Home Theater & Audio "Dual Purpose" Room Journey
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Thoughts on Home Theater/Audio Room Journey (Under Construction)

Last August (2017) I embarked on a project to create an excellent room for both Home Theater and Audio listening. Here's what I did in case the readers here find it interesting.

The room is 13x16' with 11' ceilings, dark brown flat paint, and no windows so light control is a given. A lot of the wall/ceiling junctions have angles (they are not right angle connections) which is good for minimizing bass modes.

Given my slightly conflicting requirements (it would be better to have dedicated rooms in some respects, one for audio and another for theater) and relatively small room I realized some compromises would be necessary. I was fortunate to be able to buy quality equipment, but I'm all about tangible value. No thousand dollar cables or 5-figure amps for me!


August 2018 Media Room - Front


Requirements for the room

- Excellent for both 2-channel audio and home theater sound
- Current version, or one version behind, flagship receiver (or one step down) from a value brand with Audyssey
- Two subwoofers to control room modes
- I initially was going to punt on Atmos/ceiling speakers, but later relented as I didn't want to make compromises - and it would be easier to install the ceiling speakers before all the equipment was installed
- Dolby Atmos 5.2.4:  Given the small room I determined I didn't really need, or have room for, properly positioned side speakers, so I landed on a L/C/R and LR and RR surround configuration - so it's a 5.2.4 setup where the 2 is for 2 subs.  Here's a Dolby Guide to 5.1.4 setup (just add another sub somewhere!)
- 4K projector
- Excellent screen that takes advantage of the light control - i.e., it doesn't have to work well if the room is bright
- Bass traps and acoustic panels in appropriate locations
- The room is upstairs so the weight of the equipment and my ability to haul it upstairs was a concern
- Upgraded turntable (my old Pro-Ject had a hum problem I couldn't shake)

Products I ultimately purchased

Some pictures of the setup follow.  There's more about the decision-making process after that.


Home Theater Eye Height View

The Salk speaker veneer is "Chen Chen" with a dark walnut dye & bust (darkened) edges and satin matte finish.  The natural wood has more contrast but I asked Jim Salk to darken them up for my home theater application.  The character of the wood still comes through nicely.  Salk speakers are known not only for their sound but for the incredible cabinets and finishing.  I'll probably put the grille cover on the center channel at some point & leave the L/R au naturel.

It's quite a challenge getting a good rendition of the exact colors as there's no natural light in the HT room.  I used a tripod, the room's incandescent lights, and a long exposure to get these shots.  (I'm not really interested in dragging the speakers into another room after getting them set up at 72lb each.)  This is low view shot with a wide-angle lens on a tripod, the speakers are rectangular though this shot makes the cabinets look asymmetrical.


Back of Room: VPI Turntable, JVC Projector, Rythmik Subwoofer, Salk WOW1 Monitors Wall-mounted


VPI Turntable (with Side 2 of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks!)

The Room & Decisions Along the Way


I had a lot going on in my life and I reached out to several local installers with the above requirements. This is really not the best way to go, because they want to push equipment they carry so they get a mark-up, and because they just aren't a great source of info... AVS forums etc. is a much better place for that. Plus the installation costs I was quoted were really $2-3K. Installation has it's challenges but I'm slightly handy and in the end was able to install the projector, screen, and ceiling speakers without too much trauma. Note, the ceiling was pre-wired for speakers, pulling wire would have been a different thing and I would have hired someone to do that with my attic configuration.

Focusing on the speaker process... Having already had two Rythmik products that perform great I tried to figure out what would work best for my room. I posted a few times here and corresponded with Enrico. Despite the idea of two 18" sounding like fun I decided I did not want to try to get those up the stairs. I ended up with two Rythmik F15HP that work great, I have one up front and one in the back of the room. These have plenty of output, enough to frighten my wife during the opening scenes of the new Blade Runner movie for sure!

I decided tower speakers with a really solid center channel were needed for the room. I really like my Ascend Sierra Towers with RAAL ribbons and matching Horizon center channel, and though abut using those or acquiring a second set... But I decided I really wanted something a bit more upscale and got with Jim Salk. (I have WOW1 monitors in my computer room and am super happy with them.) Jim was very helpful in identifying what would work well from my dual-purpose room and I ended up with Song3-A's for L/R, and Song3 Center, and two WOW1's for the rear. Just got those last week but I am super happy with them.

There's a picture of the front of the room attached.

For more on what I ended up buying, and more pics, see my web page here.

Hope this is interesting to at least some of you, and let me know if there are questions! It's a heck of a thing to embark on a project like this and it's nice to pretty much be at the finish line save for a little fine-tuning!

 

 

Below: More on the Salk WOW1 Speakers


Right Rear Salk WOW1


Left Rear Surround - Salk WOW1

Notice the symmetry of the veneering on the two different speakers.


Right Rear Top - Salk WOW1

The nature of the lighting makes the top appear much redder than it is in this pic.

Model

Song3-A

Design

3-way ported

Tweeter

RAAL 64-10 ribbon

Midrange

Accuton midrange

Woofer

Satori 7.5"

Response +/- 3db

33Hz - 40kHz

Sensitivity

88db

Impedance

8 ohms

Amplification

50 watts

Alignment

Ported (front or rear)

Dimensions

9.5" W x 14.5" D x 44.5" H

Weight

72 pounds

Above: Salk Song3-A Specifications

Model Song3 Center
Design 3-way ported
Tweeter RAAL 64-10 ribbon
Midrange 4" Titanium
Woofer (2) Seas ER15
Response +/- 3db 35Hz - 40kHz
Sensitivity 88db
Impedance 4 ohms
Amplification 100 watts
Alignment Front Ported
Dimensions 12.5" H x 24.5" W x 12.75" D
Weight 55 pounds

Above:  Salk Song3 Center Specifications

Model WOW1
Design 2-way ported
Tweeter Hiquphon OW1
Woofer Seas W12
Response +/- 3db 48Hz - 20kHz
Sensitivity 84 dB
Impedance 8 ohms
Amplification 100 watts
Alignment Ported
Dimensions 7 W x 9 D x 10.75 H
Weight 23 pounds

Above: Salk WOW1 Specifications


 

 

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If you have questions or comments you can reach me at dtlnew at yahoo dot com.