Can you use a Small Room as a HOME THEATER? Home Theater Gurus

[@ofsoundmind2925]

You for sure made my small room sound amazing. Glad to see you are putting out content again.

[@hometheatergurus]

Thanks....I'm over here trying to figure out who this is..😄

[@MrMom950]

It’s amazing how many people don’t understand the idea of viewing angles. My room is 11x11 and I sit about 6.5’ from an 83”.. which is about a 50 degree viewing angle. And it’s gloriously immersive! I run a 5.2 with a phantom front center and a single rear center because of restrictions. I have an outline based on your atmos video for a 5.2.4 for my tiny room. It’s only me in there so I think the audio issues aren’t nearly as big of a deal since I just plop my head right where it needs to be. Your videos are invaluable and I appreciate all that you do

[@hometheatergurus]

Yep all the guys bragging about my screen is 200" and they sit 20' back, your image is FAR larger than theirs. It's hard for many to accept that you don't size a screen based on how big the wall or room is. You base it on how far you sit.

[@MrMom950]

Another concept that seems to elude people is that of subjectivity…. I sit 6 feet from my 83 inch screen and I love it… My dad sits 16 feet from his 83 inch and he loves it… He hates how close I sit and I hate how far he sits lol. Some people sit at the back row in an empty movie theater, and some people go straight to the front row…. Most somewhere in between.. So I always just tell people to emulate their preferred viewing angle with whatever screen they have and then plug that into a calculator to find whatever distance gets them that same viewing angle with the size screen they are asking about…. And then I give my 83” tv as an example and I inevitably get people saying that you can’t have an immersive experience with 83” and have to have at least 120” lol.. can’t win ‘em all!

[@jacklea7931]

My room I’m building is just under 14 feet long it will be a 7.2.2 with a 105” screen. Does that sound ok I’ll sit about 10/11 feet from the screen

[@MrMom950]

@@jacklea7931 my viewing angle in my theater is 50°… And I love it… So you can do the reverse also.. find your ideal seating position based off your current tv.. So just stand in front of your TV and start walking forward and backward until you think you like that particular size screen in your field of view… Measure that distance between you and the TV and plug those numbers into that calculator and it will give you a viewing angle… Use that viewing angle to adjust your sitting position based off of your new 105 inch screen.. So put in 105, the viewing angle you determined as to what you liked best.. and it gives you the distance to seats..

[@MrMom950]

Oh did my comment with the link get deleted? Poop.. lol.. ok well hell.. that was a lot of info I put in that response lol Guess I shouldn’t have included the handy link 😂

[@erniewyles8832]

I have a 9.5 x 11 room, with my seating area against the wall. Using your videos, I was able to set up a 5.1.2 and LOVE the sound and dispersion out of my system. Yes, a small room CAN sound good.

[@erniewyles8832]

@@HTadd1ct agreed. My previous house had an additional room (30x30) we had built for our TV room. Made a big difference. However, in our current house, the smaller room is what is used for television and those are the demensions. There is no alternative, and I don't complain because the system sounds very nice. I love it.

[@hometheatergurus]

Awesome. Sometimes we have to work with what we have and make the best of it. Sounds like you've done just that !

[@live1time1]

My room is small like yours and I have been trying to think of a good way to set up 5.1. Any tips from things you found out while setting yours up? Thank you

[@Microwave414]

I use a bedroom slightly under 8 feet (plus a small opening for the door frame so one can get into the room) by 10 feet with 8 feet tall ceilings which I've put in a futon (doubles as a guest bedroom still) into with a 65 inch TV and 2 pairs of sansui sp-5500x which I've re-capped and replaced the drivers on in a 5.1.4 setup with atmos toppers and honestly while the room is small, the audio immersion and overall picture/audio clarity has been something that has exceeded my expectation by leaps and bounds. It's almost like sitting in a large format theater except not, I can recommend it if it's just you and 2-3 others.

[@auburn2031]

My room is 11.5 x 10.5 i sit 7.5 feet from a 100 inch screen and i am running a 5.3.6 set up and it is great sounding!!

[@hometheatergurus]

Awesome. Great viewing angles!

[@bingdong8571]

I also have an 11x11 room. I have a 9.1.6 setup with 10 subwoofers and a 110" screen. Its great to get info from these you tube guys but based on the quality of my theater experience i would say, just dont believe everything they tell you about your absolute parameters.

