David Gruttadaurio

They say the devil is in the details.

That is very much the case with home theater… and particularly to your planning your seating.

I'm sure you know you just can't toss a few chairs and sofa in the room and leave it at that.

Here are some things to consider:

If you have a theater with multiple rows of seating, be sure to give enough attention to the sight lines from both the front and back rows. This usually involves some calculations and the interplay of riser height, ceiling height, screen height, distance from screen to floor and ceiling, and distance from the seating to the screen.

Since riser construction is not easily changed at a later date, it really pays to do the calculations ahead of time.

When properly planned, the back row of seating will have a perfect, unobstructed view of the screen, regardless of whether the front row seats are reclined or not.

Avoid Wiring Remorse (See Tip #2) This is the time to plan on what wiring you want to run. If in doubt, run extra wiring... just because. You can always cap off an outlet until you need it!

Yep... some people will think you're being overly obsessive about the calculations and being so concerned about this. But when the paint has dried and you fire up the big screen, you'll be vindicated: Because all of the attention to details will have truly paid off!