Hi ... I am having a new house built and will have a home theater constructed "turn key" by the contractor.
I have several areas of concern regarding the room itself ...
> Should I opt for Carpet or Hardwood floors?
> I am leaning toward a medium gray paint for the walls, dark floors (carpet of hard wood) and pot lights ... any thoughts?
> Would a basement sub-floor of concrete be better acoustically than a wood joist sub-floor of a "bonus room" above a garage? IE: which area of this house is ideal for the home theater?
> What can I have the builder do up front to aid in setting up the room after the building is done? IE: running heavy guage speaker cable in walls, CAT 5 wire, window placement, etc.
> Any pointers from anyone who has been down this road already?
All responses will be appreciated!
John H
I have several areas of concern regarding the room itself ...
> Should I opt for Carpet or Hardwood floors?
> I am leaning toward a medium gray paint for the walls, dark floors (carpet of hard wood) and pot lights ... any thoughts?
> Would a basement sub-floor of concrete be better acoustically than a wood joist sub-floor of a "bonus room" above a garage? IE: which area of this house is ideal for the home theater?
> What can I have the builder do up front to aid in setting up the room after the building is done? IE: running heavy guage speaker cable in walls, CAT 5 wire, window placement, etc.
> Any pointers from anyone who has been down this road already?
All responses will be appreciated!
John H
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Re: Home Theater Construction
Tue, August 2, 2005 - 8:41 AMI'm not any sort of an acoustic engineer, but the best sound I ever had was in a place with hardwood floors, and an "ampitheater" kind of angle to the wall behind the equipment.
I would think one issue between the garage and the basement would be base response from whatever subwoofer(s) you're planning to put in.
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Re: Home Theater Construction
Tue, August 2, 2005 - 10:11 AMthe best advice I can give is for you to consult a local A/V company. because you have to consider speaker, equipment, type of cables, and even type of equipment can great affect a room. Control system integration, how are you controling your zones lightning sound etc.
from experience I would have to see a set of plans to make a good call...
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Re: Home Theater Construction
Wed, August 3, 2005 - 8:04 AM"Should I opt for Carpet or Hardwood floors?"
I tried both and went with carpet. It's a tighter, more controlled sound.
"Basement vs. wood joist sub-floor"
Our basement was our first choice since the concrete floor (covered in carpet) doesn't transmit or flex from the subwoofers. Ended having to go with an upstairs room, so I doubled all of the 2x10 joists and put (nailed and glued) a second subfloor on top of the original one to increase the mass and stiffness of the floor.
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Re: Home Theater Construction
Fri, August 12, 2005 - 12:03 PMWell, your best choice would be to forego the "turn key" approach and leave the room at the studs, then build out separately from there. Find a theater designer - a pro - and have them help you with a full design and plan.
If you are going to let the contractor build it out, i'd recommend the following:
* carpeting
* Darker walls, dark floor, BLACK screen wall, lighter ceiling. For lights, a combination of cans, but make sure they can dimmed without buzzing AND that they won't rattle from the subwoofer!
* You're choice on the placement, but the basement will provide for a more sound isolated environment.
* No windows, complete light control.
Good luck!
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Re: Home Theater Construction
Fri, September 16, 2005 - 6:26 PMIn the past year, Home Theater magazine has had some good articles on how build/sound proof a dedicated theater. You may want to see if I can find some back issues. Or check online. They may have posted the articles for free.