[@hometheatergurus]

Totally agree. Small room or big room, they can both be great home theaters.

[@LDBaha]

Wow Impressive! How did you fit 10 subwoofers in a 11' room?? Sounds incredible. Also how are your middle top speakers? notice a considerable difference between 4 and 6?

[@MrMom950]

Nice! My goal is 7.4.4 4 subs in my room overkill? Shush! It isn’t! 😂 How did you get 110” projection in a room that size? All my calculations when I was deciding on OLED or projector gave a max of like 90” screen with all the projectors Did you use a short throw under the screen?

[@bingdong8571]

@baha I spread them evenly, using the atmos cylindrical style as opposed to directly overhead. I am immersed in speakers!

[@bingdong8571]

@Home Theater Gurus you are definitely right about small room bass issues, hence the 10 subs, believe it or not one is a full marty too.

[@mndlessdrwer]

The smallest room I've seen effectively transformed into a theater-like listening environment was about 12x14 of area in front of the screen. Presumably there was another, like, two or three feet behind the screen where all the tech was hidden, but you can absolutely make a small-ish room into an incredible home theater, you just need to choose your equipment with care so you don't overwhelm the space. You also generally have to sacrifice some audio channel extravagances. Like, you just won't have enough space to be able to get the effect you want from more than a 7-channel ear-level speaker system, and more than five channels of height will also prove less useful. You also can't generally get away with as large of speakers and as many subs before you can no longer achieve the sound source localization that you want because you've got too many reflections. With enough sound damping anything is possible, but tasteful speaker selection can get you there with less headache.

[@kellywilliamson2187]

My room is 15 x 15 and when the aspect ratio is 2:39 I sit 7 and a half feet away from my 97 OLED - it's amazing. If the aspect ratio is 1:85 then I scoot my chair back about a foot.

[@clemesnvi]

After translating the freedom metrics to centimeters, it is really useful. Great video!

[@oscarmazzini9862]

thanks, I Have a Small Home Theater 9´10"W x 16´5" Large x 6´11" high. but is totally acoustical Treatment and the sound and Inmersive effect are amazing, Have a Dolby Atmos System 7.2.4 and a screen 120" 2.35:1 format. All it´s possible

[@hometheatergurus]

Yep, small rooms can be AWESOME!!!

[@LDBaha]

This is great advice. You can totally do an awesome amazing sounding Home Theater in a small room. My room is on the smaller size 10.5x15' ish. I sit 10' away from a 125" very immersive! I went with dipoles on axis for the side surrounds but I am not 100% sure on them. I don't love them or hate them. I think I should've gone with monopoles but place them slightly forward from my seats (not angled). I have 3 seats pushed to one side, that puts the MLP dead in the center. The difficulties lie in bass and how to place multiple subwoofers. I can only do 2 at the front and maybe something custom in the back Thanks for all your videos and dishing out so much great info.

[@hometheatergurus]

Thanks! Yeah Small rooms are a pain in some ways but I would never not do a theater just because the room is small. It can still be awesome. BTW it sounds like you may have room for rears. If so I'd agree on the surround change assuming you have rears.

[@LDBaha]

@@hometheatergurus But that's also fun and part of the challenge right? Especially in states where rooms are like closets lol. I do have rears you are 100% right so I think I can get away with moving my sides forward and definitely in the future adding wides. You 100% can get a lot out of wides in a narrow room.

[@JustGelin]

Just trying to get some idea's for a room I am re-doing in my basement. the room is 14ft-6in by 12ft and I am going to set it up the long way with 2 rows of seating. 3 seats in each row prob pushed to a side for space to get by. The front row will be about 8 and 1/2 - 9ft ish from screen and back row will be just over 13 ft so pretty close to the back wall. I am looking to upgrade the current tv to a 98 inch and I have recently swapped out an old elite for a newer Onkyo 9.2 receiver also handles 7.2.2 and 5.2.4. Not sure the best way to set up the speakers. They are all Boston Acoustics I purchased some time ago when the company was still around 2 Large Towers, 1 Center channel, 4 large bookshelves, Two wall hanging that can go right up to the ceiling but only against the wall and ceiling and 2 Subwoofers. I have always been a bit of an audiophile but with all the newer content and sound modes (Dolby Atmos, IMAX DTS-X and so on) I am not sure what format-setting 9.2 /7.2.2 ex. and where I should place everything. Any thoughts on this? Trying not to buy more speakers, especially since the Boston's are really not the same anymore if you can even still buy them at all.

