Buying a house - Any HT recommendations?

[VDogger]

I'm returning to North Carolina soon and I've saved up some money that I want to use as a down payment on a house. This will be the first time I buy a house and I'd like to build a home theater in it or modify a decent size room to be a dedicated home theater. Any recommendations? Not only on the home theater but also on the buying-the-house part? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

V

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I'm returning to North Carolina soon and I've saved up some money that I want to use as a down payment on a house. This will be the first time I buy a house and I'd like to build a home theater in it or modify a decent size room to be a dedicated home theater. Any recommendations? Not only on the home theater but also on the buying-the-house part? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

V

My advice is: Don't buy more house than you can afford.

Also, if you want to do it right, set aside about $100K to build your ultimate HT theater. I've already told my wife that I plan on taking $75-100K if we ever move.

[ZedsDead]

It's hard to make very specific recommendations without more exact information, but here is some pointers that may help.

In a house typically there are a few major things to look for before purchasing. The roof, the furnace (and a/c unit) and driveway can all cost a good chunk of change to replace if they are in bad shape. With a roof keep in mind you can only go over an existing layer once, before you have to do a complete tear off which costs more. Also, 90% of the time if you replace an old furnace or old a/c unit you end up replacing both units due to compatibility issues.

For a dedicated theater room you should try to have some carpeting on the floor and minimal light penetration into the room. Also, it is always nice to have a room where you will be able to run wires through the walls and/or though the floor, wire management always adds some class to a theater.

[Anthony P]

All good advice. For the HT it is hard to say, how many people do you want it to fit, how much can you spend, are you willing to DIY .....

For the home, I will also add that I don't know about the US or NC, but here there is the welcome tax, utilities charge for the transfer of ownership...... so make sure you have a bit of extra spending cash past the sales price because there might be some expenses you did not foresee when you bought.

PS for the HT stay away from "multiples" (i.e. a 16x16 room is not good, a 12x24 is not good) the probability of nodes happening due to reflections is much more likely.

pick a room that is as secluded as possible, for example don't pick a room with no door beside the kids bed room because then you will be forced to put the volume down or spend a lot of $$ on sound proofing, don't pick a room close to the kitchen or workshop if the other spouse will be using loud equipment in it because then it could bother the movie watching....

[LastDitchEffort]

Not to sound too hard, but as a recent home buyer myself, I wouldnt worry about the HT right away. Get situated, have about 3 to 6 month cusion in cash in case you lose your job in this economy. Check out all the big ticket items that will cost you money up front. The roof, HVAC, water heater, siding, windows. Check those out since they will cost you the most money.

Get a good home inspector, as friends who they used. I got a real shitty one but didnt know that since I had never done it before. Go through the house with him and ask him a slew of questions about everything. Your paying for it =)

Good luck man and congradulations.

[VDogger]

Thanks a lot for the info! The house I'm trying to buy will not be a brand new one, but I don't want it to be more than four years old. So built in 2005 or 2006 will do.

I want the HT to fit six people max. Anthony (or someone else), can you please elaborate on the "multiples" part? By the way, I don't have a wife or kids.

Having been in the Marine Corps for the last 12 years I don't see myself losing my job, so I think I'll have a guaranteed paycheck fo' sho'. (Well, unless I don't re-enlist).

There's a real estate agent living in the town where I'm stationed at who I worked for eight years ago, so I trust him to help me out to the best of his ability.

Again, thanks for all the good info.

V

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I want the HT to fit six people max. Anthony (or someone else), can you please elaborate on the "multiples" part? By the way, I don't have a wife or kids.

sound travels in waves, and each sound has its own wavelength (s).
physics of sound
When two (or more) sounds mix an interference pattern occurs.
they can either help each other (amplify)

or nullify each other


and in an HT you will get a bit of both
like in


The sound wave leave your speakers in most directions and travels through the room, they hit the walls ceiling and floor and then starts traveling back or in other directions.



and you get an interference pattern.


that interference will affect your listening by making sounds louder or lower depending on the wave length of the sound you hear and your position in the room

now going back to the topic at hand

human audible sound waves have a length between several inches to many feet, what happens is in an empty room the more W, H and L are related the more issues with interference between rebounding wave lengths you will have. You can always correct by adding sound absorbing material on some areas of the walls (all you want is to correct for the interference where you will be seated) and let’s face it the room will not be empty but since you are talking about buying a house and you know you want an HT, might as well start with something better.

but to put it simply, you don't want a room that is 1x2 (i.e. 12'x24') or 2x3 (i.e. 12'x18')

[VDogger]

Anthony, thank you for the information. I would have never known this.

