diverdog
Established Member
After many years and homes, I finally have a space for a dedicated room. I’m calling it a screening room rather than a home theatre because it won’t have any trappings like a popcorn machine, posters, bar refrigerator, etc. Every penny spent will help the video and audio take me to another place and time.
A bit about me first: I’m a retired AV engineer / manager. I have a solid STEM education and lots of specialized AV training. Early on my work was mainly in medium to large spaces and more recently very high-end AV presentation and videoconferencing suites. I also had the opportunity to be a live sound mixer for pop bands and theatrical presentations. Although I didn’t have a lot of opportunity to design and install home theaters, I did attend many Cedia, Infocom and AES lectures on applicable technologies. Hearing Dr Toole speak on a variety of subjects pertaining to getting optimal sound in small spaces was eye opening and inspiring for me. Over the last year I’ve been hitting the books and watching lots of Youtube. There are some really smart and experienced people sharing valuable knowledge freely. You just have to be able to separate the gold from the BS!
I’m very pragmatic and skeptical about performance reputation and reviews that are not conducted in a scientific way. I took part in many double-blind listening tests for wires, amps and speakers and learned firsthand about listener prejudice. If you think it’s going to sound better it will, especially if you just spent a big pile of money!! Today the difference between well engineered moderately priced equipment and very expensive equipment is small. I’m always looking for the biggest bang for the buck.
The existing room. Four years ago, I had a semi-custom home built. I couldn’t alter the dimensions of the game room but the external doors and windows where eliminated and I had extra power circuits, CAT6 and coax installed. It’s 19.5’ L x 19’ W x 10’ H.
I’m planning to do all of the construction myself except the drywall demo, HVAC install and projector calibration.
Coming next: room usage and design goals
A bit about me first: I’m a retired AV engineer / manager. I have a solid STEM education and lots of specialized AV training. Early on my work was mainly in medium to large spaces and more recently very high-end AV presentation and videoconferencing suites. I also had the opportunity to be a live sound mixer for pop bands and theatrical presentations. Although I didn’t have a lot of opportunity to design and install home theaters, I did attend many Cedia, Infocom and AES lectures on applicable technologies. Hearing Dr Toole speak on a variety of subjects pertaining to getting optimal sound in small spaces was eye opening and inspiring for me. Over the last year I’ve been hitting the books and watching lots of Youtube. There are some really smart and experienced people sharing valuable knowledge freely. You just have to be able to separate the gold from the BS!
I’m very pragmatic and skeptical about performance reputation and reviews that are not conducted in a scientific way. I took part in many double-blind listening tests for wires, amps and speakers and learned firsthand about listener prejudice. If you think it’s going to sound better it will, especially if you just spent a big pile of money!! Today the difference between well engineered moderately priced equipment and very expensive equipment is small. I’m always looking for the biggest bang for the buck.
The existing room. Four years ago, I had a semi-custom home built. I couldn’t alter the dimensions of the game room but the external doors and windows where eliminated and I had extra power circuits, CAT6 and coax installed. It’s 19.5’ L x 19’ W x 10’ H.
I’m planning to do all of the construction myself except the drywall demo, HVAC install and projector calibration.
Coming next: room usage and design goals
Last edited: