When constructing a dedicated listening room, there are several key factors to consider. Here are some valuable pieces of advice to keep in mind based on lessons learned:
Room Acoustics: Pay careful attention to room acoustics as they greatly impact sound quality. Consider the dimensions, shape, and materials used in the room. Incorporate acoustic treatments such as sound-absorbing panels, diffusers, and bass traps to control reflections and optimize sound.
Sound Isolation: Focus on sound isolation to minimize external noise and disturbances. Use specialized construction techniques like double walls, decoupled ceilings, and resilient flooring to prevent sound leakage. Proper insulation and sealing are crucial to create a quiet and immersive listening environment.
HVAC and Electrical: Plan HVAC systems to maintain stable temperature and humidity levels for optimum sound performance. Ensure electrical wiring is properly installed with dedicated circuits to avoid noise interference and accommodate audio equipment needs.
Room Layout and Speaker Placement: Design the room layout with careful consideration of speaker placement. Consult with experts or utilize acoustic modeling software to determine optimal speaker positioning, listener seating, and room dimensions for the best soundstage and imaging.
Room Treatments: Incorporate additional room treatments like diffusers, bass traps, and acoustic panels strategically placed to enhance sound quality and reduce resonances. Experiment with different placements to find the most favorable acoustic response.
Cable Management: Plan for proper cable management to avoid signal degradation and maintain a clean aesthetic. Use high-quality cables and keep them organized and well-routed to minimize interference and ensure optimal signal transfer.
Flexibility: Allow for flexibility in the room design to accommodate future upgrades or changes in audio equipment. Consider adjustable furniture, modular acoustic treatments, and wiring infrastructure that can adapt to evolving needs.
Fine-Tuning: After construction, fine-tune the room through careful listening tests, acoustic measurements, and adjustments to achieve the desired sound balance and sonic accuracy. Consider professional help or calibration tools for precise audio calibration.
Remember, each listening room is unique, and personal preferences may vary. It’s beneficial to consult with acoustics experts, audio engineers, or dedicated listening room designers who can provide tailored advice based on your specific goals and requirements geometry dash
I understand that Green Glue is not a glue - it is a sealant or filler. I prefer something that contributes both actively and passively, like M1. Being a strong adhesive, M1 bonds the two layers together, adding their strength. This benefits the occupant of the sound room by rigidifying the walls.
Being elastomeric, M1 also dampens. This benefits those on the other side of the walls who aren't forced to listen - but not as much as Green Glue, I suspect.
Being selfish, I went with M1 and am well satisfied.
I stumbled upon this thread and thought I'd share my thoughts. I love the idea of a dedicated listening room, and your plan for the walls sounds great. For the floor, have you consider adding an additional layer of plywood with Green Glue sandwiched between them? That should help with any potential shudder.
On a side note, I'm also looking to upgrade my bonus room, and I'm thinking of adding some French doors for more natural light. I discovered doorsdirect2u.co.uk and was wondering if anyone has used them before and what their experience was like. Any feedback would be appreciated!
@dodgealum Just saw your post. Hope this is not too late.
I did an old world solution for my home theatre: sand. I put mixed fine and coarse sand into the spaces between joists, about 2".
That is: at the framing stage, double or triple all joists - I used LVL, screwed and glued. Screw and glue (elastomeric M1 works well) a layer of plywood to the bottom of the joists. Fill the cavities with 2-4" of mixed sand. Get an engineer to sanction this.
What you have is a preloaded floor, immune from squeaking and fairly soundproof. I guess you could add rock wool insulation above the sand for the last added iota of sound proofing.
I agree that you need to think about sockets and wiring in principle. From experience I can say that it is very difficult and expensive to redo something.
All super helpful comments here. I'm in the final design phase for my 17 X 23 with peaked ceiling bonus room over the garage and need to specify build specs for floor, interior/exterior walls, and ceiling. Here is what I am thinking:
5/8" drywall screwed and green glued over studs (2X6 exterior and 2X4 interior) with mass loaded vinyl sheets and rockwool sound batts within the cavities of interior walls (regular insulation on the exterior walls).
5/8" Quiet Rock on the front wall behind the speakers to create dead end/live end arrangement.
Not sure what to do with the floor joists and flooring could use some help here since this will be the most problamatic surface--brace the joists and add a layer of mass loaded vinyl beneath the plywood flooring? The floor cavities will be filled with regular insulation since the unheated garage is below.
The goal is less about sound insulation and more about making the room sound good--reducing wall and floor shudder, etc.
Some of the best sound acoustics I heard were in a basement listening room, with a slab floor and cinderblock walls up to about three or 4 feet, with framed walls up to the ceiling. The rigidity of the floor and walls made the bass awesome!
Obligatory sound isolation. If you have windows, then buy thick curtains. When you finish, buy a good recliner where you can sit and relax. Try the fourth one https://www.reclinerland.com/best-recliners/ Great comfort at a great price. Has lever to adjust reclining feature. Great chair for listening to music or watching TV! or just relaxing!
If you decide to build a house, you will definitely have a question of what to build?
What building materials to choose?
If you have decided to build a house, today you can easily get confused in the huge range and variety of materials that are on the construction market.
With the help of this site we will help you to study the question "What is Termodom?" and “Why in recent years, the number of houses built using this technology is growing, almost exponentially?”
A bit of history:
The ancestor of today's Thermodom technology was the "
depositphotos" technology, which appeared in Italy in the distant 70s of the last century. In 1976, already in Germany, the Renova-Termodom company launched the production of thermoblocks. The technology proved to be excellent in Germany and began to spread around the world, later it also reached Ukraine.
Ukraine was the first of the CIS countries in January 1995 to adopt state building codes regulating all issues of building houses from polystyrene foam blocks of fixed formwork (DBN V.2.6-6-95). According to the current standards in Ukraine, the construction of THERMODHOUSES up to 5 floors inclusive is allowed.
In Germany, building codes allow building using this technology up to 22 floors, and in Russia and Georgia - up to 9 floors. In addition to the above countries, Thermodom technology is popular in the USA, Canada, Israel, Holland, Finland and many others. In Bulgaria, for example, the owners of houses built using energy-saving technology Termodom are exempt from paying land tax for up to 15 years.
In Ukraine, Termodom technology is becoming more popular every year. Confirmation of this is the awarding of our products with the honorary title "The best wine in the life of life" in 2004 during participation in the prestigious competition "Vinahid - 2004".
The technology impresses with its simplicity, efficiency, and most importantly - results.
THERMODHOUSE is a house, the walls of which are built from lightweight polystyrene foam blocks. Such blocks are called thermoblocks and are, in fact, fixed formwork. Filled with concrete, they form a monolithic wall 150 mm thick, insulated on both sides with polystyrene foam boards 50 mm each.
THERMOBLOCK is the basis of our construction technology Termodom. It consists of two polystyrene foam plates connected to each other by a plastic or the same polystyrene foam jumper.
It performs several important functions:
serves as a fixed formwork for concrete, which greatly simplifies the construction process;
is a wall insulation on both sides and gives it unique thermal insulation properties;
can significantly reduce construction costs.
The use of TERMODOM technology is:
reduction of construction time;
savings in the construction of the foundation;
savings in the construction of wall structures;
structural strength;
reduction of labor costs during the installation of walls;
high thermal performance of the walls.
