Immersive room, where do I start?

[RobL]

I’m going to renovate my basement this winter and have decided I want to build an immersive audio room. I have a room available that’s about 15’ x 20’ but only about 7’3” high. Would this be suitable? I was going to move my 8361’s down there for a start but not sure where to go from there. Is there a good resource to help me plan this better? I know very little about this, what would I need for a decoder/processor? Would Genelec’s 83_0 line be ok for the other channels or should I stick with 83_1’s? I don’t really want to spend more than I have to but don’t want to compromise the end result either. Any pointers? Thanks in advance!

 

[MKR]

Great topic and interested to follow your project! Any thoughts yet on what you will use for processor?

 

[RobL]

Great topic and interested to follow your project! Any thoughts yet on what you will use for processor?

No, I haven’t decided on anything yet but am open to any suggestions

 

[Bjorn]

If you're talking about multichannel music, that's not a good route to take IMO. It's imply a messy response and sound. Immersive with quality and right type of diffusion, that can be amazing and it's also much cheaper.

 

[ernestcarl]

If you're talking about multichannel music, that's not a good route to take IMO. It's imply a messy response and sound. Immersive with quality and right type of diffusion, that can be amazing and it's also much cheaper.

MCH can be messy, but it can also be tamed. Same matter with cost. I’m almost certain my HTPC setup costs less than the gear I’ve seen in your rooms. Eschewing an Atmos/Auro receiver processor and sticking to “budget” speakers and amps will help to keep the cost down as well. There is no reason why a good home stereo setup cannot be combined/switched between MCH surround as well.

 

[Bjorn]

MCH can be messy, but it can also be tamed. Same matter with cost. I’m almost certain my HTPC setup costs less than the gear I’ve seen in your rooms. Eschewing an Atmos/Auro receiver processor and sticking to “budget” speakers and amps will help to keep the cost down as well. There is no reason why a good home stereo setup cannot be combined/switched between MCH surround as well.

How do you tame superposition between multiple spaced speakers? That's not possible. It measures messy, and also sounds like it. Can't argue with you however, if that's what you prefer.

What's does my gear have to do with a price comparison between stereo and multichannels? Multiple speakers and multiple amplications is considerably more expensive than a stereo setup with some appropriate quality diffusion. That's what we're comparing here.

 

[tifune]

It's an obnoxiously complex topic. When you say "immersive audio" what do you have in mind, exactly? multichannel music, movies? all of the above?

 

[Timcognito]

Put wires in the walls for at least a 5.1(2) or 7.1(2) and leave extra cable at each end of each for change of plan. You may want a home theater at some point.

 

[ernestcarl]

@Bjorn

While it cannot be avoided to have one primary, main listening position, controlling or choosing speakers with a certain directivity, positioning, DSP presets adjusting for the interaural time and level difference and EQ all contribute to creating an immersive feel.

Custom diffusion acoustic treatments generally costs more in terms of money and space requirements. Of course, certain equipment will always be more expensive along with kind of speakers chosen. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to recommend what you think works best. But I have been able to setup a hybrid mono/stereo/MCH setup that veers on the cheaper end of the scale. When one is purchasing music/movies, often multiple formats are provided for anyway so why limit one’s choice for a single format — plain stereo. In your opinion MCH is a mess and cannot work well — well, I simply disagree.

Either way, the expenses and complexity for any project can be adjusted for — where and how one compromises is up to the person.

 

[MKR]

No, I haven’t decided on anything yet but am open to any suggestions

Trinnov, Storm, or Lyngdorf of course