# Seeking home theater and audio positioning advice



## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

All,

My passion has always been car audio, but I used to like to have a modest home theater setup for enjoying TV and movies. I moved to a new house about a year back, and since that time, I've been 'paralyzed' trying to figure out how to set things up. I have a considerable amount of existing equipment, just no idea how to put it together for the best seating experience.

Quite simply, the fireplace in my new family room is screwing me up.

First a couple of pictures (pardon the 'mess', it's a play room for my son too):



















I'd like to keep my existing receiver, Blu-ray player, and Roku; I'm willing to replace my floor-standing and bookshelf home theater speakers with something new. I'd like to use existing furniture (chairs, couches). Definitely need a new, bigger TV. The one that's in there now is a 47", but it's too small to see from the back of the room. Thinking 60+ inches will be needed.

So what would you do? How would you go about getting the optimum home theater experience? Leave the TV in the corner, no matter how odd it looks (a 60" will be quite a bit bigger than the 47 in the picture), and compromise on the speaker placement? Try to center it above the fireplace? Something else???

Looking for some good advice as it's time to get this done...

Thanks!


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## Carlton8000 (Feb 5, 2011)

I would probably mount the 47" over the fireplace for casual viewing. For theater use consider a front projector with a motorized 100" or greater drop down screen. Control the lighting with pocket doors at the entrance and shutters or blackout shades on the windows and patio doors. Inwall/ Inceiling speakers for sound.


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

Lets start with the two easiest questions.

1. Is this the only room in the house you have available?
2. Is there a way to box in the top half the chimney and locate a TV above the fireplace?


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

miniSQ said:


> Lets start with the two easiest questions.
> 
> 1. Is this the only room in the house you have available?
> 2. Is there a way to box in the top half the chimney and locate a TV above the fireplace?


Yes, only room available.

Not sure about the second question: I'm sure I could creatively mount something above the fireplace but I see two issues. The first being the stone/cultured stone wall, the second being the fact that the mantle is relatively high (I don't think there's enough height above the mantle to allow for anything more than a 40-some inch TV in the location). I did consider a ceiling-mount to drop the TV down in front of the mantle as an option.


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

mooch91 said:


> Yes, only room available.
> 
> Not sure about the second question: I'm sure I could creatively mount something above the fireplace but I see two issues. The first being the stone/cultured stone wall, the second being the fact that the mantle is relatively high (I don't think there's enough height above the mantle to allow for anything more than a 40-some inch TV in the location). I did consider a ceiling-mount to drop the TV down in front of the mantle as an option.


Yes i was thinking that you could redesign the room basically by hiding some of that stone behind some framed drywall. And also lowering the mantel.

And, if you are saying it is cultured stone, are you also saying its just decorative? Is it an option to strip it all off and do something different for a fireplace treatment?

Whatever you decide you need to get that TV above the fireplace to have any shot at doing a 60".

Even this is not a bad look and saves the stone.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hUw_VQ5l9r0/S...sQxqUXbo/realestate_jan_thumb1.png?imgmax=800


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

I just measured about 34.5" from the top of the mantle to the bottom of the tray ceiling soffit.

Looks like 60" TVs are going to be around 30-32" without the stand. 65" might even fit with some being about 33" high. It would be a tight fit.

Still not sure if I like mounting anything to the stone. Wondering if a ceiling mount (arm down) might be a better way...


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

Based upon my measurements, I think this is what it will look like with a 60":


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## Hoptologist (Sep 14, 2012)

That's the same layout as my moms family room. She has her couch and TV in the same location as you, too. Such a non-ideal room for a theater room. 

If you mount the TV above the fireplace (which seems like the best option), would you also relocate the furniture so you could sit and face it completely on-axis where that open space is currently situated? 

Then you have to decide where to put the center channel. Do you use your fireplace? (My mom never does, lol). 

I also like the idea of a drop down projector screen.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

This might be a way for you to make it happen....

It looks like the French doors swing open towards the inside of the room and not to the outside of the room. So you would need to position the sofa far enough forward to clear the opening of the doors. This would cut off a lot of room in this area but would bring you closer to the front stage and closer to the tv.
The surround speakers would be placed in between the French doors and the windows on both sides. if you wall mount the surround speakers , that would give you more walking space verses using a speaker stand mount. This configuration would allow you then to corner load a subwoofer in a corner, placement of sub would come from listening to it in different locations to find the sweet spot. Being closer to the TV would help with fine tuning the front stage. As I said, this placement would cut off the room a lot with the usable space available- which is hard to do when you have little ones playing and needing space. But the end result would be a great sounding setup that would be easy to tune.