Individual residential buildings, cottages, high-rise buildings, cascading apartment buildings, administrative and public buildings, industrial workshops and warehouses, swimming pools and refrigerators - this is an incomplete list of objects that can be built using Termodom technology
Lots of helpful advice. I’m in a similar position so appreciate the expertise. My dedicated room will be a bonus room above the garage so little worry about soundproofing other than a sturdy door. My main concern is trying to find the right mix of design and build materials so that the space is neither too dead or reflective. The room is 21x15 with 5 foot knee walks going up to a 9 foot peak. There will be a shed dormer on one of the long walls and the system will be on a short (exterior) wall. I will do a wall mount shelf for the table screwed into a boxed in section of the wall between the 2x4 studs. I did this at our prior home and it worked well. I’d appreciate thoughts/opinions on the room dimensions and use of building materials and room treatments that will diminish first reflections and bass nodes/issues—please PM me if your suggestions do not also apply to the OP.
If you are talking about a recording room, then it is clearly not worth saving on the material for the skin, as this is very important. Also, for the future, I can advise a team of guys https://www.homequote.io/windows/minneapolis-mn , who replace and install windows, everything is at the highest level, so you can safely contact
When building over a garage, make sure to tile the floor (thickest tile possible). My friend's master bedroom, converted to a listening room, was over the garage and had absolutely NO BASS. The plywood subfloor soaked it up like a sponge.
About 15 months ago we moved into our "forever home", with bonus room above the garage, which my developer was willing to customize (to an extent). Besides having them move an interior wall from the typical design (giving me 19+' of wall for the components), I had them upgrade the carpet and padding, had them do a CAT6 run and dedicated 4 outlet grounded 20amp electrical run. Not only is this a great sounding room, when I'm playing my music loud, my wife is not at all disturbed watching TV down in the living room!
I thought about my house not so long ago, now people are working on plans, and I wanted to do the design already. Additional noise reduction, I wanted a panoramic window, but I realized it was stupid. Plus the cabinet layout.
It dawned on me that if you are setting up a permanent home-theater (i.e. will always be in same location), you should probably put some electrical outlets in the floor where your seating will be. Modern HT chairs have USB outlets, motors and regular outlets built in. and you don't want wires to trip over if you plug them into wall outlets.
Lots of good suggestions here. I incorporated many/most of them when I built a 38x28 addition on the end of our home. Concrete floor with extra foundation against earthquakes (it IS California!). Double offset stud walls using 2x6s, soundproofing, double door into room from remainder of house with one door constructed with internal sound deadening, etc. The only suggestion I would add that I did not see above is to avoid a flat ceiling (maybe I missed it); mine ranges between 8 and 10 feet peaking off center. Sonics are superb and my son's blues band uses it for practice and recording. Good luck.
Completed my two channel listening room a bit over a year ago. The quality of silence is surprising; guests remarked upon it as soon as they entered, in pre-Covid days.
Dimensions. Snake oil abounds. Fortunately, the real science has been done, at the University of Salford (UK), in their School of Acoustics. The famous Cox teaches there. They ran 100,000's of simulations to arrive at optimal ratios - they found that MOST rectangular dimensions are bad, a quarter are OK, and a few percent are good.
Stereophile ran an article about two years ago on construction techniques. They stressed rigidity and glue. I used an elastomeric glue that never quite dries, and it's elastomeric counterpart caulking, called Build Secure and M1 respectively (from Chemlink).
Walls and ceiling used 6 layer drywall including an embedded layer of sheet steel, called Quietrock 545. The manufacturer is knowledgeable and very accommodating. Construction techniques are also discussed on their website.
Isolation transformers tend to hum when they are doing their job. Best to site them outside the listening room. Don't forget air lines - you just may end up with an air bearing TT or tonearm, or both.
If you live in an area prone to a lot of lightning, underground transmission lines and/or a master disconnect. Also, avoid anything outside that can conduct electricity. A strike can come from someplace other than the transmission lines (a reason a whole house surge protector is not as effective as "local" ones which are not as effective as unplugging the components.)
Don't use or allow nails. Screws don't 'back out', esp. since new lumber is generally wet. Unless you spec 'kiln dried' #1. But screw everything anyway.
I've seen some really 'cretin' nail gun connections, to the point of a intersect looking like Pinhead on a 'bad hair day'...
DON’T settle, do it right. DON’T get sold a lot of shi$ you don’t need either.
