Bonus Room Placement

Airplay355
Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
I bet a lot of you guys are familiar with the strange layout of a so called "bonus room" above a garage. If not, basically a rectangular room with the weird feature of angled walls after about 4' of straight wall. This happens to be the room I've picked for my HT. Our house is very open concept so most other rooms have vaulted ceilings or large open areas to bigger rooms. I guess I could use one of the bedrooms but I'm not sure I could pass WAF. So, bonus room it is.

I used to have fx speakers and really liked them. I prefer surround that's less locatable and doesn't necessarily sound like there's a speaker behind you. So I'm pretty sold on those - I think.

The do present an interesting situation for me though. My room is about 13 feet wide, so front soundstage is good but mounting speakers behind is difficult because there's not really a rear wall. This would necessitate stands, which puts me at odds with the WAF again since I don't want to smash them up against the side walls and she doesn't want them in the middle of the room.

What do you guys think about mounting them to the angled portion of the wall? They would be pointed towards the listening area but I could mount them high enough so that they aren't as easy to locate. Since they're fx, I could put them up and behind the listening area in bipole mode.

Comments

  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    For those who don't understand the bonus room....DrH has a HUUUUGE bonus room, but similar concept airplay is speaking of

    I Like the bipole idea.

    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    Haha yup that's exactly it! I like it very much, it's our go to hang out room. Ours just has one north facing window so it's never bright in here. We painted the walls a dark grey (it used to be pink).

    I'm getting the feeling that everyone feels like it wouldn't matter too much if the surrounds are angled down at 45deg?
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    edited June 2017
    I like bipole as well. I wouldn't think building some sort of wood plate to attach them to that when attached to the angled ceiling would allow the to hang at 90* or straight like on a normal wall
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    I thought about that but then they're really going to stick out into the room - I think about 20" from the bottom. :#
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    Yep head knockers for sure then. Don't want that.
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    As promised, I finally got some pictures up. I don't listen with grills off but since it's picture time, pants off.

    So on the main topic of this thread, I don't mind the placement of the surrounds at all. For 5.1 I maybe would have preferred them a little bit farther back but if I switch to 7.1, they're in the perfect spot. I'm definitely glad I went with FX speakers. Anything else would stick out farther than these to and would be way too direct sounding.

    How did I mount the center speaker you ask? Well, I got a 3/16" piece of aluminum from a buddy and rattle canned it black with plasti dip. Then, since the cabinet is open all around, I slid the Outlaww 5000 back and used it's weight to cantilever the center out in front of the console. My wife thought it would A) look ridiculous and B) people would crash into it. Turns out, it looks just fine because the black speaker disappears and no one walks that close to the TV anyway. I like this solution a lot. Instead of smashing it under the TV, modifying the cabinet or wimping out and finding a smaller center. I'm honestly not in love with the center itself but that's for another thread I suppose (or it's a dead horse by now, this thing is 15 years old).

    I need to get a shade for the window but it's exactly north facing so the sun never shines through, not a big deal so far. If I were gonna go full HT nut I'd put some wall treatments up but those have 0 WAF and I'm not ready to get divorced just yet (I just turned 30).

    So, anyone else have some bonus room HT pics to share?
  • alan78
    alan78 Posts: 80
    un4tb9yhry7a.jpg
    I am currently trying to figure out seating right now. Wanting nice theater seats with 2 rows. So hopefully I can fit 6 seats.still want to paint it a dark color as well. Really want the room to resemble a theater but that will wait some.

    My room is 14 wide and 16 deep.
    There is a window behind the screen and the screen is 120". We love it as does family and friends. It's the go to movie theater. Haha and if I haven't said it enough the favorite speaker is the SVS sub.
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    edited January 2018
    @Airplay355

    First of all, that space looks very professional and nice. Everything is tucked away and out of sight (except for the speakers). You should be very proud!

    On the surround problem, why not just go with in ceiling LC80fx speakers (but mount them where the LSi F/X's are on the angled walls)? They are the inceiling version of the LSi F/X and would pass WAF for sure, and be flush with the wall.....

    Dont think they make em anymore but you may see some on ebay and there are other models of the in-ceiling or in-wall LSi that would likely work just as good....

    You also could have the opportunity to go atmos with in ceiling in that space to....

    747192120399_hero.png
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    Thanks! I actually never considered in wall speakers. I knew I wanted a diffused surround field so thought the FX would be perfect. Now that I have them I don’t think I would get rid of them but I like your idea a lot. If I go to Atmos or 7 channel I will definitely get a pair of those.

    Though would it be bad for those speakers to be exposed to high temps and humidity? They would basically be in attic space and I would bet in the summer it can easily get to 130+ in there.
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    You can also install the inwalls on the side wall at ear level

    I use Dynabox for my ceiling and inwall speakers
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    At ear level, is it easy to pinpoint where the speakers are?
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    Side and rear surrounds work best at just above ear level...IMHO
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    Cool that would Make placement a lot easier! Maybe if I get brave I’ll play with the placement of the fx. They were a huge PITA to hang though. I dropped one and nearly removed a foot. No damage to the speaker luckily :)