V

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I'm returning to North Carolina soon and I've saved up some money that I want to use as a down payment on a house. This will be the first time I buy a house and I'd like to build a home theater in it or modify a decent size room to be a dedicated home theater. Any recommendations? Not only on the home theater but also on the buying-the-house part? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

V

Are you buying on your own or are you married? If married, I would try to find a room that can be dedicated to the HT where you do not have to worry too much about pleasing the overall decorating committee. You still have to worry about the budget committee but you can be more flexible going through one committee instead of two.

[VDogger]

I'm not married and I don't have kids, so I'm buying on my own.

I may just convert a bedroom into a home theater, but I'd like to know what's the shortest the room can be. I want to buy a projector, so I'm willing to sacrifice the main bedroom to make it the HT.

Before I deployed I was using the living room as my HT and it was really nice. I'd like to not have to do the same thing, but if it comes down to I will.

V

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I'm not married and I don't have kids, so I'm buying on my own.

I may just convert a bedroom into a home theater, but I'd like to know what's the shortest the room can be. I want to buy a projector, so I'm willing to sacrifice the main bedroom to make it the HT.

Before I deployed I was using the living room as my HT and it was really nice. I'd like to not have to do the same thing, but if it comes down to I will.

V

I am single as well and own a 3 bedroom condo but the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are just too small for a HT and the main bedroom is also not very ideal so I went with the living room.

I just installed a projector which is displaying to the short side of the room as I would have to block all my windows if I did it to the long side of the room. my distance is about 11.5 feet and I project to a 74" screen. I could have gone with other projectors and gone much bigger but I think the size is good given my viewing distance.

[DougMac]

First, here's to a speedy and safe return! Also, I want to extend a big thanks to you for your service to our country!

I suggest once you settle down on the house of your choice, in addition to the mandatory house inspection, check on hiring a A/C company to independently inspect the system. Tell them that in addition to the general condition of the system, you're interested in the life expectancy of the particular model. Some A/C's are good for only around 10 years.

Using a spare bedroom for a home theater will be a compromise. Front projection is pretty sensitive to ambient light and while a bedroom can be handled fairly successfully, it's not quite as good as a total light controlled room. The bigger problem is the standard extra bedroom size is a little small for a home theater, especially for one that will seat six people comfortably. My dedicated HT is 16x20 plus a bumpout that's 6x8. I have a three person couch plus a two person love seat and it's about minimum size for my 120" diagonal screen.

You might want to look for a house with an unfinished basement. That will give you some flexibility. When we built our house in 2003, we left half of our daylight basement unfinished to save money. Last year I spent six months finishing it out, including the dedicated HT. I did everything but lay the carpet, some of sheetrock finishing and some of the suspended ceiling. If you do the work itself, budget ~4k before equipment.

[kpkelley]

You are probably not going to be building this house of yours, but I found this to be an interesting read. Some of these could be very useful if you do re-enlist as you would be able to set-up a home control system which you could monitor and control remotely.

7 Places Not To Overlook Prewiring

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I may just convert a bedroom into a home theater, but I'd like to know what's the shortest the room can be. I want to buy a projector, so I'm willing to sacrifice the main bedroom to make it the HT.

I know it might not be helpful, but it would depend on what you want and what you can live with.

I know you said 6 people (actualy you put it as max but let's pretend 6 permanent seats)

6 seats in a row would be hard to do (would need a real wide room) so we will assume it means two rows of 3. The first row should be around one screen width away (the back), so what seats you get don't matter, the second rows placement will matter if it is a nice reclining HT seat then you would want enough room for people to recline + enough room for people to pass by (in a perfect world), if they are bar stools, then they obviously don't need the same amount of distance. Past the last row you will need some space (due to the rear speakers, if the seats are stuck to the wall then the people sitting in them won't have a surround effect).

So if we assume 2 rows of reclining HT seating with a 10' screen then you have 10' (back of first row)+6' (row 2)+3' (seats in row 2)+ 5' (a number I like to back wall) and 24' gives you something good, but if the room is 23', it won't be the end of the world, on the other hand if the screen is 8' and you have two couches and the rear seats are not used much so let them squish through (after all tit is three seats wide) 8'+3'+3'+5'=19' is enough, if you have stools that are placed only when there are more people with a 10' screen then 10'+3'(stools more or less stuck to a couch in front, accessed from the back) +3' (stools not really used so 3' is good enough) then 16' can work.

I would say if you want quality then 3' min to the back for surround, and the back of the first row not closer then 1 screen width (for 16:9 presentations). The rest will depend in # of rows, seat types and how easy you want it to be to get in and out. Also how important the seating is for you. This Monday is thanks giving here in Canada, if all goes well for me but bad for my nephew (hockey tournament that week end, if they don't make it past the round robin they will be here Sunday, if they go to the quarter finals, they can't make it at all) we could be close to 20 people in the HT, some will have good seating but a proper room for 15+ is not easy, so I have some foam seats and my younger nieces and nephews will sit on them (adding a row in front)and some bar stools in the back (adding a 4th row) so we all fit. It is a compromise, not perfect for all, but how else would 20 people/4 rows fit in a room that is only 28.5' long?