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It only cost YOU money, just like I said. Watch your money and it will go a long ways..
You already have a GREAT model, now refine it. If you notice what was said;
"all the computer simulations in the world won't be any replacement for in-room measurements and calibration once the system and furniture are actually in that room."
I'm gonna add get to know your room, listen. I have a room that was designed with IB in mind with built in equipment racks between the two They ARE 120 cf pockets HUGE. Traps and IB pockets.. That was the plan 35 years ago.. JUST now getting to it.. Broken necks, heart attacks and Covid.. Talk about the brakes getting applied..
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Though the suggestions are grand I also noticed this part also;
"answer to for excessive SPL's - money well-spent on the room versus spending it on a lawyer later."
When you hire someone to plan out your sound room, guess what, THEY screw up YOU have to get the Lawyer. The NOISE complaint will have nothing to do with them. It's a NOISE complaint, not a music complaint.
Now if the chandeliers start keeping beat in the neighbors house, when your listening to your 45s at 70 db that might be an issue.
As for doing it right first, you have, READ A BOOK and don't second guess your own ideas.
Just don't try to make round rooms work, they won't.
I read "Isolate the sound room" Horse pucky, studios are nice, so are integrated sound rooms, nothing I like more that to be able to hear music while I'm cooking.. I'm THE COOK. I OPEN two french doors and draw heavy curtains in front of that opening while in concert. They act as wiers.
Windows? nothing wrong with windows or doors. Don't get hollow core doors and I don't think you can buy a cheap noisy window anymore, code won't let you..How they look that's up yo you. I want more than one way out. I don't enter rooms with ONE door EVER.. Have have a least a window and a stool, so I can break out the window.. NO EXEPTIONS!!
Might be fun for you to read early Absolute Sound mags from the early 70’s that describes JWC’s transmission line that he built into his house. Pretty extreme!
EXCERPT: "Planning the Room: Size and Dimensional Ratio
The first step in any room design is choosing the room’s size and dimensional ratios—the ratio of the length to the width to the height. This ratio has a very large effect on the room’s sound, particularly in the bass. Good room ratios spread out the room’s resonant modes more evenly, resulting in smoother and more linear bottom octaves. Explaining the importance of room ratios is beyond the scope of this article (The Complete Guide to High-End Audio’s chapter on room acoustics breaks it down), but know that the length-to-width-to-height ratio is the crucial starting point.
Fortunately, acoustic-design consultant John Brant has created an excellent tool on his website (jhbrandt.net) for evaluating room dimensions. The free downloadable spreadsheet performs a detailed acoustical analysis on any set of ratios that you enter. The tool plots all the resonance modes graphically, shows you if the resonance distribution meets the “Bonello Criterion,” and suggests ideal ratios, among other analyses. In addition to the dimensional-ratio spreadsheet, the site includes many other valuable resources for room design. Art Noxon, founder of Acoustic Sciences Corporation, inventor of the famous Tube Trap, and consultant on my room explains room ratios in the sidebar accompanying this article.
In practice, the listening room’s dimensions are also influenced by real-world considerations such as the amount of real estate you’re prepared to commit to the room and how the room fits into the floorplan of the rest of the house. It’s easy to forget that the listening room is just one part of a house and must integrate with the rest of that house in many ways. Keep in mind that good room ratios span a spectrum in which you’ll get good sound. Generally, the larger the room the better the sound (assuming good dimensional ratios); a large room spreads out the resonance modes more smoothly than a small room does, resulting in flatter bass. My room is 27′ long and 17′ wide, and the ceiling is 11′ tall. After living with the finished room for about three months at the time of this writing, I’m very happy with the size and feel of the space.
