Projector screen and speaker advice in multi-use (so imperfect) room

[mrahlberg]

Hey!

I'm building a home theatre setup in a multi-function room that also doubles as a home office. As you can also see from the attached image, the shape of the room is not ideal, but - I'm not looking to create the perfect setup. Just try to get the best out of what I have available to work with. I've also included a photo of the room while apartment was being worked on (excuse the mess). Measurements in mm and room height is around 2400mm.

I should maybe also say that I'm not too hung up on cinema-like sound etc. I just love watching films and have "made do" with a 3.0 system projected to a 85'' portable screen in my previous apartment that I could now upgrade from. I'm aiming for a 5.1 system, although in theory I could increase the number of speakers etc, but I'm not sure if it make sense in this particular space.

My plan is to get an electric projector screen (most likely a 135'' screen that should be around 2660mm wide - as shown on the image. Could fit a 150'' as well (approx 3000mm wide), but that would skew the placement of the screen from the seating a little to much to the right, perhaps). Would ceiling mount it to go over the door on the left and - I think - would fit in-wall speakers behind the screen. There will be a 100mm (or so) gap between screen and wall because of the door handle - not sure if that changes anything.

One of my issues with this would be though the fact that I would most likely have to mount the left front speaker inside the door? Which is fine as the door leads to a storage space, but I'm not sure what it would do to the sound, even if I'd build an enclosure for it. The wall itself is - most likely - cinder block or brick, not sure yet.

I assume having a bigger screen and the speakers placed closer together (avoiding the door) would be a bad idea?

Third alternative would be having the speakers not behind the screen, but rather on top of it. This would create issues with the screen itself though, as I would then need to create a mechanism to slide it into place over the door, otherwise I couldn't open the door.

Perhaps last but not least would be to build out a frame to hold a fixed screen which I could mount from the ceiling at such a distance that I could fit speaker on the frame and behind the screen as well. Would need some closed back but thin speakers and create some sort of a sliding mechanism so I could slide it out of the way of the door when not in use, but in general could work.

The rears I would place on the side walls, close to the ceiling. Rear right would go on the book shelf, quite likely. I've been looking at Klipsch (again) as it's available locally (Estonia) and I could potentially try to match in-walls and regular speakers.

So what I'm looking for is whether anybody has any suggestions screen and speaker placement-wise and any thoughts on specific speakers that could work for this kind of a setup? Any feedback much appreciated and let me know if I left anything out that could be useful.

 

[mrahlberg]

Hey! Would appreciate some thoughts, especially around whether having the LCRs placed so close together would be a bad idea.

 

[ShanePJ]

Although neither of the positions are ideal for speaker location, the wider the three speakers are apart, the better it will be for separation. Now the reason why I say neither are ideal is the front right of the room looks like it has a protruding part which will unbalance the flow of sound (how much will depend upon how far away you are situated from the speakers.

So, with this in mind, if you haven't chosen your speakers yet, maybe Kef could be your best option do to the way the UniQ speakers work as they have a wider field spread of audio meaning that although you may loose a little (if you use the narrower option), the Kef's should bring a little of that back although it still won't be perfect as the three speakers will all interact with each other, but I feel it could be your best option is you wish to place three speakers across the front of the room

 

[mrahlberg]

Hi!

Thanks for this. Just so I'd get it straight - you would suggest getting 3 of something like the Ci160QL and mounting them relatively close together, avoiding the door? What would you suggest to pair them with for surrounds? I couldn't really go with in walls for rear.

Would the Ci160QL required back boxes in dry wall? I don't much care about sound escaping the room, but rather if it would have an effect on the listening.

Edit: budget-wise I could swing a bit higher as well I think, say 3 x Ci4100QL-THX if it would make a significant difference.

 

[Harkon321]

Is there areas in why you can’t rotate the whole set up 90degrees and put the screen where the bookcase is. Could even drop it in front if the bookcase if needed. Surely that works a lot better?

 

[mrahlberg]

Hey!

Yes, I have a standing desk in front of the bookcase that I roll partly out of the way when not in use. I played around with different configurations for the room and unfortunately this was the most optimal solution overall, albeit understandably not for home cinema.