I am going to build a listening room

First, make it aesthetically conducive for relaxed listening.

Second, if you like to listen louder and are at risk of disturbing others, insulate it as much as possible.

Third, start with the right speakers that you like that will fit into that room best. For a smaller room, they need not necessarily be too large or uber-expensive accordingly.

Fourth, start simple, and tweak and adjust one step at a time over time as needed until things are tuned in perfectly.

The thing not to do is go overboard at the outset with treatments, etc. Start simple, assess what you have relative to what you want and take things one step at a time from there.

Make sure your basement won't flood. Next, bring in an electrician and discuss your power needs. finally, survey the soundproofing landscape (sheet vinyl, alternating studs, etc.) to keep the sound to yourself. Good luck!

Suspend the room on springs and make the room spherical. Paint the walls industrial green.

I'm doing the same right now. Roxul is very cool insulation. Any air gaps are your enemy. I even installed cool running can lights so I could insulate right over them (LED). Any in ceiling speakers should be enclosed, no open backs. Quietrock is very neat drywall for walls but is not recommended by the manufacturer for ceilings because it can sag. It's expensive too. Pre-wire and do your best to keep power away from signal, electricians don't seem to care. I ran some extra lines just to future proof things. For the concrete basement floor I put in a floating floor that home depot and lowes sells. It is 14 inch squares with a black plastic backing with feet. They interlock together and can be glued together if you like. It keeps it warmer, keeps any condensation from the floor away from you and helps with small water issues. Floods are a drag but not much you can do except have insurance and keep everything off the ground.

Finally, power: You can never have enough. Whole house surge protectors will stop lighting hits but not as well as you think. We have been hit twice at the pole and even though it tripped the whole house surge, it tripped the surge protectors inside. They are more sensitive and will trip faster than a big 200 amp unit. Do both.

Mike Holmes and others have a bunch of videos on youtube about roxul, quietrock and more. They are worth spending an hour on.

I don't want to burst your bubble, but I do need to caution you. About 15 years ago, in a brand new house, I built my dream-cave which room was to be dedicated to music listening. Long story short...the basement flooded with almost 2 feet of water roughly 2 months after the room was completed. The basement has flooded several times since and has now been de-constructed. All a very sad story with the builders getting off free as a bird.

HAVE I GOT A THREAD FOR YOU!!!...:-)

"The Thread has been listed for the last i don't know how long on one man's "over the top, "step by step journey just above this post!!

Make it look like a hotel room since all the rooms at shows look like hotel rooms. ;-)

P.S. If you're the obsessive-compulsive type like most of us then you are going to have a field day!

Thanks for the input thus far!

I had not considered flooding until it was mentioned in this thread. There are no windows in the room but it does have the challenge of the water service (and electrical service) being located within it. The house is approximately 20 to 30 years old so it has definitely settled by now.

Azjake, can you let me know what that thread is? I would love to see it.

Cdrc, I'm mostly an SS guy but I miht be going with tubes for my next preamp. I also have a pure Class A power amp (Threshold T400). My speakers are Monitor Audio GX300's... a bit big for this room but nicely balanced and lovely sounding. Will have to spend some time with speaker placement and toe-in.

If you can get measurements of the grade of your property, IOW, how high is the house off the ground. What is the history of runoff during heavy storms and and how close is the basement to the water table.
My basement didn't never flooded until after 15 years, water started appearing thru the concrete floor.

Don't mean to be a downer, the house may not leak, but may be sunk too close to the water table.

Pontifex,
I think Azjake is talking about Cdrc's system

Contact Jeff Hedback of HD Acoustics. He does some amazing things!