Once you’ve decided on the room’s dimensions, the next consideration is the room’s wall construction. There’s a wide spectrum of framing and construction techniques that improve the room’s sound quality as well keep sound in the listening room from getting into the rest of the house. You must decide how important this sound-proofing is to domestic harmony, and then choose the wall-construction technique that fits your budget and needs. I’ll share with you just a few examples of the vast range of wall constructions. But first you should know that a wall’s “transmission loss” (reduction in sound amplitude from one side of the wall to the other) is specified as an STC (“sound transmission class”) rating. The higher the number the greater the wall’s attenuation of sound. A standard 2×4 wood-framed wall (16″ on-center) filled with insulation and with 1/2″ gypsum board (drywall) on both sides is specified as STC-35—not a very high value. With music playing at a moderate level inside this room, standing just outside the room you would be able to clearly hear and identify the music. The next step up is to use 2×6 plate with 2×4 studs that are staggered. This costs next to nothing, but increases the STC rating. For a nominal additional cost you can use 5/8″ Type X Sheetrock on the wall outside the listening room and gain a few dB of additional transmission loss. Acoustic supply houses sell gypsum board composed of two layers of gypsum separated by a viscoelastic polymer (SoundBreak XP from National Gypsum, for example) that blocks more sound than does conventional drywall. You can also hang vinyl material inside the wall for even greater isolation. Double drywall adds to the transmission loss. I’ve mentioned this small sample of materials and techniques to illustrate that you can dial-in the amount of isolation you need, and balance it against your budget, with great precision. The gypsum board manufacturers (USG and National Gypsum, for examples) publish a wealth of useful information about the various wall-construction techniques and their sound-blocking performances. As Art Noxon explains in the sidebar, however, soundproofing and optimizing audio quality inside the listening room is more complex than simple soundproofing. The wall inside the listening room should be treated very differently from the wall outside the listening room, as we’ll see.
One of the problems of frame construction is that bass energy from inside the listening room puts the wooden-frame-and-drywall structure into motion—a bass impact, for example, makes the wall move. That wall motion, unfortunately, converts the stored mechanical energy in the wall back into sound after the transient is over (Fig. 1). Art Noxon has called this phenomenon “wall shudder.” Wall shudder colors the bass tonally because the walls will vibrate at their natural resonant frequencies, adding energy at that frequency. Moreover, the wall movement is chaotic. It doesn’t take much wall motion to hear tonal coloration because the acoustic output of a vibrating object is a function of the object’s excursion (how far it moves) and its surface area. With a large surface area such as a wall, even a very small excursion can produce an acoustic output.
Wall shudder also distorts music’s dynamics. Some of the transient’s acoustic energy is turned into structural resonance of the wall, diminishing the transient’s attack and thus the sense of suddenness and dynamic life. Then, as the wall releases that energy over time, the transient’s decay is smeared. The result is a distortion of an instrument’s dynamic envelope and thus a diminution of music’s dynamic expression. Moreover, wall shudder masks the delicate spatial cues that our brains need to form the sense of a fully developed soundstage, the space within it, and the impression of bloom and air around instrumental outlines. All these subtle forms of distortion add up and contribute to a hi-fi system sounding like a facsimile rather than like the real thing.
Another way in which listening rooms color the sound is familiar to anyone who has set up a full-range speaker: tubby and lumpy bass. The listening room selectively reinforces some frequencies and cancels others, with the frequencies reinforced and canceled determined by the room’s dimensions and the speakers’ and listener’s positions. This is one reason why some sort of bass trap is essential in every room.
To summarize, the three primary problems inherent in music-listening rooms are: 1) sound leaking from the music room into the rest of the house; 2) wall shudder; and 3) excess bass that requires bass traps in the listening room..."
Good proportions, solid wood floors, large Persian rug with proper heavy felt underlay, wood paneled walls, rock wall, wall paper or flat paint, crown moulding, acoustic ceiling. And no glazed artwork.
Yes I said acoustic ceiling! I know a everyone thinks these are out of style...and the soft, asbestos-laden ones are. But the early, concrete-like ones, are not just good, they're phenomenal.