[@sedtaylor]

I have an 11x13 room. Is this big enough for an 80-inch TV, and will I be able to get a good sound from a 7.1 system?

[@paulmardis1512]

I have a dedicated room that is 11 x 19 with a 123 in Steward StudioTek 120G3 screen. I sit about 10ft from the screen. I have 6 theater chairs with front row of 3 and back row of 3 on a 7in riser. This room was built in 2007 and is now 7.2.4 Klipsch speakers and two SVS PB3000 subs. So what you say in video does make sense. Good Luck and nice job. PM

[@danielvaughn3893]

Awesome information. In these times it's such a great and smart idea to build your own Home Theater room Thank you sir

[@stephennutt2565]

I setup my theater up in a 13'x14' portion of the basement and went with 5.2.2 & 108" screen. The ceiling is only 7'. We have a sectional couch against back wall & a couple of bean bag chairs on floor for kids. It sounds great. Could it sound better? Probably but we were very happy with it.

[@TeeCamp10]

I would like to know if you are using an acoustically transparent screen or not. I have a 10.5' x 15' room where the screen would be placed on the shorter wall. I have had people tell me to just go with a 100" TV and some say do a 100" acoustically transparent screen with projector (almost double the price of a Hisense 100" QLED)

[@HisshouBuraiKen]

Your videos convinced me to get 4 subs (12s) and helped me get them aligned in my 15*12 room, and me and the kids are now reaping the rewards. So is my wife, but she refuses to admit it on principle. Cozy small theaters rock! But they do get hot. Need a mini split lol.

[@DHSFEMA]

First time Home Projector here, your video answered my question about room size, Thank u

[@markjohn4066]

I have a 10.2 x 19 loft what is the best way to get a decent amount of seating in there my tv is 100inch

[@Totalplonker]

I've always been an avid 2-ch stereo music listener and when I made a jump to a multi-channel setup within my small 13 x 11.5 ft living room, I couldn't believe how much my noise floor had risen (background signal noise) I would imagine unwanted signal noise within the larger environment would be far more forgiving, especially considering the more square footage, the more space the signal noise has to dissipate and therefore the less likely it's going to be noticeable! I'm all about high quality and even though I'm running a high-performance 5.2.4 setup. The heightened noise floor in my experience has very little to do with quality components and more to do with cabling. Got to remember unshielded cables act as antennas for attracting RF and the longer the cable the better the antenna. One can put this to the test themselves by disconnecting the heights & surrounds and then listen how much the noise floor comes down. Considering I'm in a small room I've been very impressed by the results. In fact the last group of cables I shielded with my HDMIs and lo and behold my small room became slightly quieter yet again. I've now managed to get my room so quiet that there are occasions I'm unable to tell difference whether my system is switched off or it's actually switched on but it just happened to be on pause. It's really that quiet and like I said that's all down to cabling!

[@hometheatergurus]

You shouldn't hear anything at the seats. If you do ensure no speaker wires run too close to power wires, also some amps are a tad noisy. If you turn off the ARV and still hear it, its the amp or power wire inducing noise. I once had a speaker in a column that also housed light switches. That speaker would hum as soon as you turned on the lights, even with the audio system completely off.

[@Totalplonker]

@@hometheatergurus thanks for the advice and excellent advice it is! But no I'm not referring to obvious unwanted noise. The noise I'm referring to is so faint most people are not even aware of it, but mind you, you do get people who are aware of it, but it just doesn't bother them. And of course there are people like myself who are aware of this signal noise but just can't tolerate it. It's certainly nothing to do with power cable interference. I'm so careful I even route my TVs power cable separately from its HDMI cable and I've got Masonry fu×king walls. In fact when it comes to cross cable contamination, if interested one can see how careful I am halfway through within this sort 3 minute video and BTW I'm running an arcam avr20 with matching high-performance Poweramps which happens to have exceptionally low distortion (0.003%) kzbin.info/www/bejne/m16lZJ6grrGpraM One would be amazed just how much noise is produced within a small room coz of unshielded cables. I'm not wealthy by any means but when I experienced how sensitive I am to this particular noise, there was no way I was gonna put up with iy. I've changed my cables multiple times. In fact I was so excited I finally found the culprits, I actually I shot a short 3-minute video. If interested.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/rai4YZdpg8uFh9k

