I'm working with a client (a small video production house) who is doing some MAJOR rennovation. So major, in fact, that all their production work is now done in the back of a rental van or on three Powerbook *4's that they bought.
In system one, which we shall call "Production room" - audio is to be outputted from an Apple PowerMac *5 via a TOSlink optical connector to an as-yet-undetermined system. The room is a 10x10x10 cube, totally soundproofed. The *5 is one of the new, watercooled units (with a number of modifications on my part to further decrease noise), and as such very little floor noise exists to speak of. Video on this system is outputted from the *5 to dual Apple Cinema 30" displays (some OBSCENE resolution that I can't think of off the top of my head) via DDL-DVI. Yes, that's Apple-proprietary for the moment. The *5 also has a very noisy xServe-RAID unit attached, but we found an ingenius solution to that and put it on the server rack on the other side of the wall. More than $30,000 worth of equipment for the computer alone, nevermind the audio input components.
At any rate, we will be outputting the optical signal to a semi-reference audio system. I've been working with these guys for a number of years, ever since they got their start in high school, actually, and we've always held one standard with our audio output equipment - if it sounds nice on okay stuff, it'll sound GREAT on better stuff and acceptable on that crapass mono speaker on most SDTVs. We've found this to be more or less true. But now they are ready (software-wise) to move into 5.1 and above production. And as such, we need a 5.1 (Or better, to provide for future expansion) output system.
Keep in mind that this will be a VERY small space which, though quiet, may well become a serious pain in the *** (We're perfectly willing to slap sound-deadener up on the walls to keep reverb down) and that volume levels will be kept fairly low. Once the speakers are set up to a reference configuration, they WILL NOT be changed - everything will be manipulated within the software. Typically, a single person, situated almost dead-center in the room will be the only listener. For this system, we need only audio amps - but if you want to recommend an A/V reciever for the OSD, that's acceptable - we'll simply slap an inexpensive LCD display on a composite output from it. We also need speakers.
The second system gives a lot more room for 'fun.' It's a mini-theater, seating capacity ten people. The audio/video source in this case is a WingCorp Custom Computers (my company) Theater-X12. In essence, this is a 4u rackmount server with a massive air duct flowing through it - the computer actually sits IN a cold-air path rather than drawing one into it as in traditional applications. The entire chassis and ductwork contained within the room is sound-deadened - you can't even tell it's on from two feet away - and it is 5 feet from listening ears. The system features two DVI outputs, one of which feeds a 19" LCD (1280x1024 native res, running 1024x768) which we have mounted in the rack with the computer for setup purposes. The other LCD output, unless I get recommendations otherwise, will output a mirror of the other output to a rear, ceiling-mounted Canon LV-7555 projector (1024x768 native res)
Control over this computer is attained through three methods. Remote control via any other computer in the building, by physically getting up from your chair and going over to the rack, where a keyboard and trackball have also been mounted in a drawer, or by USB jacks in the armrest of the front and center chair. We considered RF wireless keyboard/mouse, but we can't find a single model that offers us more than about 10 feet of wander from the base-station that doesn't use that atrocity called "bluetooth"
The room is a regular trapezoid, the screen being at the smaller end. That wall measures 25 feet in length, the rear wall measures 30 feet in length and the side walls measure 20 feet. There's enough for a third row of chairs (we think, we havn't actually sat down in these things yet to work out legroom), and the ceiling is 9 and a half feet high. Volume level is no concern, the office is set back in the woods a quarter mile from civilization, and lord knows that no work will be getting done when this thing is in use. We prefer borderline ear-bleeding, but it'll be custom-readjusted every time to suit the presentation. The purpose of this room is dual. It is intended for premiere screenings of feature-length products (They only ever do these for fun, really, but they make GREAT demo fodder to show off the possibilities) and to win over new customers by showing them their demos in unrivalled clarity and quality.
Projection will be onto a purpose build concave screen inset into the front wall (Which we will obtain/build once we actually have the projection and seating in place and find out a comfortable projection size.
Power conditioning is handled by a pair of Furman IT-1220 20A power conditioners (Two 20A circuits are available to the rack and projector, one 20A circuit is dedicated to lighting, one 20A circuit is dedicated to Auxiliary uses. An actual mains box housing the breakers for these circuits is accessible behind a wall panel right next to the rack. As for the components still required for this system, we are looking for a 7.1 receiver or equivalent set of hardware and associated speakers. Wiring will be interesting due to run length, but we will find a way.
Why is such a rediculously high-end project in the beginners and audiophytes forum? Because, quite frankly, not a single person working on this has a damn bit of clue about audio output hardware other than headphones. Our local stores are ALL about selling us the HTIB.
Sorry for being so long-winded, but there was a lot of stuff to cover.