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## Hoptologist (Sep 14, 2012)

^^I thought about that too, but the doors would need to be completely covered for daytime viewing, otherwise reflections and light would wreak havoc on PQ. That would be the most immersive layout though.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

some kind of decorative fabric absorbing design can be placed on the wall where the tv would be, so it would control the sound in the room, then the same color fabric treatment could be used to cover the French doors during movie time. That way you would have a lot of elements tying the room together design wise and sound control wise


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

forget existing room aesthetics when designing the home theater experience, or do what you're already doing.

if it's a fireplace-capable home theater you're aiming for you would need to go projector and drop-down screen, imho.

a sectional that puts a couple of lazyboys in the prime seating area, would help...

in that room I'd put the emphasis on home theater and center a cabinet right on the fireplace lifted floor stones, and build around that but I live in the south...


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> This might be a way for you to make it happen....
> 
> It looks like the French doors swing open towards the inside of the room and not to the outside of the room. So you would need to position the sofa far enough forward to clear the opening of the doors. This would cut off a lot of room in this area but would bring you closer to the front stage and closer to the tv.
> The surround speakers would be placed in between the French doors and the windows on both sides. if you wall mount the surround speakers , that would give you more walking space verses using a speaker stand mount. This configuration would allow you then to corner load a subwoofer in a corner, placement of sub would come from listening to it in different locations to find the sweet spot. Being closer to the TV would help with fine tuning the front stage. As I said, this placement would cut off the room a lot with the usable space available- which is hard to do when you have little ones playing and needing space. But the end result would be a great sounding setup that would be easy to tune.


Problem with this is that I don't have that much width. At 14' wide, figure I need 3' to open the door, approximately 3' for the couch, and maybe another 2-3' for the TV on a stand. I'd have only 5-8' between the TV and the couch...


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## Hoptologist (Sep 14, 2012)

A viewing distance of 8' would be perfect for a 60" display IMO. That would match the SMPTE recommended distance, and would be a bit longer than what THX recommends, but that's ok. Here's a compilation of recommended distances from various organizations Optimum HDTV viewing distance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

Hoptologist said:


> A viewing distance of 8' would be perfect for a 60" display IMO. That would match the SMPTE recommended distance, and would be a bit longer than what THX recommends, but that's ok. Here's a compilation of recommended distances from various organizations Optimum HDTV viewing distance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



i have a room almost identical in size to the OP, and have my 56" TV on the long wall that is being suggested. And i have my couch on the wall that is where his french doors are. I would not want to move the couch into the middle of the room as proposed to allow room to enter and exit those doors. It would be too close to the TV and it would also look bad looking in from the other rooms.


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## Hoptologist (Sep 14, 2012)

miniSQ said:


> i have a room almost identical in size to the OP, and have my 56" TV on the long wall that is being suggested. And i have my couch on the wall that is where his french doors are. I would not want to move the couch into the middle of the room as proposed to allow room to enter and exit those doors. It would be too close to the TV and it would also look bad looking in from the other rooms.


For sure. Different people prefer different distances and fields of vision, hence there being a zillion different recommended viewing distances from different organizations. THX would have you sit 6' away from a 60" display. 

Depends on the quality of the video you're watching too. Cable companies have awful bit rates which lead to microblocking and pixelation issues. Netflix looks better than Uverse a lot of the time. DirectTV is so much better than cable companies, but still far from Blu-ray quality up close.

I sit about 12' from my 60" plasma, and I for sure wish I would have gotten the 65". I'd like to move the couch about 3' closer, but my gf won't have it...

Like cajunner was saying, the OP needs to prioritize his wants... aesthetics and form vs the theater experience and immersion. It's hard to have both in a non-HT-only room.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

rip out the French doors and put a long bay window in its place.....


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

I'm going to try to arrange the furniture as hot9dog suggested tomorrow. I'll be back in touch!


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> rip out the French doors and put a long bay window in its place.....


Then I wouldn't be able to get to my deck.


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## Hoptologist (Sep 14, 2012)

mooch91 said:


> I'm going to try to arrange the furniture as hot9dog suggested tomorrow. I'll be back in touch!


Well?? :ears::snacks::builder:


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## mooch91 (Apr 6, 2008)

Hoptologist said:


> Well?? :ears::snacks::builder:


Busy week. Going to try this weekend...


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