Yes, I am planning on calling my local contractor, who did a very nice job remodeling our kitchen two years ago (I'm reminded of him every time the HELOC payment is due. LOL!) But I wanted some input from the "Gon before calling him for a bid. The more clearly I can define my wants, the better he'll be able to plan out an accurate bid and avoid "surprises" once building begins. I may have to show him some posts here regarding isolated ground electrical and other A/V-related stuff to avoid issues with the system. During our kitchen project, I caught him running Romex right next to my surround speaker wire/coax antenna drops that I had previously fished in-wall. It was easier for him and he did not realize it could cause hum or other problems in my A/V, (or didn't care).. Luckily I caught it and he was able to re-route the romex prior to the sheetrock going up. Regarding construction and safety, I'll definately use his guidance regarding our local codes and permitting that may be required..
I wanted to point out that I never meant this thread to veer into actual contruction issues, just which material sounded better/different given a choice. Lord knows I don't want to create an unsafe situation. But this is a rare case where I could take it either way, starting from a clean slate, as it were. If it were feasible to do a suspended floor on joists to really improve sound, (IF that's the case, not saying it is..) then I think it's a reasonable consideration. I'll be spending a lot of time in there once it's done! Besides,almost every home theater project you read about in the A/V magazines have some pretty big compromises due to pre-existing structure/layout/huge windows/you-name-it issues that they have to design around. Luckily, my garage has no windows, every dimension is non-divisible (which hopefully will tame most standing waves) and the only door will be a solid-core heavy duty outside type near the back corner with total isolation from other parts of the house. I think/hope this room's gonna ROCK!
Thank you all again for some great input and guidance. I'll try to create a "virtual system" post once I get started with some pics to show the progress. Regards, -jz