[Disky76]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I'm returning to North Carolina soon and I've saved up some money that I want to use as a down payment on a house. This will be the first time I buy a house and I'd like to build a home theater in it or modify a decent size room to be a dedicated home theater. Any recommendations? Not only on the home theater but also on the buying-the-house part? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

V

You don't need $100k to build a decent, respectable HT.

I personally would look at houses that either offer a finished basement, or a basement that could be easily finished. I think that is ideal for a HT.

Second best is looking for a house with a large room - large because even if you choose not to get a projector, keeping the space large keeps that option open should you change your mind and become interested in front projection in the future.

[Orion518]

Hey guys,
I am new to this site but found the information posted to be very useful! I am looking at turning an old room into my HT (mancave ). I am looking at getting a whole Polk set: 2x Tsi500 fronts, 1x CS20 center, 2x Tsi 200 surrounds and 1x PSW125 sub. I also work at bestbuy so im getting the whole set for about $650. I need help on a good but affordable receiver and just bought my Samsung pn50b550 Plasma . Any info will be greatly appreciated!

[ballin_shogun]

I would recommend not buying the polk sub (even at around 80% off). eD and SVS seem well regarded in in the subwoofer world. I'd say try and get by with the just the mains and save up for a good sub later on.

As far as a good receiver there are lots of good options. I prefer onkyo (I think the TX-SR607 won some awards this year) but that's because I am familiar with the menus. Just make sure you get something that will handle all your sources with some room to grow and can handle the current sound fomats (DTS-HD, Dolby HD, etc).

[Beta Man]

You should do what I wanted to do.........

"Buy a brick house"

No painting (or very little) needed........ Try to keep your "maintenance" costs low if you can.

As far as the theater...... find a basement...... if you do a "bedroom" you'll likely get the urge for a bigger space sooner rather than later..... and using your living space has its downfalls too.....

basements typically offer the greatest amount of open space, and you can control light very easily, and sound-proofing measures can be taken (but you may not want to, since there is no wife/kids upstairs to irritate )

[joe1515]

Originally Posted by VDogger

Thanks a lot for the info! The house I'm trying to buy will not be a brand new one, but I don't want it to be more than four years old. So built in 2005 or 2006 will do.

I want the HT to fit six people max. Anthony (or someone else), can you please elaborate on the "multiples" part? By the way, I don't have a wife or kids.

Having been in the Marine Corps for the last 12 years I don't see myself losing my job, so I think I'll have a guaranteed paycheck fo' sho'. (Well, unless I don't re-enlist).

There's a real estate agent living in the town where I'm stationed at who I worked for eight years ago, so I trust him to help me out to the best of his ability.

Again, thanks for all the good info.

V

I just wanted to say thank you for serving our country!!!

Joe

[BarkingGhost]

Originally Posted by VDogger

I'm returning to North Carolina soon and I've saved up some money that I want to use as a down payment on a house. This will be the first time I buy a house and I'd like to build a home theater in it or modify a decent size room to be a dedicated home theater. Any recommendations? Not only on the home theater but also on the buying-the-house part? Any info will be greatly appreciated. V

My first 'home theater' was a converted 12' by 12' aux. bedroom. I used some inexpensive foam weatherstripping tape around the only window and then covered it over with 1/8" MDF.

I then rented a paint sprayer, bought 2-3 gallons of the darkest blue-purple paint and covered every wall and ceiling surface. This included the MDF, window and door trim, closet and bedroom doors, too.

I then painted the [projection] screen wall flat black, and had someone installed jet black carpeting. Its now a bat cave. I used the same weatherstripping on the bedroom door to better help in the overall light control.

The only furniture was a black coffee table and a dark brown love-seat. The bedroom closet had a custom-built component cabinet (that I made) to house the Blu-ray and HD DVD players, the Pioneer Elite receiver, the HDMI switch, the IR-RF base station, and the DirecTV HD DVR. Also, I bought a NIB Panamax power conditioner for real cheap.

Hanging from the ceiling was a $1500 projector that projected onto a 100" NTSC (4:3) screen, which in 16:9 aspect is 92". The screen is a fix-style as this was a dedicated space, with neutral gain. The projector was used (good thing, too, as it's MSRP was !$17K!).

The speakers were Paradigm and purchased when US$1 = CAN$1.50 and setup was for under-applied movie application, along with a Paradigm subwoofer. I did this all in about six months and that room lasted the wife and myself for several years.

Our next home theater is coming together, but it is in our [now] finished basement. But the above goes to show exactly how an ordinary bedroom can be converted to some remarkable. And by remarkable I mean the overall presentation was shockingly beyond what any public movie theater was capable of proving.

The end result was simply astonishing.