26 x 11ft Room / Speaker config (1 Viewer)

[Gemini]

Have a few questions in mind, thought to check with experts herein.


What i have:
- ROOM DIMENSIONS (effective): 26ft x 11ft
- FIXED SCREEN IN FRONT
- IN WALL SPEAKERS (FOR FRONT ONLY)


1) SPEAKER CONFIG
====================
a)7.2 OR 9.2?

**Note: Since we have longer length, i could only think of 9.2 as an ideal option to assist sound travel. But must it be executed. I am looking at picking AVRs from Denon/Yamaha. Possibly adding a Marantz processor & a multi-ch Paradigm Poweramp later in a month or so.



2) HEIGHT OF SPEAKERS
====================
a) what should be height of front speakers
b) what should be the height of surrounds wrt Row1 & Row2 (14inch higher)
c) Can the height for surround speakers be same for both Row1 & Row2 - I guess not, so kept the height 9inch higher for the second elevated row.



3) SCREEN ASPECT RATIO
====================
Since I have too less a width to spare, I was looking at 16:9. Should be ideal for best experience, given the room's width constraint. What do you suggest?

Am assuming that 2.35 ratio wont go as the projected image shall come way too tiny cause of the lack of width, which shall further reduce with screen borders coming into place.




Thanks for your help on these. Once addressed, shall add different set of questions in next topic.

 

[schan1269]

Are you doing an AT screen?

 

[Gemini]

indeed sir

 

[schan1269]

Then you can go as big as 150", if you want to use the entire width. Showing a 2.40 movie on a 16:9 will still have bars top/bottom. Your room depth supports 130">.How far back are you sitting and what is the ceiling height?And "no" You shouldn't expand 7.1 to faux 9.1 in the manner you describe. Proper speaker placement cures whatever issue you think is there. With 26 feet, your back row should only be 18-20ft anyway.

 

[Gemini]

Thanks Sir, We'd have to limit to 130 diagonal sir, if i go full width - the side walls would lit up whatever fabric i may use. Was looking to avoid that.- Distance from Screen1st row at 18-19ft2nd row 1.5 feet behind it elevated 14inch higher- Height till the ceiling 10feet

 

[schan1269]

Why would the walls "shine" on the screen? Are they white? Paint them. Paint them regardless.

Why are you so far back? At 130" you should be 13' back. Not 18'. (I base my distance on a preponderance of 2.40...not 16:9)

Even if based on 16:9...at THX standards, 130" should be viewed at 14.5'.

Using my guide(which is 1.2 of diagonal) gets you 13'.

 

[schan1269]

A 2.40 image on a 130" screen becomes...123"...which nets a 12' distance. Most people prefer watching 2.40 movies at 2.5 of height...which is...just shy of 10".

 

[Gemini]

Thanks for the inputs Sam.Screen & walls around1) The walls shall be black fabric till a few feet from Screen. I assumed the sides shall shine if screen edges are placed too close to them. Noted your feedback. 2) Distance from screen & seating13ft is doable, yet to finalize the speaker locations. The worry was how would the room respond with seating at 13ft and about same length of space behind the first row. 3) Speaker positionsHow do you suggest we plant the surround, rear surround speakers. thanks Sam

 

[schan1269]

In-walls? Towers all around? Speakers mounted to the wall/on stands?

 

[Gemini]

only inwalls

 

[schan1269]

I would change the 6/7 to something you can mount on stands. Ideally the 4/5 are 10-15 degrees back from the exact side of the sweet spot. Then the 6/7 should the same exact distance behind you, each 15 degrees from dead center.That is the same speaker location for the 4/5 since AC3 was created.

 

[Gemini]

sure sir, 6/7 are pretty doable to be put on standswhen you say 6/7 should be behind me the same exact distance you mean 13ft behind, as from the front?or are you saying 6/7 shall be in line with the 4/5 but behind the seats?I hope you remember that we have two rows, so by your advice first row at 13ft and then the second now if about 3.5feet behind it as we moved the first row from 16 to 13ft. which created more distance between 1st row and the platform which shall host 2nd rowSo, taking it point wise again- 1st seating row at 13ft - 4/5 to be 15deg to the either side of 1st row (and about 9inches higher to the ears?)- Now, 2nd row is now 3.5 behind the 1st and is 14inches higher. Please advise speaker position and angle for 6/7 accordingly- And considering 2nd row 3.5 behind the first, so 4/5 shall still be positioned with 1st row as reference?thanks

 

[schan1269]

Ideally, in an ideal world...

