Poll : Dedicated room or improvised room ?

Think of all the space you could save if you used a music server instead

 

I've lived in three houses since 1985 and all have had a dedicated listening room. I was sort of a 'package deal'. My current home is the only one that has a room purposely designed for audio. I hope this one will see me out.

 

QUOTE="Dennis Mez, post: 11742445, member: 460"]Dedicated, but improvised.[/QUOTE]
I think that is the reality for most. I chose improvised because there are many compromises.

My room is mostly for audio and well treated with absorption strategically targeted via acoustic measurements but I'd still call it improvised because of compromises.

 

My room is a converted bedroom. Haven't done any treatments, but it sounds good to me and I like the fact that I can go into my cave, close the door and be alone for hours on end. I just wish it were a bit larger.

 

No the house is two stories in the air. Really it is on the side of a hill so all the stories have windows, they are just dug into the hillside. The only story with doors and windows in the back is the main house.

 

Exactly as I have it. Acoustic treatments everywhere. A neat mess as my Mother would say. I love it. Its more of a stereo LAB than a room. Its dimensions are 14wide by 20 long by 8ft high appoximatly, give or take a foot. These dimensions, totally by accident are perfect for audio atleast according to the anceint Greeks and Latins. John M.

 

I used to have a spare bedroom as a dedicated listening room until my son was born. Now that room still holds my record collection and our desk/computer but I was forced to accept a guest bed being put in there, which meant the system had to be relegated to the living room. I've never been happy with audio at my house since. I'm trying hard to find a way to move to a bigger house where I'll be able to have a dedicated room but I don't think it's in the cards for a few more years.

 

Improvised.

However, my ideal would be a hybrid dedicated room, in which acoustics were ideal but would also allow for entertaining. Just like fine wine and whiskey, great music is better when shared, and guests seem to always enjoy it when I play records at parties. Would love to be able to maximize sound and turn others on to the joy of great audio.

 

Neither of the soundrooms in my last two homes were built as dedicated sound rooms.

That said, I bought both houses only after determining that they had rooms that were very suitable for my needs.

I found it mildly amusing that many engineers who came over to my last room asked me who designed it. It did have the look of a sound room that may have been designed with audio in mind, but I really just stumbled into it. My real estate agent though I was bonkers and didn't get how I could determine how a room would sound just by walking through it.

In this house I have a good room too, but it doesn't look like a typical sound room. The reason it works is because of the size and shape as it's pretty inert. Once again, I could tell this merely by looking at it.

Did I mention, that I bought my last few cars with the sound systems being the major factor in those decisions.

What can I say. I guess quality audio playback is fairly important to me.

 

Well, now that I have a dedicated music/HT room in our new house, I think it sounds great.
But as I expected now when I want to listen to music or play a record it's like I have to think about it more. Not sure how to say it.
Before in the old house I just plop down on the living room sofa and start streaming music through a streamer or pop in a CD etc.
I think the dedicated room sounds better but it wasn't like the setup in the old house sounded bad.

Being a Magnepan fan, a dedicated room is definitely better just because of the size of the speakers.
But I do miss the convenience of the improvised room which I expected.

I did put ceiling speakers hooked up to Bluesound streamers through out the house for background listening but it's not quite the same.

 

There should be an "other" category.

I only listen to music in my room, so in that sense it is dedicated. But it isn't a purpose-built room and isn't ideal acoustically. When I think "dedicated room", I think of something that is more ideal for listening than what I have.

 

I doubt many here have ever completely built a special purpose structure from the ground up. If you have a specific room only for the stereo, then renovating it and implementing passive acoustic treatment, etc makes it a dedicated room.

 

Improvised, but I think the non-symmetrical space and sloping ceiling help

 

I have 2 and a half, downstairs I closed off the formal living room which was never used and it houses my tube based system and Jazz collection. Upstair I have a bonus room over the garage it houses a hybrid system and the major part of my record collection. I have a smaller system in my office which i use basically to quickly audition lp's and cd's while i work.
We also have a system in the family room but that's mostly for movies.

 

" fine Wine and Whisky " count me in, for the whisky anyway.

 

Voted Improvised as I'm always balancing sacrifice and trying to find an accord with the spouse in the end...........................cause...
if mama ain't happy.........

 

I'll keep my (imaginary) built in shelves for vinyl and CDs thank you very much.

 

Other than another 'audiophile' friend, I find that guests are not really interested in just sitting and listening. I have music on as background, but when we have guests, they want to talk . . . and we are good hosts and always have wine or cocktails and food etc etc. I cannot really envision "entertaining" in front of the stereo with it used for much more than background music.

My wife and I will sit in the living room, after dinner, lights low, finishing our wine and LISTENING. That's about it, however.

 

Definitely a dedicated room for me - solid walls and floors with speakers and the listening chair well away from walls. Time/phase alignment and digital room correction were also necessary but the end result is as good as I could want. I spend a lot of spare time in that room!

Other rooms and where we entertain guests have mid range speaker systems and streamed digital music which is acceptable for backgound listening

 

That makes sense .

Welcome to the SHF by the way.

Tim

 

My room is the living room...luckily my wife rather have us listen to music than watch TV.

I am not concerned with having the closest to perfect sound anyway...I like cool gear
and music.

 

I set up my listening room as a great place for people to sit, talk and visit. The speakers and the listening chair, while in proper geometric alignment, are not the focus.

I thought the speakers might sound good this way but I had no idea how good.

By not making my #1 priority how my stereo sounded, I ended up with the best sounding stereo I've ever owned.

 

I have both
Built out a room in an unfinished basement with plans\design by a well known professional.
It's split equally between movies and multi-channel music.
My living room has a 2 channel system and will be renovated this spring and summer.
Dedicated rooms are great but even DIY is really expensive and time consuming.

I love having a system on the main floor because I can sit and listen in the sweet spot but also listen from the kitchen, deck and office.
I plan on doing some acoustic treatments with the reno but careful placement of the gear and speakers goes a long way to getting great sound.
I had to move out of a desirable in-city neighborhood and to the burbs to afford a house large enough.

 

Dedicated in the sense that the only function is to listen to music. Yes it is a reconstituted room in a residential house and not new construction following all the rules for good acoustics. It sounds great because it is dedicated and I can install sound absorbing panels, bass traps and not be worried about how the speakers integrate with the furniture, no wife factor involved at all. It actually has very little furniture to deal with; sofa, coffee table, CD racks, component stand and that is it. I can set my speakers equal distance from the front and side walls with nothing interfering with this placement. As someone said there is always a need for a stable surface for those drinks, so yes there is a coffee table between me and the speakers but it is loaded with magazines and a cloth so its not too reflective. Am I 100% satisfied, absolutely not, but it is as good as I am going to get it and that is plenty good. For its size it sounds great but I would like to have my speaker about two feet further apart and my sitting position two feet further back so my dream room would have to be two times the size that this one is and that will only be achieved when I move in about eight or ten years. I have had this room for about three years now and it took about three years to get it as good as it is now in terms of furnishing, or lack of and acoustical treatments. It took about five years before that of constant negotiation with the wife to give up the living room to me, but I won, so persistence paid off. When I gave away the wall unit, sofa, chair and end table along with putting all the nick knacks in card board boxes you should have seen the look on her face, it wasn't pretty. I have a few scars, but I have my dedicated listening room.

 

I used to have a coffee table in front, but I got rid of it. Now, I have a small end table to put drinks on. Getting rid of the coffee table was an improvement.