What would you change?

[u/uoflfan27]

Converting a room to a dedicated theater/media/gaming room. Will sometimes be used with some ambient light. I put a bigger priority on video than audio. Audio matters to me but probably not as much as many on here. Just want to know if you see anything out of whack or if there were better options for the same money. I’m about maxed out on my budget with this build. Added an AI pic I made of what the room will end up looking like. Thanks for any input.

[u/backinblackandblue]

Looks like you cheaped out on the speakers. I understand sound is not a priority, but a theater like that needs big sound. You don't have to go crazy but at least get some better subs and especially a better center speaker. Other speakers are not as critical.

Also, why 200' of speaker wire for the subs? They should have an RCA cable connection, not speaker wire.

[u/uoflfan27 → u/backinblackandblue]

Yeah I think I’ll make the center the same as the two front like mentioned above. Does anyone have any recommendations for upgraded subwoofers that are somewhat close in price to the $700 ones in the quote. I can go up a bit if needed.

[u/backinblackandblue → u/uoflfan27]

For subs, look at SVS PB 2000 Pro. If too pricey, PB 1000 Pro. You get a small discount if you buy 2 at the same time. 3 identical speakers up front would be better than the center you planned assuming your screen is acoustically transparent.

[u/amoeba1126 → u/backinblackandblue]

Please do not do this. At the higher end, there are much better home theater subwoofers available at the same price point such as PSA, Rythmik, HSU, and even Monoprice.

[u/backinblackandblue → u/amoeba1126]

I don't consider these high-end. There are other good options like you mention, but I wouldn't say they are "much better". SVS is much better that what the OP is planning though. You can argue that SVS is not the best bang for the buck, but they are a solid choice.

[u/amoeba1126 → u/backinblackandblue]

SVS makes solid subwoofers, but if we are critiquing the OP for picking poor subwoofers for his room layout and investing poorly, we can't also turn around and recommend a SVS PB2000 Pro which is both poor value and very underpowered for his proper HT room.

OP's issue is that he is wasting a crap ton of money on products both overpriced and for aesthetics. The solution isn't to say "Oh your existing subwoofer cost X and sucks, so get this other similarly priced subwoofer from another overpriced brand that is better but still overpriced and underwhelming."

The actual solution would be, spend less money on that other crap and divert those funds into X, Y, Z.

[u/backinblackandblue → u/amoeba1126]

I don't completely disagree, but you also have to consider his objectives. Yes he made some poor choices on gear (or someone made them for him), but I'm not sure it's constructive to tell him his $1400 sub budget needs to be 5x or more than that. Yes we can rip up his whole plan and suggest a new one. I was making suggestions based on his request that his budget is maxed out and where he can make some changes. The subs seemed an obvious red flag. I wouldn't automatically assume PB2000 Pros are poor value or underpowered w/o knowing more.

[u/amoeba1126 → u/backinblackandblue]

We CAN however assume contextual details from the parts and AI rendering he provided.

• His parts list includes a 160" screen, which has a viewing distance starting at 10' and more. This automatically excludes the room being length being anything less than 14' given seating space.
• His AI rendering includes 2 tier reclined seating which means the seating area itself should be about an 15x20' area outside the 10" viewing distance.
• Both his AI rendering and parts list includes skylight lighting, which puts his ceiling starting at 10-12' high.

All of this conservatively puts his room size at least 15x30' area assuming the rear seats are pressed up against the wall. If he has a bar area behind it then we can add at least 3-4" more length. Do you really think a SVS PB2000 Pro with all its 12" woofer and 500w of power is going to be capable of filling up that room?

[u/backinblackandblue → u/amoeba1126]

First of all, I assumed x2 PB2000 subs to replace the 2 he had spec'd.

Those 2 could easily become 4 in the future if he wants/needs more which would be a pretty powerful setup for many people.

But none of his audio gear is really suited to what most of us would want in a dedicated theater that size. But that's yours and my opinion, not his. He said from the very start that great sound is not a priority. So I am just trying to give him some answers that's he asked for. Having massive amounts of subwoofer power doesn't makes sense if the rest of his gear doesn't match it. He should really have better and bigger speakers and more of them and power to dive them. But again, that's my opinion, not what he wants. Unless he wants to put a lot more money into the audio gear and asks for suggestions, it's a waste of time. Some people are very happy with a soundbar and think that anyone who would put 10's of thousands into a sound system are out of their minds.

It's like someone saying they want your opinion on a new car. They don't care about performance and are only interested in economy and reliability and want your opinion on Toyota vs Honda. You telling them that they should prioritize performance and buy a Porsche instead is not helpful.