1. Your room would be square.
2. Your "seat" is dead center of the room.(everything is based on the sweet spot. Every other seat is a compromise)
3. All 5/7/9/11 speakers are all the exact same distance from your seat in a perfect circle(of course at their respective angles).

The closest you get to that...the best sound you'll have.

Edit:
I'll amend what I said before as your main seat will be "almost dead center"....yes the 6/7 should go in the back wall. The 4/5 will be closer than the rest. (my initial thought was to make your 4/5 and 6/7 the same exact distance from the sweet spot...but won't be possible with the 2nd row)

 

[Gemini]

Thanks sir, so tell me if this seems workable to you- our room length 26 ft- 1st row at 15ft - seems ok? (instead of 13)- 4/5 placed 15deg to the sides of 1st row- 2nd row 2ft behind 1st row (14inches higher also) - there remains 9 feet space behind this woe till the back wall- 6/7 to be placed 9 ft behind on the back wall - also, do i angle them towards the 1st row? secondly, what do you think should be the height for side & back surrounds- it seems lengthy hence I thought to deploy 9.1/.2 system but still it that won't work, we'd stay on 7.2. thanks

 

[schan1269]

Everything should be ear height. However high your head is...is how high you mount the speakers. If you buy in-walls with pivot tweeters, yes they should be aimed at the main seat.

 

[FoxyMulder]

If you are spending money on all this i would also recommend that you get an SPL meter and audio calibration disc and dial everything in, room modes can be an issue and really affect sound quality, there are ways around this, you can use free software like this below with a Behringer.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

 

[Gemini]

Thanks Sam & MalcomMy apologies for delay in response. was nailed down with bad health. @samnoted your feedback on speaker position Sam, fronts i understand need to be aimed right at ears.I have been reading varied suggestions on surrounds though. You advise they need be aimed to ears as fronts?@malcomthanks for your suggestion. I am to start my official arm chair studies on room eq/caliberation and do need suggestionson some of the best available Discs & Kits with 4-5-6mics or as is deemed best. that said, finally it shall be a mix of hearing andreadings. the kit shall be used for projects further.


thanks for the help.

 

[schan1269]

All speakers are to be pointed at the main seat(yours). With in-walls...that means aiming the tweeter there. The only "exception" is if you were to buy di/bi-pole in-wall.

http://www.amazon.com/SpeakerCraft-Cinema-Dipole--Wall-Speaker/dp/B001TK3E1W/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1387642800&sr=1-2&keywords=dipole+in-wall

 

[FoxyMulder]

@malcomthanks for your suggestion. I am to start my official arm chair studies on room eq/caliberation and do need suggestionson some of the best available Discs & Kits with 4-5-6mics or as is deemed best. that said, finally it shall be a mix of hearing andreadings. the kit shall be used for projects further.


thanks for the help.

Your AV Receiver will most likely have something like Audyssey or YPAO built in, they come with a mic and can help get you in the ball park, if you get a receiver with Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 then it will do an excellent job with all speakers including your subwoofer, i think YPAO is less effective at equalizing the subwoofer channel.

I like to use YPAO to get my speaker distances correct, i find it's very accurate for the subwoofer and speaker channels since it takes reflections into account, usually you can measure the distance from the subwoofer to your seating position but it can be wrong due to reflections and that's where things like Audyssey and YPAO are helpful, i like some manual control though and also use an SLP meter and calibration disc software.

Some discs you can use are linked to below, there are others.

http://www.amazon.com/AIX-Records-Blu-Ray-Calibration-Sampler/dp/B004IO8UFQ

http://www.amazon.com/Spears-Munsil-Benchmark-Calibration-Edition/dp/B00CKWI13O/ref=pd_cp_mov_1

http://www.amazon.com/Disney-WOW-World-Wonder-Blu-ray/dp/B0045ASBLG/ref=pd_cp_mov_0

The room equalization software i linked to in my first post above does it all with a computer, if you have a laptop i would recommend using it, it can go much further with the calibration than those discs above, as for mics and how to use it, a good guide on the link below, i don't usually link to other forums but this advice and help is exceptional if using REW.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1449924/simplified-rew-setup-and-use-usb-mic-hdmi-connection-including-measurement-techniques-and-how-to-interpret-graphs

 

[Gemini]

Thanks for details and links Malcolm. Saving for ref.I am aware of odyssey xt32. But looking to build a kit with level meter, mic & need s/w to carry along and calibrate per requirements. Was looking at 4-6 mic calibrations considering usual 2-3 row ht setups.Talking of s/w was also looking at Fuzz measure.