I'm about to embark on the dedicated home theater/music room build.

[Mag_Neato]

And all of the images on the whole site are broken. Does not usually make me confident in a business.

Hmm, interesting. Does not give one warm and fuzzy feelings.

[Drew888]

Thank you for your replies. I had mentioned this will be a long road but grasping just how long is becoming more of a reality. I haven't yet spent hours/days demoing or reading up on the subject. I currently have a simple space and my first thought before jumping online was only to run conduit to each speaker location and to use better drywall and insolation to keep the higher volumes in check.

I am ok with the 10k in will need on speakers but I wasn't prepared for the expense of the amps. There was a time for all of you when your systems were this modest. At what point did you decide to make the jump to dedicated amps? I'm curious if you can quantify the difference. Then you have later upgraded your speakers (my guess is you did this first) then something drove you to upgrade your amps. Is there an AVR that could do the trick alone?

Once the equipment list is nailed down it's back to room design. Thanks, all.

[Drew888]

I was looking at Emotiva's site and what are your thoughts of the XPA Gen 3 5 or 7ch?

[sludgeogre]

I was looking at Emotiva's site and what are your thoughts of the XPA Gen 3 5 or 7ch?

It's a beast of an amp, it'll drive anything you throw at it. I love my Gen 2 and the Gen 3 has been reported to sound even better. If you have the cash I say go for it. Pair it with an Oppo BDP-105 or a Marantz processor or an Outlaw or even an Emotiva XMC-1, though they are pricey.

[Jaybeez]

Sludgeogre mentions room treatment, which is very important. Before breaking ground, you may want to do some research regarding room design.

Spend some time here: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
And here: http://forum.studiotips.com/index.ph...71d2421f23889c
Rod Gervais is a known expert and I would recommend his book : https://www.amazon.com/Home-Recordin...+like+the+pros

Now all this stuff is oriented toward recording studios, but much / most of the principles apply to any space where you will do critical listening (audio or video).

I did all this research, then worked with my contractor to convert a 3rd car garage (also 8 foot ceilings) originally for recording. As I don't do as much recording anymore, it has transitioned to my listening space and would work well as a home theater.

[Drew888]

Thanks for the info. I had an architect come by last Saturday and my simple room addition now has a California room above it with a French door to it from the master and a spiral staircase down to the back yard and covered hot tub. Hmmm... is this normal, lol.

Anyway, he says it's three months to get all the engineering drawings done and past the city. I have time to read up. I have a feeling it will be a simple/standard family room with just better insulation/drywall with some acoustic treatments.

Before I pay this guy I'd like to draw up a simple plan for your review so searching for free software to do a basic layout. I have to install one side window and in the rear will need to be glass sliders to the backyard patio. I need an equipment space and only have the end behind the screen or the outside wall (if facing the screen it's the left wall) can be 3ft thick (or more) to house all of it and then some.

Drew

P.S. Oh and curious, is it reasonable to have all speakers be Sierra 2's?

Now all this stuff is oriented toward recording studios, but much / most of the principles apply to any space where you will do critical listening (audio or video).

I did all this research, then worked with my contractor to convert a 3rd car garage (also 8 foot ceilings) originally for recording. As I don't do as much recording anymore, it has transitioned to my listening space and would work well as a home theater.

[sludgeogre]

P.S. Oh and curious, is it reasonable to have all speakers be Sierra 2's?

Yes, that is completely reasonable for what it sounds like what the room size is going to be. The only thing you might want to consider is going with a Horizon center, as it really pumps out perfectly focused voices and the deep bass capability makes it so that deep and throaty voices sound incredibly realistic. I haven't heard the S2 center, but man, I really love my Horizon.