4 Great Home Theater Ideas for Small Rooms
Great home theater ideas can be limited by the size of a room.
Creating your ideal home theater can be difficult to do depending on the space you’re working with. Of course everyone wants their home theater to be much larger, but not everyone has the luxury.
If you have home theater ideas that don’t quite fit the space you have available to you, then you will have the challenge of appropriate design, equipment, acoustics and home theater seating
Let’s plan as if you have approximately 10×15 feet (150 square feet), a very realistic amount of space for a room in your average home that might be turned into an entertainment room.
There are 4 important factors to pay attention to catering to home theater ideas with limited space
1. One of the most important overlooked details is seating distance. To find your seating distance, we recommend dividing your screen size by .84. However, if you want to start with your seating distance, simply multiply by .84. For example, for a 10-foot seating distance we recommend a 100-inch screen (120 x .84 = 100.8).
2. The number of speakers you plan to use should dictate wiring choices. A lot more Blu-ray titles use 7.1 soundtracks, any new build should be compatible with 7.1 channels, even if you only plan to start at 5.1. Home theater ideas can be limited in the future if you don’t have enough channels, even if you are planning on only having 5.1 speakers Make sure to check your speaker’s power handling RMS to make sure you don’t buy speakers that are too weak. Look for at least 50 watts RMS.
3. Surround sound speakers have a lot of options, but one of the most important specs to pay attention to is power. Most receivers measure their power in watts per channel. It will frequently be listed with only one channel driven, and only at 1kHz. That number is useless with regards to home theaters. Ask questions about the power supply, this will help determine if the receiver will actually utilize the amount of power you’d like.
4. With new HD and 4KTVs between 70-100 inches, there’s finally a choice of display type, which can be important in a smaller theater. If there are windows in the room, the type of TV used can greatly impact your viewing experience. If windows are an issue, an LCD TV might be a better choice to ensure a brighter image. If the room is windowless, a projector might be the better alternative, especially from a budget standpoint. Projector prices are continuing to fall and you could easily get a high quality one for under $3,000.
Having trouble deciding what to do with your home theater?
