Here is an example of working with what you have got.  The alcove came about from maximizing rooms space around mechanicals (furnace, sump pumps, water conditioning).  I also had a beautiful old hooker entertainment center that worked great with a 36" TV but who uses those CRT's anymore...Geesh!

The benefit was that flutter echo was minimized side to side from the slight none symmetry of the side walls due to this alcove.

Ah...That is recycling at it's finest!  The entertainment center makes a fine bassman amp storage bay.  Now where do I put all those other amps?

View from the third corner...

You can see the blackout curtain over the third window.

So give me a couple more years and you will see a final product.  (hope I didn't jinks myself)

Oh... and one more shot of the ceiling.  I have thought long and hard about getting the ceiling right.  Here were the issues:

1. What is inexpensive?
2. Can be removed to service mechanicals in the ceiling?
3. Is sonically dark?
4. Is visually dark?
5. Attenuates low frequencies?

This concrete insullation board is what I came up with.  Before I installed it each rafter has foam strips...then the boards are lightly screwed to the ceiling so they can float and minimize transmission of LF.  Now my next question is "how to make it look good?"  or "do I care?"  I will probably hide someof it with cloth but it is low priority to me.

Also you will notice inexpensive diffusors.  Take 2 x 4" pine wood boards and cut them to various dimensions and angles and glue them to a thin board.  Presto! Three dollar diffusors.  If you put a mirror on the ceiling and look from your sweet spot seat, if you can see one of the LRC speakers then a diffusor should go there.  This makes the room really open up.  I plan on adding more diffusors in the front ceiling area to get a Live End Dead End, Chips Davis approach.

 So now you know a little more about Professor Thump's Man Cave...

Awesome work... looks very nice, and I bet it sounds even better. Nothing like building it yourself :)

Who else could have an inverted woofer as the centerpiece on the coffee table, and not have it look out of place? That's awesome.

Question about the early photo... I notice these large bundles of red/white/blue... cables? tubes? pipes?  What are they & for?  

Yeah,

I had never seen that either before I bought this house.  Those are water pipes or actually tubes.  I can turn each of the tubes off at the master valve where the main comes in from the well.

As far as the driver...That is a JBL D120 FYI...Classy Driver!  I need to recone it, so it is temperarily a coffee table display.

 Professor Thump, that looks like a great mancave.

Also your honest opinion, how do you compare the thx system to the rf-83? Your likes and dislikes of each. Be honest please. 

Nice man cave Professor Thump!  That's some really nice stonework and the room is coming along very nicely.   

 Square is all relative...  I've been rebuilding a bathroom for quite a while now and just replaced a back door.... would be much easier if it started out square. 

(oh, to have a basement...)

Jay481985:

 Professor Thump, that looks like a great mancave.

Also your honest opinion, how do you compare the thx system to the rf-83? Your likes and dislikes of each. Be honest please. 

Thanks Jay,

Today I reviewed all three speakers and was not surprised to find that I prefer the Klipsch THX/UII 650's better.  There are a couple of reasons why, some that are the fault of the speaker and some that are not. 

• I designed the room for the THX system so the speaker placement is in the wall which minimizes boundary effects and optimizes the imaging and reflection/diffraction issues.  The imaging is best with the THX sats due to their location although the 63's gave a great phantom center channel.  The 63/83's are at a dissadvantage due to their placement location. 
• The 83's have prototype xovers in them which are not up to snuff.  The final voicing really made them shine.  So this still needs to be addressed.  It would be a closer race if this was the case.
• Most people don't know it but the 650 has a Ultra Smooth frequency response.  Almost as flat and smooth as the Palladium bookshelf.  They are not as efficient as the Palladiums or the Reference systems but they are quite smooth. 
• The efficiency of the Reference systems are much hotter.  So if you like it live and dynamic you are still better off with the Ref 83 or 63 and 64.

For vocals I played a Dianna Kroll DVD which I am very familiar with since I use some of her tracks for voiceing products.  It was clear to me that the THX were warmest for vocals and not as forward.  For raw horse power though you will find that the Ref series are hard to beat. (sans Heritage and Live PA speakers)

I will update you once I have updated the 83's with proper crossovers.

Looks really good, Mark.  Isn't it time, though, that you quit playin' with the toys and get yourself some real tools???  How 'bout some Jubilees??? 

 Ok, I wanna hear this setup as well!

Looks cool Mark... Your addicted as well, with this business, hobby!  hehehehe 

Professor Thump:

Jay481985:

 Professor Thump, that looks like a great mancave.

Also your honest opinion, how do you compare the thx system to the rf-83? Your likes and dislikes of each. Be honest please. 

Thanks Jay,

Today I reviewed all three speakers and was not surprised to find that I prefer the Klipsch THX/UII 650's better.  There are a couple of reasons why, some that are the fault of the speaker and some that are not. 

• I designed the room for the THX system so the speaker placement is in the wall which minimizes boundary effects and optimizes the imaging and reflection/diffraction issues.  The imaging is best with the THX sats due to their location although the 63's gave a great phantom center channel.  The 63/83's are at a dissadvantage due to their placement location. 
• The 83's have prototype xovers in them which are not up to snuff.  The final voicing really made them shine.  So this still needs to be addressed.  It would be a closer race if this was the case.
• Most people don't know it but the 650 has a Ultra Smooth frequency response.  Almost as flat and smooth as the Palladium bookshelf.  They are not as efficient as the Palladiums or the Reference systems but they are quite smooth. 
• The efficiency of the Reference systems are much hotter.  So if you like it live and dynamic you are still better off with the Ref 83 or 63 and 64.

For vocals I played a Dianna Kroll DVD which I am very familiar with since I use some of her tracks for voiceing products.  It was clear to me that the THX were warmest for vocals and not as forward.  For raw horse power though you will find that the Ref series are hard to beat. (sans Heritage and Live PA speakers)

I will update you once I have updated the 83's with proper crossovers.

Thanks Proffesor Thump. I was kinda figuring that the ultra II would have better placement as you designed the room for it. As with everything elese you said, I think thats quite right where the THX are more flat while the reference is more dynamic. No way am I dissapointed with this outcome. Oh btw can you make reference sound and then make them in little dual 1 inch cubes so i can move them easier than 100 pound speakers!  

Jay said... "Oh btw, can you make reference sound and then make them in little dual 1 inch cubes so i can move them easier than 100 pound speakers."

Ummmmmm   NO.. 

Those would be Blastmophous Outragiously Sounding Electronics. 

Jay481985:

Oh btw can you make reference sound and then make them in little dual 1 inch cubes so i can move them easier than 100 pound speakers!  

Wait a minute . . . .

Here you go, Jay.  Reference sound (sorta) in smaller cubes (sorta), but definitely much easier to tote than RF-83's. 

http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/cs-700.aspx