My last house had one of the ceilings as well as all those other features including a rock wall. It was a mid century modern time capsule that I bought from the original owners. It wasn't perfect...but was easily the best sounding room ever I've been in. Meaning the clearest mid-bass and lower bass I've ever experienced. Super clean. Deep and tall soundstage. Soundstage did lack width. But it was good enough. Excellent high end too. It was not a dead room. It was a room with a lot of diffusion and very little absorption but it worked. It was also 16' x 32'.
There was not a shiny thing in that room. All artwork was tapestry, wood-carved or textured.
I have moved all over the country for work and have taken my stereo with me. I've been fortunate to have some great spaces to listen in. The best rooms had acoustic ceilings in common.
YEs good point....locate your best equipment in the basement on that solid concrete foundation...best tweak ever is for floors to not vibrate .......finish with dense thin pad and carpet.
Take a lot of pictures during the process, I mean a lot. Takes very little effort and you'll be glad you did at some point. Use a tape measure to show stud locations. Don't forget the ceiling! You may need those for hanging acoustic treatments. Have fun.
Be careful with the 12 foot ceiling dimension relative to the other two of the rectangular box. Understand the difference between sound isolation (soundproofing) and acoustics. Isolation is a science, acoustics an art. Only thing to add about isolation is close up every hole and gap with acoustic sealant and put seals on the door because that’s where the sound will escape. And don’t be surprised if the low frequencies still get out after doing all of the other soundproofing. Design for flexibility in speaker placement and seating position. If your room is 12x12x12 change it. First time post from an architect.
Neurop Building a room as we speak. Couple of thoughts. Get the room dimensions as ideal as practical. Your challenge will always be bass management and keeping your noise away from the rest of the home. High ceiling is preferred. Generally speaking, steel joists are preferred over wood. 24” OC better than 16”. For not much additional cost, frame room with 8, 10, or even 12” studs and plan to incorporate, integrate, bass traps into the walls, ceiling, floor etc to keep your room open as real estate is expensive. You will thank yourself later on. Bass management is one of most expensive elements to do correctly. Everyone’s advice is spot on from mass loaded vinyl, to double 5/8 gypsum, double walls if possible. Also, your weak link will be your windows. Tuff WAF, but best not to have any, especially at the listening level. Windows with STF’s above 50 will cost you. Door(s), 2 solid core doors separated by an air lock. Affordable. Try and float the floor with a sound absorbing mat, 2 layers of 3/4 ply and some green glue or similar in between if not on concrete. Don’t allow wall and floors to touch. Seperate by 1/8 to 1/4” and fill in with acoustical calk. Plug ALL penetrations (no jokes please), especially outlets with putty pads or similar. More details on line. Best.
- The planning phase is where you determine that ultimate potential that your room will have. Your system will never be any better than the room will allow it to be. - I've been designing, calibrating and treating systems and rooms for the past 14 years, and it's much easier to work it out on paper/computer than to "fix" it later. - Proportions are absolutely critical, so figure out the max footprint you have to work with and then work through the various tables that give you best-case scenarios for minimizing standing waves for a room that will fit that footprint. All else being equal, a bigger room is better to a point, as the severity of modal problems tend to be less in a bigger room. - Ideally, try to acoustically separate the room from the rest of the house if you have anyone to answer to for excessive SPL's - money well-spent on the room versus spending it on a lawyer later. This includes structural isolation and acoustic treatments. If you're doing a slab floor there are ways to isolate and properly treat that. If you'll have a wood-framed floor under the room, be extra careful in the design phase, as a wood floor system becomes a type of passive radiator with a very substantial resonant frequency that can ruin an otherwise great room. - Pay attention to what the eventual decay time (RT-60) will be in the room - this can be approximated by computer model, and there are guidelines for what's appropriate depending on whether or not you'll be listening to 2-channel music or surround sound A/V. - Be sure to make the back of the room slightly more acoustically "alive" than the front. - Expect to balance diffusion/absorption/reflection with room treatments in the final phase - all the computer simulations in the world won't be any replacement for in-room measurements and calibration once the system and furniture are actually in that room. - Home-run 10ga. feeds to the head-end outlets, ideally from an isolated sub-panel. - Glass isn't nearly as bad acoustically as one might think, but it does tend to let in a lot of outside noise, so I'd try to minimize the glass and keep it away from the front of the room or the first reflection points. - And finally, if you can design the room to include infinite baffle subs...do it! I built my home back in PA 24 years ago, and was able to integrate infinite baffle subs into my listening room, and have used them in a world-class ground-up listening room build, and there is nothing like them. Effortless bass down to 10Hz, magnificent harmonic richness that carries up into the midrange, unmatched punch and dynamics. I moved to NM 4 years ago into a house with no IB option, and not a day goes by that I don't miss them. You have to design the room around them, but if you can pull it off, you will be rewarded. Be sure to computer model the room and place them properly in the design phase, as they become part of the structure of the room and can't be moved in the future; putting them in an acoustic null or peak will be a problem that only EQ can minimize, and that will neuter the bass. - Take your time and get it right now, and you'll enjoy that system forever. Hope that helps!
