taking on a major room rearrangement project...

[xneox]

My HT, unlike many here, is really an infusion into a multi-purpose room. It's a typical family living room. My desk is here. My son's toybox and pack-n-play is here. A bookshelf for his books...cabinet for my files. It's a well-used [12x24] room.

Problem is, the way I have the HT portion set up, it's central to the room, and space is limited. I've been unhappy with my arrangement for a while now, mainly because I have no room for anything larger than the tiny bookshelf speakers I'm running for mains. To the right is a hallway to the rest of the first floor...to the left, the open-sided staircase to the second level. My a/v cabinet (huge WAF on that piece) takes up the whole wall in that area, which is why my entire front stage is on top of it.

Here's the layout as it is now. It's not quite as cramped as the 2D layout would suggest, but like I said...it's a well-used room. The kid-related furniture is an ever-changing situation...one is 2 years, and one is 3 months.

Room and all contents drawn to scale.



So I figure it's time for a change. I brainstormed a different room arrangement, and already ordered all new speakers + sub. I'm unwilling to arrange the room in a way that would put the tv on an outside wall...and the bottom wall is an outside wall. I just don't want to deal with snaking thru insulation. Seems like the way I've laid it out will work great...it gives me room for floorstanding mains, plus tucks the viewing area out of the main through-way. My only worry is that I'll have the wall on the right as a source of reflection for the right front & rear channels...but considering the advantages over how it's set up now, I'm thinking the benefits outweigh that particular drawback. It's a big-deal move, because the tv is, and will be, wall-mounted...so naturally, I wanted to lay it out before making any major changes.

So here's the plan...the HT area is the main focus, obviously. The other area is open for whatever arrangement my wife finds most appealing...I can see it this way, but she has to see it in real life. Comments welcome.

[srrndhound]

Looks like a worthwhile re-arrangement. My comments are few:

1) Yes, the right wall could be an issue. Drapes over the windows will help, especially if lined for light control.

2) The right-front speaker and sub. Once you have the gear fired up, might be worth checking your shown setup, then try pulling the R speaker forward a little, and rotating the woofer 90-deg with the driver aimed to the wall. This will allow you to shift the R speaker laterally between the R wall and the cabinet. An optimal location may emerge, which you can then mirror with the L speaker. It's hard to say right now which speaker (the R front or the sub) will gain or suffer the most from interacting with the corner/wall. In fact, if the woofer gets too rambunctious in the corner, it could be shifted next to the L speaker.

So the new layout has some tuning flexibility.

[Buddy Christ]

IMO

Clear out everything but HT equipment.

Ht room or nothing

[xneox]

hound:

I do have opaque shades on the two windows shown on the right wall, as well as decorative drapes. Also, it's a north-facing wall, so direct light really isn't a problem either.

As for the speaker layout - one of the problems that I didn't mention in the first place is that the cabinet has bi-fold doors. When watching a movie, at least one of the doors has to be open (wherever I decide to put the receiver & BD player), or it gets HOT in there. Fans are an option, and I actually have a couple to install, so maybe that problem will go away...but for now, I'm trying to plan around having an open door. I'm trying to place the speakers where I can sneak the door past them without having to move them. That's why they're shown where they are. Figured I'd put the heat-producing components on the left, so I could run with the right closed (hence the sub location).

Placing the sub anywhere in the entire room is an option...but I've seen so many setups here with them plopped directly in the front stage, so I thought the idea had merit, and was worth planning for. I could also place it between the loveseat and the wall, in front of the right surround, if that seems viable.

blu:

if only.

[xneox]

So, without any special equipment, or self-calibrating receiver, how do I go about 'tuning' the setup?

[neos_peace]

looks like a very similar deal that I will be doing my self here in the next couple of months. but fine tuning yea diffently.