being behind everything so people moving around won't distract the folks watching the TV. I'm just hoping to leave about a foot on each side of the seating. Should be good enough to walk around to the seats.

I'll have to do some more looking at regular recliners and love seats too. Maybe I could come up with a 7 seat configuration using that stuff.

http://www.hometheaterseating.com/home-t...aterlounger.cfm

I haven't done the math/measurements of what exactly the width would be stacking 8 of those in an arch yet. But I wonder if doing something like that would be my best option, in the wide or narrow layout. Wouldn't be the end of the world if they weren't attached to each other.

Thought I would update the thread with my (slow) progress on the basement/HT remodel.























Here is the full album full album if you're interested.

No way I would be ambitious enough to do all that myself, way to lazy. Hell ask Sean I still haven’t finished painting putting in new carpet or even mounting my surround and back speakers (still sitting on their stands on top of boxes). I hit the comfort zone and sort of lost interest in the last little bit.

What are those 1st 2 layers you have on the floor?

Maybe I should say the bottommost 2 layers.

My brother in law is helping me do most of the work. He's very knowledgeable on building. So it's not like I'm doing it all by myself.

I put in a sub floor using Delta-FL and OSB. Total cost was right around $1 per sq ft. I did this mostly for the acoustical benefits of having a wood floor but also as a vapor barrier and insulation. Later on I need to go back and put a few more screws in the floor to get rid of a little rattling sound as you walk over it in certain places. But other than that I love the results. No more walking on a cold and HARD concrete floor.

Now it is just a softer cold wood floor

The wood floor is still the same temp as the concrete floor/ambient air temp, but I will agree that it doesn't seem to feel the same, especially once you stop moving around and stand still. I tried a few sections of the stuff in my house and used my trusty non-contact thermometer to measure the temps of the concrete floor vs the wood subfloor and there was no difference.

I have a thermometer on the wall in the basement and noticed the temp of the room would be a couple degrees higher on average after I was done installing the sub floor.

I would think having that trapped air pocket between the cement and the wood is similar to how a double paned window works (other than the window being filed with a gas other than regular air).

The wood floor can't transfer heat as quickly as cement either, which is why it should feel warmer than just standing on the cement directly.

Plus the Delta-FL is acting like a vapor barrier which is never a bad thing to have in a finished basement.

What is not debatable is how much better the wood floor feels than standing on cement. I'm also hopeful that I'll get a fuller bass response with this sub floor in place vs just having a carpeted cement floor.

Which should happen once the concrete floor is covered up regardless of the product as long as there was some sort of thermal break, ie. that air gap or carpet underlay etc., involved.

That is the idea behind it

Exactly

SOOO true

I agree

Quite possibly, you will have to let us know on this one.

BTW, never mind my rantings, I am just having a hard time trying to justify this expense for my own basement which for me isn't $1 sqft up here, it is closer to $2.50 sqft, I think if it fell into the $1 range I wouldn't think about about it at all and just go ahead with it.

Were you looking at the Delta-fl product? I know there are other options like dri-core but the Delta-fl was the most affordable one I found. 1/2 OSB is about $7 for a 4x8 sheet around here. I did spend about $100 in tapcons, and that's where all the labor is, drilling and screwing it all down.

We get robbed on stuff up here, although I was looking at the Delta FL and going with T&G 3/4" flooring to really stand up to the wear and tear a floor takes. I find 1/2" to weak and flexes to much unless I took the time to level the concrete.

If you screw thru the flooring doesn't that kind of give moisture a way to bypass the Delta FL and reach the back of the wood sub flooring? I thought it was to be set up as a "floating floor" like the dri-core stuff.

No this is not a floating system. The instructions tell you to put silicon on the tapcons before you screw them in. They also say to use low expansion foam around the edge if you are butting the floor up to an existing wall.

My concrete is pretty flat so I have no worries about using 1/2 inch. The instructions say you can use as skinny as 7/16 if you want to.

Thanks for the added info.