[@geekybruce4819]

what about room like 7ft x 9ft. Looking for 5.1 atleast

[@ziggythegreat]

in a 12x13 room watching a 110 inch screen from 10 feet. excelent for games. feel like a king in here

[@hometheatergurus]

Yep that's a very nice viewing angle!

[@brandonmulford5524]

I would love to see someone do a home theater makeover KZbin channel where someone like yourself applies your basic principles to the equipment they installed poorly to vastly improve the experience.

[@hometheatergurus]

Well I have feed back of such rooms.. 🤷. Completely done and I went in and moved everything! I also have rooms easily beating Trinnov that clients live nearby, some being demo room by larger dealers, rooms with much more expensive speakers than the clients etc. Nothing trumps the room design. You can not spend your way to the top.

[@TheBluuHouse]

Thanks for the content. I believe I need your help trying to make a small room work.

[@hometheatergurus]

Hey Kyron, email me at [e-mail]. Well make a small room not only work but make it awesome!

[@mataiguana5]

Used to have a 13.5x13.5 with 100 inch screen fired by an InFocus DLP proyector.. Paradigm LCR took charge of the front, Kenwood dipoles in the surround and Infinity BU-150 15 inches sub taking care of the depths. Electronics where Kenwood KZX1 amplifier with his processor serving DTS/DOLLY DIGITAL SOUND, and a touch of some acoustics. The sound and sight where very good.

[@mataiguana5]

Where Paradigm LCR 150 in front.

[@hometheatergurus]

My first Non DIY projector ( I built a few) was an Infocus X1. That's been many moons ago but it was fun.

[@gowthamk5392]

Mine is 16x10x10 feet room! Which is the best set up and tv or projector!? And size of the tv!?😊

[@paulupton5557]

Thank goodness for Home Theatre Gurus. I would not have been able to figure out that not many people can sit in a small room. This astonishing depth of advice must bode well for the enjoyment of home theatre fans worldwide.

[@hometheatergurus]

Thanks for watching Paul!!!

[@heftyfunseeker9987]

You’d be surprised how many folks try to cram 2 rows in rooms less than 20’ deep.

[@JustGelin]

@@heftyfunseeker9987 how many rows should I do in a room that is 14 and 1/2' by 12ft?

[@heftyfunseeker9987]

@@JustGelin that’s the dimensions of my space (14 on the deep side). I did 1 row of three with 2 bean bags for overflow seating that I keep behind my main and can pull in front for kiddos or anyone else.

[@JustGelin]

@@heftyfunseeker9987 damn I was hoping to get a row at about 8 -1/2 to 9ish ft where head will be and the other row about 13+ft for viewing. so against wall and then 2 bean bags

[@Gaboam]

They always say they will add the link of a video in the description and never do :/

[@shaneheffernan]

My room is 10 foot 9 length and 7 foot width and sit 6 to 8 feet away what size tv I can have for gaming

[@MrJonJuggler]

In my 12x8 summerhouse I have a 100” screen 😬

[@hometheatergurus]

Sounds like a good fit !

[@GeorgeLoch]

With an 11x14 space, what is the realistic number of seats I could get? I was thinking 2 rows of 3 seats with a rear bar.

[@ScorpionF1RE_USA]

'immersion' is why i have a 75 inch 8k tv mounted 4.5 feet above my bed (4.5 feet above my knees), and angled directly at me.

[@farazaftab5428]

i have quite smaller room around 10 by 10. Could you advise about the wall paint more appropriate for theater? Looking forward to your response. Thank you.

[@jeffjensen27]

My Room Is 9'5" W x 9'10" D x 8' 3" H. It Has 1 Window In It. Now Here IS Where It Gets Tricky. As This ROOM Is Also My Apt Rental One Can NOT Damage ANY OF The 4 WALLS, FLOOR & Ceiling. I ALREADY KNOW HOW I AM GOING To MAKE The BRAND NEW Home Theater. Can You Figure Out HOW To Build WITHOUT ANY DAMAGE TO THE ROOM? Lets SEE What YOU THINK & SEE If YOU Are Right.