Do you have a turntable that you will be using for more than 50% of your listening? If yes look at isolating the turntable. You will loose the option to move it but I had a cement pad installed into the floor that is suspended or supported by the foundation walls not the floor joists. I have no vibrations or issues when someone walks in the room. The other method I have heard of is creating a support stricture in the wall studs tied into the foundation for a wall mount turntable bracket. also don’t forget to run quality Ethernet wire for internet connection. Wireless is only a tool of convince always hard wire your streaming source. Lighting I mounted crown 6 inched down from the wall ceiling intersection and dropped color changing, dimming led strips. This allows you to create any mood setting you like.
I really appreciate all of the great advice and thoughts. The house will be 1 floor and no basement. Fortunately my wife has a hands off approach to this project (she gets to do the rest of the house). The room will be rectangular with 12 foot ceiling. Several of you mention the "right proportions" - opinions on what these proportions are? Thanks again!
Like me you are really fortunate to be able to start from zero with your listening room. I had been doing hi-fi for 50 years before my chance came. There are already some great suggestions above, so I won't repeat any of those..
My room is in the basement. As I've said in other posts this gives real advantage by enabling all equipment to be in hard contact with the floor/ground so it cannot move or vibrate, causing distortion of the signal and corruption of the soundstage. Ensure the mass loading is maximised by using heavy support materials.
A basement siting also removes the temptation to include windows. Glass is about the hardest most reflective substance there is and can reflect sound waves behind curtains and blinds. Concert halls and recording studios don't have windows.
With an empty page, acoustic design starts from scratch. So there is every chance to get it exactly right. There is a temptation to over-damp with thick layers of padding on the walls and thick rugs. Even ceiling treatment. This is not the best way to go, some sound reflection is required, to create a realistic soundstage and room boundaries. So I very strongly recommend paying for an acoustician with relevant expertise and experience to advise; the price will be very small relative to the overall construction cost.
Prepare for a shock. You will have a bigger sound quality upgrade than an order of magnitude more expenditure on equipment, wires, tweaks, the lot.
If you're married have your better half sign off on absolutely everything you are going to do beforehand. My mistake was getting her to sign off on this being my room alone to do with what I wanted. Thirty years later complaints were still coming in, fortunately only sporadically.
Plan room entrances and walkways carefully so as to not interfere with speaker placement. I messed up on this and now have to place speakers much closer to the walls than would be ideal, and had to avoid ported speakers due to the wall's proximity.
Another small issue is not to have a couch for your prime listening spot that has the crack between it's cushions exactly where you need to sit. That alone will provide a daily annoyance that can last you years on end. Plan the rooms decor to go with your speakers, or vice versa. That helps on the marital front too.
You've gotten a lot of good suggestions on this thread so far.. Good luck with the construction.
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