Ideal home theater dimensions

[TankTop]

I’ve been wondering lately about ideal home theater dimensions and I’m wondering if a home theater would be better laid out wider than deeper? In my home I have a long living room and the side channels make it so I almost need to put my head directly in the center to get decent effects from the side speakers. I’m running 5.2.2 and almost everything streaming is 5.1 with some exceptions. My thoughts is, if a room was 20’ wide and 12’ deep (for instance) the side speakers could be mounted high enough that the near and far listener would get about the same output volume. Also if you’re running a 9.x.x setup a wider front stage would be more beneficial. It just makes sense to me yet almost every custom home theater is deeper than they are wide. Anyone please tell me why I’m wrong here.

 

[amirm]

Not exactly what you asked but if you are using a projector, you have to make sure you have enough depth for the size image you are looking for. This is what sometimes forces it to be on the long side of the room.

 

[sneakmasterG]

The guide on the site below might be worth reading. Though I can’t guarantee it answers your original question directly.

Trinnov | Trinnov Speaker Layout Guide

www.trinnov.com

 

[TankTop]

Not exactly what you asked but if you are using a projector, you have to make sure you have enough depth for the size image you are looking for. This is what sometimes forces it to be on the long side of the room.

Accepted answer… but what if there’s enough depth for the projector? Let’s assume we’re using the recently reviewed KEF in walls (or others with easily predicted dispersion patterns) would my assumption that wider than deeper still hold up? Many deep theaters use 2 side channels per side. I’m assuming that’s due to a preorder setup what if the off axis (height) wat taken into account, wouldn’t a wider than deeper setup make more sense? Specifically if you’re using a 9.x.x setup? This just makes more sense in my mind

 

[GS430man]

I suspect the ideal dimensions are whatever the available space allows.

 

[TankTop]

The guide on the site below might be worth reading. Though I can’t guarantee it answers your original question directly.

Trinnov | Trinnov Speaker Layout Guide

www.trinnov.com

I’ll read through that when I get a chance

 

[Oddball]

I'd start with the fact that room should be rectangular, not square. Then MLP should be at around 2/3 length of the room. Distance from the speakers to center MLP should IMO be probably around 3-3.5m for 1 row with 3 seats. That will put surrounds at around 2-2.5m from the left and right seat, which should be enough. If some distances need to be compromised to achieve MLP at 2/3 of the length, I would do that with back surrounds as least impactful. Ideally there should be 0.5 m distance from speakers to the walls if standing speakers (towers of bookshelves). Many opt for in-walls or on-walls nowadays that would reduce the size of the room. For Atmos, 3m height works pretty well as provides more than sufficient separation from bed channels. One way or the other, you end up with a big room that will need a lots of resources to be pressurised adequately.

Cutting distances will also cut the size or the room and resources required, but would not really go below 2.5m.

Also best to plan subwoofer placement from the start. Calculating what would be a best position for double bass array 2x2 would be a great starting point. Assumes some serious resources, but then when planning ideal theater that kind of goes hand in hand. If counting on infrasonic setup, lots of thought should be given to walls (rattling etc.) and acoustic insulation from the adjacent rooms.

Now back to reality of my regular room .