[@HTadd1ct]

Speaker stands.

[@TheMeefive]

IMy room is 12x15. I have a 151 inch screen and I watch from 10 feet away.

[@GAVhometheatreguide8226]

Hai my room size is 16 feet wide by 14 feet deep with 9 feet high ceiling please suggest which is the best speaker layout for all the formats currently I am running a 5.1.4 configuration with surround heights and front heights for Atmos/dts x/auro 3D, how can I make it sound more immersive? Please help I use a denon 3800 receiver

[@andrethewrestler5864]

hi iv got a room about 3m by 3.5m (10*11 foot) and iv got 4*floor standing accusound speakers with 2 8" subwoofers in each speaker and iv got 2 earthquake cs-8s 400 watt ceiling speakers iv got a pioneer vsx-521k av receiver and iv got an earth quake bass shaker that ill run with a yamaha rx-v385 av receiver to run the bass shaker and iv got a sony vpl-FH500L 7000 LUMENS PROJECTOR WITH A SCREEN 110" JUST AFTER SOME ADVICE is this enough or is there anything else i need and what would my layout with chairs and screen and most importantly the speaker positions be?any advise would be greatly appreciated thank you

[@tilq300]

Commenting after watching to 33 seconds. 11x14 room... I wish 😂

[@thefridge1000]

I have a room that's 10 x 9 and I want to do a home cinema. I have had a bedroom one before but this room will be dedicated. It's small but I want to make it work. Was thinking 120" ust on alr screen? ( Will 120 for on the 9ft wall or do I have to go smaller. Planning on 5.2.2 setup as cannot get rears behind or atmos rears as seating will be at the back wall to give me 10ft. Any recommendations appreciated.

[@artncraft2889]

My room size front to back 15 ft and left to right 9 ft and hight 9 ft. Plese suggest 11.4 channel avr Possible or not 2:50

[@artncraft2889]

??

[@Grzen]

Hi guys. In 5.1.2 my celling Atmos should be 55degrees in front of my seat or should be closer. Atmos will be Klipsh slm3400 ? And in denon menu should be front or middle Atmos ? Thank you

[@HTadd1ct]

80 degrees elevation from ear level when viewed from the side.

[@brandonanderson5760]

Good evening I need your help please

[@fredericpesin731]

Hello, I'm going to set up a home theater in a 9.2x13 room. Can I put 7.2.4 or just 5.2.2(or 5.2.4) because the room is too narrow?

[@hometheatergurus]

the width has no effect on the 5.1 or 7.1 bedlayer decision as both have side surrounds. Done right a room that size can be fantastic. If you need help with a layout design email me at [e-mail]

[@fredericpesin731]

@@hometheatergurus ok, thank you very much. I sent you an email.

[@ShaileshPatel-le8cq]

My area is 10 x13 = 130sqfeet I m using 5.1 HTS

[@KeithArmitage-n4h]

No links.

[@mataiguana5]

You can do great from small, that's the point.

[@hometheatergurus]

Absolutely!!!

[@everyday_life1991]

Do you charge for coming up with a plan I have a small room and it’s killing me in which direction to go in. Ultra short throw or short throw lol I’m lost

[@hometheatergurus]

Yep I do offer a design/layout service. Shoot me an email. [e-mail]

[@shengchen728]

Thank you for the helpful information. So bipole speaker have to be on axis? Does this means it can only be placed on the side of the main listening position which serves as side surround? I t can't be placed as rears? Thank you.

[@hometheatergurus]

To get the bipole effect, yes. This breaks it down and also discusses using them as rears. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2TGl6iKrdOBp8U

[@brainz-brainz]

I have an 11x24 bowling alley of a basement. Wish me luck!

[@flyers10az]

10x15 room with 9.2.4.

[@LDBaha]

What receiver are you using?

[@hometheatergurus]

I like those numbers!!!!!!

[@ellamarieemia]

nice vid i got question i got a 11x11 square closed room and and i wanna jump into atmos setup can i do 5.1.2? the listening position is gonna be up against the wall. Were even thinking of not puting a couch there but just lay on the ground up against the wall. we prepare to watching while laying down is this doable?

