Home Theater Room

mu1166

I'm looking for some help/opinions about the room I'm going to start on.

I am in the process of gutting the small basement of my 84 year old house. My plan is to put a dedicated theater room down there (not big enough for anything else).

My problem is the very low ceilings (especially under the header and duct work). Attached is a quick sketch up of my basement and the remodel plan.

Here are some of my questions.

1. With the low ceilings, will a projector work? Looking towards a 100" screen
2. If the projector would work, which wall (A or would be best for the image? Due to the ceiling height.
3. Projecting the image onto the East wall (A) would require a short throw distance. The projector would have to be mounted on the east side of the floor joist support. This would be a throw distance of around 11'6".
4. Would it be worth it to spray foam insulate all of the walls and ceiling in this room? It would only be the cost of the product and the labor is free (good to have a little brother).
5. I was not planning on installing the egress window, but am considering it for future room use if I sell the house.


I am worried that having the screen on the West wall (B) is going to look very odd with such a low ceiling.

Would I be better off buying a large plasma for a room with these limitations? I don't want to make it feel to crowded, but it may happen with my A9's up front anyways.

Thanks

20120227191843720.pdf

Sherardp

Your going to have to use the B side for a screen of 100". If your trying to fill a screen that large I would suggest the Epson models. 11 feet is not to far back so use a neutral gain screen (1.0-1.1) and you should be fine. My next question would be to ask you your plans for seating? If your doing a single row of seats, no problems there. If your planning on going with tier seating you may run into issue. Single row of 5 seats should work just fine. You'll want to insulate that room, and go with carpet with padding underneath. Other than take some pics so I can see what your working with and throw some better ideas out there.

mu1166

If I use the west wall (B), then I would have more options to mount the projector. I just thought that using the East wall (A) the projector would be way to close to the screen.

As far as seating, it will be be a single row or a sectional type seating arrangement. I don't have near enough room for 2 rows, let alone any tiered seating.

Right now, it looks like a tornado went though my basement. The old paneling and drop ceiling is still up. It's not going near as quickly as I thought. 80 hour work weeks really put a damper on my home remodel plans.

mu1166

I am looking at the Epson projectors. This is all pretty new to me. Right now the 5010 is looking like a very good projector for someone like me. It is a little higher priced that I was originally going to spend, but if it's worth it, then so be it. That won't be purchased for a month or few... I've also researched the Panasonic 4000, and the Epson 8350. All look like very good projectors. The JVC models seem out of my price range, but so many people seem to love them.

Theheadsn

on option you COULD always go with is projecting from the ground UP. You would have to have seating a little different, but whos moving around during a movie anyways? just an idea, ive seen it done successfully before

and ive heard good things about Optoma HD33 projectors, never dealt with any first hand though.

how much height exactly do you have? are you framing a ceiling? drop lid? living it open with the ducts?