i'm looking to finish off a part of my basement and create a small home theater...any place online offerr downloadable plans? i'm looking for the perfect dimensions for acoustics, materials for soundproofing, etc...

any ideas?

I don't know about downloadable plans but there are a lot of custom installers who will do free initial consultations and that might be worth your time.

Good luck.

Here is a link to a good article on ideal home theater dimensions and video/seating considerations.

golden room ratios


Here is a link to a company that specializes in home theater acoustic calculations, design and products (obviously this would cost you money)

room acoustic systems

Here is a link to a list of acoustic software programs (some free, some not) that cover everything from room acoustics to loudspeaker design

room acoustic software etc.

according to this chart (the third room)....the optimum width for an average 8' high room is 12'

isnt that a bit narrow? thats seems barely enough room for a couch

You should look at the AVS forum for Theatre Construction.

http://www.avsforum.com/ubbcgi/forum...er=5&SUBMIT=Go

Yes, it is a bit narrow for an average ceiling height of 8 feet, but the chart only shows the measurements for ideal acoustic response in a rectangular shaped room. Rectangular rooms are acoustically less than ideal to begin with and using the Sepmeyer golden room ratios as a BASIS will give you the best acoustic conditions to work with. Most movie theaters and high-end custom home theaters use these ratios as a starting point because these ratios provide the flatest frequency room response for a rectangular shaped space with no acoustic paneling, etc. If you have a basement room that is 15 feet wide, 23 feet long and only 8 feet high (and not 10 feet as the Sepmeyer ratios suggest), your acoustic response will suffer only minorly (Again, these ratios are meant as a BASIS to start with). You would most likely see a peak around 250-350 Hz due to the lowered ceiling height. That is why installers add certain acoustic paneling, bass traps, etc. to combat the frequency peaks in a less than perfect room to achieve the flatest overall frequency response mimicking that of an ideal space.

Here are a couple more links on the subject:

room acoustics

acoustic room design (pdf file)