Finally a room of my own. . .now what?

[jeradd101]

I am moving into a house with my girlfriend and we are confronting the usual problems associated with combining two peoples stuff and space. I enjoy electronics and have pieced together a modest home theater system, but currently live in an apartment, and have previously only lived in rentals. I was brainstorming with her the other day in my preparations to move and we were talking about where I would put my TV. I expected it to to into the upstairs living room because I expect I will spend most of my time on the upper level of her one story ranch house. She said something to the effect that she did not want the television controlling her life and suggested I put it downstairs in a sort of family room. I was a little peeved at first but after thinking about it for a minute I became very excited about the idea of having my own room ... A theater room of my own design, where I did not have to make the compromises of a multi-purposed room. Better yet I have virtually free reign to do minor construction projects that I was never able to do in rentals. There are a couple of projects I have in mind for my room. 1st. Dimmer lights that are remote controlled
2nd. Acoustical treatments for the walls
3rd audio for multiple rooms
4th some sort of media server
5th?
I am asking for the help of this forum. I have read it for years and have bought many pieces of equipment based on the recommendations of the group. I have questions about what I should do specifically and I am curious about what other ideas you all have. In return I promise to keep you updated and post lots of pictures on my progress. I hope this generates a lot of interest, I always liked reading about other peoples processes of creation and hope mine will be as entertaining.
Jerad

 

[MidnightSensi]

What is your budget?

I'd build a false wall in the front, and put your LCR and subwoofer(s) behind an acoustically transparent screen. This would make the front of the room completely clean. The equipment I would put in the back, in the Middle Atlantic racks that are wall mountable and "fold out" so you can access the back.

I'd go the seperates route and get the Onkyo Pro preamplifier and use some professional amplifiers to power the speakers. This way you don't have to "repower" when you want to add new preamp features.

For speakers I'd look into Dynaudio, Snell and Triad.

For a media server I'd get an Apple TV.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

For a media server I'd get an Apple TV.

I have an Apple TV, and its cool, but there has to be a better mousetrap out there. To make Apple TV work, you gotta deal with iTunes software. It's ok, but its a one way street. Once its on Apple TV, it can't be sent back to iTunes. And unless I'm missing something thats changed, if you want to reload or add stuff to Apple TV, you gotta upload EVERYTHING AGAIN. That can take awhile. Maybe that last statement is false with iTunes 8, but I'm not sure. Theres gotta be a better idea for the money...

Ric

 

[MidnightSensi]

I have an Apple TV, and its cool, but there has to be a better mousetrap out there. To make Apple TV work, you gotta deal with iTunes software. It's ok, but its a one way street. Once its on Apple TV, it can't be sent back to iTunes. And unless I'm missing something thats changed, if you want to reload or add stuff to Apple TV, you gotta upload EVERYTHING AGAIN. That can take awhile. Maybe that last statement is false with iTunes 8, but I'm not sure. Theres gotta be a better idea for the money...

Ric

Playstation 3

...it just doesn't have as nice of an interface though...

 

[Gimpy Ric]

I am moving into a house with my girlfriend and we are confronting the usual problems associated with combining two peoples stuff and space. I enjoy electronics and have pieced together a modest home theater system, but currently live in an apartment, and have previously only lived in rentals. I was brainstorming with her the other day in my preparations to move and we were talking about where I would put my TV. I expected it to to into the upstairs living room because I expect I will spend most of my time on the upper level of her one story ranch house. She said something to the effect that she did not want the television controlling her life and suggested I put it downstairs in a sort of family room. I was a little peeved at first but after thinking about it for a minute I became very excited about the idea of having my own room ... A theater room of my own design, where I did not have to make the compromises of a multi-purposed room. Better yet I have virtually free reign to do minor construction projects that I was never able to do in rentals. There are a couple of projects I have in mind for my room. 1st. Dimmer lights that are remote controlled
2nd. Acoustical treatments for the walls
3rd audio for multiple rooms
4th some sort of media server
5th?
I am asking for the help of this forum. I have read it for years and have bought many pieces of equipment based on the recommendations of the group. I have questions about what I should do specifically and I am curious about what other ideas you all have. In return I promise to keep you updated and post lots of pictures on my progress. I hope this generates a lot of interest, I always liked reading about other peoples processes of creation and hope mine will be as entertaining.
Jerad

What else do you need? You said "in her one story ranch house" WHOA PARTNER!!! What will the GF let you get away with? Maybe a bigger sub...Put that on the back burner for now, or maybe not. My Buddy Mazer once said, "Girlfriends come and go...but a good sub lasts a lifetime".

For multi-room sound, check out Niles Audio.

As far as Media Servers go, google your brain out. I like my Apple TV, but I don't love it.

Ric

 

[gus6464]

By media server you mean you want audio and video or just audio?

If you want audio only with backup this is one of the better ways to go.

Squeezebox Duet
http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html

Netgear ReadyNAS 500/750/1TB+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822122020

Add another 500GB HDD to the NAS for $20 more and you have a backup of all music. Then install squeezecenter directly to the NAS so you are not tied to a PC unless you are ripping a CD.

 

[jeradd101]

OK, well my budget is around a couple hundred dollars a month, depending on lots of other things, but my bills are relatively small at the moment.

As far as what I can get away with, nearly anything aside from major wall tearing construction projects (a bigger sub is a possibility, and probably needed)

For media servers, I have a hp desktop computer that was pretty powerful about 4 years ago when I bought it, so that is a possibility if I run some sort of front end, like frontrow, which I have on my macbook, and maybe a way to control it all from the couch.

I guess I should also give you all an idea of what I have at the moment. I have a 44 inch LCD projection by Zenith, a DVR from time warner cable, a PS2, x-box 360 (currently being repaired by Microsoft), a pretty good dvd player from samsung and the receiver is a yamaha rx-v663. The speakers arn't great, mismatched from give aways and pawnshops. I also have a Harmony h659 remote. (that I am wanting to unload for a better model for my DVR.)

Pictures of my new space will follow.

 

[MidnightSensi]

OK, well my budget is around a couple hundred dollars a month, depending on lots of other things, but my bills are relatively small at the moment.

Now that I know this, please ignore what I said in my post.

Why not save up and pay cash? No more monthly payments please!!!!

 

[Davemcc]

I think I would just set up the equipment and see how the relationship goes once you move in together. From the sounds of it, it seems like you're moving into her house and that it will remain very much HER house. No offense meant and I wish you all the best, but it wouldn't hurt to sit back and wait a bit to see how things work out before tearing her house apart and putting it all back together again.

Besides, like Sensi said above, save your money. Your best upgrade will be to replace your mismatch give-away and pawn shop speakers and acoustic treatments.

 

[jcPanny]

HT room

When you save some money, consider adding a front projector and screen to your dedicated room. You need good light control (heavy drapes or blinds) for front projection.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

I agree about saving up for speakers and sub. You've got some nice gear already, so some new woofers and tweeters would be awesome .

 

[jeradd101]

Now that I know this, please ignore what I said in my post.

Why not save up and pay cash? No more monthly payments please!!!!

Oh I meant that this would be a process, not that I would be making payments. I do not like being in debt.