I am planning to "build out" my 1500 sq ft basement. In addition to a home gym area and bar/game room, I also intend to build a media room to house my Home Theater equipment. I don't want to spend 10's of thousands of dollars on the media room but I would like a nice room to watch movies and TV (with a capacity for approximately 4-8 people). I would like information on proper room size and shape. I would also like some ideas as to furniture and room layout. I plan to do all of the work myself.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

unfortunately - would consider hiring a pro for design help. it may turn out to be cheaper in the long run

Frank,

Try the Home Theater Builder section of AVS Forum to post your question. www.avsforum.com

Frank,
You've asked a good question about the room's design. It gets a little arcane, but let me suggest
[Link: acoustics.salford.ac.uk]

I believe two of the most important elements of a good sound system are acoustics and acoustic wattage. They usually get ignored, partly because folks aren't familiar with them, and partly because they're expensive to deal with.
Good luck!
Jeff

Jeff,

Don't just throw something like that out there without an explanation :-). Please define what you mean by "acoustic wattage" and how is it "usually ignored"?

Acoustic Whatage? Knowing that I'm pretty ignorant in general, I Goggled it, and well, Google is apperently pretty ignorant too.

Do you just mean amplifier output?

If you'll excuse me, I have to go back to setting the offsets on my left-handed credenza circuit.

Frank, use acoustically correct dimensions based on other posts here, and build staggered stud walls and ceiling. Install some high density material between the two halves of the walls and ceiling. If you are ventilating the room, use seveal ducts to minimize the rushing air sound. Install a dedicated power run from your breaker panel. We don't have basements out here, so once again I'm ignorant, but if you have the room, make sure no two surfaces are parallel. Splay the walls so they are wider in the rear, rake the floor, and do something decorative with the ceiling. None of this costs a lot if you're doing the labor, except the sound deadening material.

When you're done, run out and buy that Bose system that everyone knows is the very best. ;)

Ehem, back to seriousness...

Keep an eye on LCOS display technology for your video. It's the only thing out there that competes with CRTs on performance, and it could become real affordable in the near future. JVC's D-ILA is very similar if you want to see something today.

Think hard about seating. Awesome theater seating is available, but I'm inclined to prefer a huge mattress or mattresses with an overabundance of pillows. This is, after all, a "home" theater. Project yourself into the future and decide how you would be most comfortable while enjoying your new home theater.

A final thought. Almost every post provided by these knowlegeable people so far is designed to provide answers for you, but I know those answers will only raise new quesions, my post included. Please consider hiring a professional, even if only on a consulting basis. You will be glad you did in the long run. Check the CEDIA web site for a pro in your area.

Best of luck to you!

should i have added wit to my original post? Sorry for being brief. I'll do better next time.

Frank,

Check out this web site and contact Richard...

Rives Audio
www.rivesaudio.com
Richard Rives Bird
319-351-4197
707-276-3983 fax

He will design the room so you can build the treatments, traps, etc. or let him know which company you would like to work with and he will design the room with that in mind. You could spend more on new cables than you will for this design and the results will be more dramatic than any equipment choice you make. We recommend their services to all of our Home Theater clients.

Regards,

John

Yeah, that was pretty lame on my part. And I liked that left handed credenza circuit thing.
Part of the confusion comes from the terminology; the "watts" in "acoustic watts" aren't electrical.
Okay, there's an old story of the guy who claimed he had designed a speaker that would cleanly produce 20 Hz at 105 dB and was only 1/4" in diameter. The catch came in the fine print: you had to install the speaker 1/2" from the opening of your ear canal...
Well, it's true - you can generate that kind of sound with a tiny driver, but it won't work with the speaker sitting across the room from you because it can't mechanically couple with enough air to produce a realistic sound. This is the realm of acoustic wattage. It is a far more realistic (but probably less practical) view of what is meant by S-ound P-ressure L-evel. It is this principle that lead to the development of some very fine speakers, such as the Klipchshorn, and some very nasty ones, such as the Voice of the Theatre. They employed horns of various types to increase their efficiency. (True story: When the Klipchshorns were still current, some of the original salesmen would hook a transistor radio to one of the things and generate an acceptable listening level.)
A little thought experiment: Imagine a moderate sized listening room. Let's put a pair of reasonably good tower speakers in there, fire up the system, and use an averaging SPL meter to determine the loudness during a particular passage. Now, waving our trusty magic wand, we now have 10 pairs of our chosen towers, the extra amps, and the SPL level set exactly the same. Is it going to sound the same? Hardly. Ignoring the obvious real world problems with doing this, the difference is in the amount of air that is physically coupled to the speakers and that is, consequently, being moved directly by the diaphragms.
Years ago, an article was printed in some long defunct hi-fi magazine about the problem of using ordinary speakers to reproduce live music. The output of a 28" tympany (did I spell that right?) was measured at 12 acoustic watts (such watts being measured in dynes/cm2). Considering that the average speaker has an efficiency of 1/2 %, accurately reproducing the sound would require 2400 watts of power, as well as the number of speakers needed to handle that much juice. Simply put, five speakers at .5 ft/3 can make very fine sound, but they can't reproduce the effect of the real thing. (And, no, that box in the corner isn't going to make up the difference.) This is where we get to the practicality issue.
Few clients are going spring for Levinson's or Wilson's solution to this problem. That's why I mentioned that even if someone wanted to deal with it, it's expensive. However, I don't think a Department of Defense budget is necessary. If someone wants to go the distance, there are some reasonable designs that could do the trick. My personal favorites are the Radias. Pricey, but then again, Ferrari and Rolex are still in business.
Jeff

I can see that "watts" is usable here. If 746 watts equals one horsepower, then it can apply to foot/pounds, Newton/meters or ultimately dynes/cm2. Maybe I'm just too young to remember the term "watt" associated with anything other than current.

Any way, good explaination. Glad you liked the credenza crack. I come here to learn and have fun, with an emphisis on fun. Hope no offense was taken.

Absolutely none; I thought it was great. By the way, from the "For what it's worth deapartment"...
[Link: wug.physics.uiuc.edu]

It's an old paper, but it does mention the term. Read at the risk of boredom.
Jeff