Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

[Ryan_M]

I'm moving in ~6months and want to get a jumpstart on designing my basement (yep the SWMBO says its all mine!). I have other things I want to do down there but the layout for listening to music is first priority. This system will also do double duty for HT as well. Planning on a ~54" Plasma if it matters. I really don't have any idea of room treatments etc. and figured it'd be a good idea to get a good bit of that figured out before I start finishing so I can do it RIGHT.

Requirements (AFAIK)
- I only need one couch and maybe a couple chair in case some friends drop by to watch the hockey game.
- I'm building Zaphs WgTMM's now and am starting on the RS TMWW's, I would eventually like to run something like the Statements or similar.
- I have one RSS315HF and plan on another at least

Again I don't really know beyond that what it is that I need. Below is dimensioned 'plans' as best as I could get off the pamphlet plus the limited measurements I took from the model home - in inches. There are also some pics of the model home which should very closely match what mine turns out as except I am getting 9' ceilings. Sorry it seems like such an open ended question. It's a blank canvas, so have at it!











Thanks for any input!!

[johnlinvell]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Why do they always have to put the furnace and the hot water heater in the center like that?.......It just kills a room......

[DoubleTap]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Why do they always have to put the furnace and the hot water heater in the center like that?.......It just kills a room......

Exactly what I was thinking, and those support poles too.

Looking at the layout, that's a tough one to figure. You could relocate the support pole on the left a bit to the right (insert a new one then cut the old one off at the floor), and then you'd have a nice space with seating close the the stairs and speakers/TV to the left of the HVAC closet.

Why not consider a projector? It's plenty dark in the basement, and they are better acoustically speaking ... and bigger is always better On the right side of the HVAC closet would be a nice pool table space.

[biff]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

If it were possible, I'd put my sweet seat between the pole and the stairs, speakers about 11 ft. from the sides and each other on that west wall. Subs can be a trial and error thing, but if most of my listening were solo and a single I would put it close to my seat and adjust phase on the amp until I get max output at XO. John K., IIRC, has a nice piece regarding the audibility of room modes and sub placement and I believe the coclusion for a single listener was near field as being optimum. That setup will give you the least amount of early reflections in the lateral plane and good imaging. You could frame out the pole as a table, light, whatever and bring a power and signal there for the sub, or even bass shaker things for the couch or seat. That would also give you the opportunity for side channels at equal distances, or rears behind or in the ceiling. You could put your electronics in that bump out on that wall by just shelving in there.

I wired my house for audio about 9 years ago and was clueless about HDMI, etc. at that time and when I go hi-def/blu-ray will need to do some serious relocating which I am hating already. I now see the benefit of having your gear near the monitor and distribution points. Plan ahead and maybe visit with a CEDIA guy for tips before you hang the last sheetrock. This area has it's challenges, but also good potential! Have fun with it!

[MSaturn]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Blue is room treatments, yellow is speakers, white is walls, and reddish is furniture.

[ServantLeader]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

I think that you would be better off rotating the H/T clockwise 45 degrees. Maybe even add a wall(s) to separate the H/T room from the rest of the "Man Pad"

I would love to have a basement like that.

[gowa]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Why do they always have to put the furnace and the hot water heater in the center like that?.......It just kills a room......

They usually put the furnace in the center of the house to ensure even heat distribution. That one is against the outer wall which is an unusual layout for sure. Strange layout. It looks like the furnace was an after thought.
Where does that door lead and what is the height of that duct?

[Ryan_M]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Gowa,
You're right, some of the other models had the furnace/water heater right in the middle of the biggest area which would really suck so I guess I'm lucky they at least placed it off to the side. That door leads to the cold cellar or the 'secret room', and the hight to the vent should be ~8ft. I paid for 9 ft. ceilings and the vents look ~12" deep... I could be a few inches off though.

MSat,
That's just awesome! Seriously, thanks for taking the time to MSpaint in your ideas. Yeah I do want to have a little sports bar area and your idea may just be the way to do it. I'd be planting in a LCD for the game probably behind the bar. I think I'd prefer a shuffle board over a pool table though but still a good idea. I don't know what you've drawn in under the 'reduced headroom area' but it gave me an idea to put in a 'u' shaped booth in there. I'm going to have to nix your scotch lounge area though. I'm planing to use that area for a computer room and have my metal working machines in there too, lathe, mill, at least. And put a wall with a door where you've drawn an arch. But maybe I can make a split and compromise! Again thanks for the ideas, that's what I was hoping for when starting this thread.

DoubleTap, I'll look into projectors but I've yet to see one that looks even tolerable let alone something that I'd actually pay money for. Maybe I've just seen bad examples but I'll certainly look into the possibility.

Biff, (BTW that's my handle on every other forum I'm on so thanks for stealing it! :-) I'm more inclined to make the bass response for the entire basement smooth instead of just near field (at least as best as I can make it). I only have one sub now and it drives me NUTS how the bass sounds in different parts of the basement. Not a bad idea just not what I'm looking for.

Thanks a lot everyone for the input, please keep it coming!!
Ryan

[MSaturn]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Heh heh, what is life without a scotch lounge?

And I was going for a U-shaped booth - way to catch on. That is definitely not the prettiest U-shaped booth I've ever drawn ;P

[jcandy]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

I would love to have a basement like that.

I would love to have a basement, period. Alas, I traded the "Canadian Climate" for the "California Climate". C'est dommage!

[gowa]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Allot depends on what your building regulations are. Here we need to have a minimum of 30'' between the studs and the furnace. Where is the rough-in for your Bathroom / Laundry room?

[ServantLeader]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

Perhaps the laundry room is up stairs? An d as far as the required spacing, I am sure you could get around that if the wall was removable

[john trials]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

- I have one RSS315HF and plan on another at least

The RSS315HF-4 just went on sale. Grab a bunch!

[MagicO309d]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

If you still have time, you may want to rethink your HVAC system and upgrade to hydronic radiant floor or baseboard heating and put the noisy A/C gear in the attic instead. I upgraded from oil/steam to gas/hydronic last year and cut my monthly heating bills in half! Payback time will be under 5 years!

The Buderus line of modulating/condensing boilers operate virtually silently too, my old boiler sounded like a Saturn V rocket making my basement only useful for shop use during the winter.

[acacia987]

Re: Need help laying out my 'Man Cave'

dont know if you tried this yet, but AVSfurom has a thread dedicated to theater/media room builds. Alot of good ideas there.