[@Totalplonker]

I can assure you that some of the biggest upgrades I've added for my listening experience have actually been some of the cheapest! Not just correct speaker positioning but also correct positioning of the MLP, too. The better the placement of the stereos, the more enhanced the sound stage is likely to be. However, for one to take full advantage of that soundstage, the MLP needs to be at least 2 feet away from its rear wall! Going with a stereo pair on the subs helps, and room EQ helps further, but there's nothing like having the couch of the back wall for perfect perception of Bass. And to finish with the final cheap upgrade has to be room treatment. One doesn't necessarily have to get carried away! Some absorption and diffusion in the correct locations help to backyard content at lesser volume, yet the perception of that volume sounds a lot louder when absorption/diffusion is done correctly. Perfect if one got neighbours to consider! I'm halfway through my room treatment, and I have experienced great results. If interested, you can view it within this short sound test video.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWWccplqbtClg8Usi=OamSfEZOwVC-qmiA

[@steverosales2616]

I set 6 feet away from a 77 inch , I'm good 👍😂

[@hometheatergurus]

Yep, that's around 48 degrees. Very nice size.

[@TheTop40hub]

The same with me. 77 G2 Oled. 5.1.4.

[@steverosales2616]

@@TheTop40hub C1 for me , have you seen that G3 ? 👀

[@TheTop40hub]

@@steverosales2616 no I haven’t.

[@xxbyron13xx]

The bigger the screen the better... period

[@Tearial311]

I’m still trying to get perfect bass through MiniDSP. Maybe I need 4 subs instead of 3

[@JC-lk3oy]

Does your minidsp have dirac? I found it did a better job with my low frequencies than I ever could doing manual adjustments. I use my SHD with 2 subs and 2 full range speakers, and after setting up Dirac my bass became much more natural sounding and all the boominess I had went away. This is in a 14x23x8 foot room. Granted, I just have a 2 channel setup currently, but bass results should be similar.

[@Tearial311]

@@JC-lk3oy no Dirac.

[@JC-lk3oy]

@Smigs where do you have your subs currently? With 3, I have found that putting 2 in the front corners and the 3rd close to the seating position has been best in most rooms. If the 3rd can't go close to the seating position, I would center on the wall behind the seating position if possible. Have you used Room EQ Wizard and a calibrated mic to measure your current frequency response at your seating position? I always recommend starting with bringing peaks down. There's not much you can do about nulls short of moving your speakers/subs around.

[@hometheatergurus]

Hey Smigs, see ep 11.

[@I9IIEIIYIIEIIS]

i respectfully have to disagree... going to a theater with a 150 foot screen, is far more immersive than putting an ipad up to your face and achieving the same field of view. the brain just knows the difference.

[@hometheatergurus]

Thanks for watching

[@downersup2]

I will agree to disagree 😎 hog wash shmog wash 😏 As long as you have a capable projector with enough lumens, a lens if needed to have the correct aspect for said large screen, most importantly…an video processor i.e. Lumagen to make sure you’re getting the best picture quality! Once you have all that, and the available space, go go gadget screen!!! Viewing angles be damned LOL! I was that kid in the front 3 rows of the cinema! Although Steve is 100% correct regarding viewing angles for HT, when assessing screen size from a technical point of view….I say, why are IMAX theaters a thing, if not to be immersed to the point of feeling like you’re physically moving!?!! I’m just playing devils advocate 😘 I guess this video is about what can be done with small HT rooms……In that case listen to the Home Theater Guru! Steve knows all!……..or at least enough to be dangerous🥷 side note, Steve is helping me design my HT! Outstanding customer service beyond anyone else out there! Don’t bother him with mundane questions about non HT related things, but there’s a good chance if you do, he’s such nice and cool guy, he’ll take time to help you!! He’s an encyclopedia of acoustic and home theater knowledge, especially when it comes to designing the best HT to fit your space and needs!!! I highly recommend reaching out to Steve if you’re considering building a dedicated home theater or even a 5.1 - 7.1 nice surround system for the family room!!!!!!

[@hometheatergurus]

Yeah there are those that like it HUGE! I didn't cover scope in this video but with scope I default to 55 degrees.