Man Cave or No?


I'm curious whether most folks have a dedicated room for their rig or have their setup in one of the main living areas of their home. Since our house is of modest proportions, with no family room, media room or finished basement, my system sits in the living room (where we actually "live"). As a result, we have tried to (have been forced to) integrate the stereo into the surroundings so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes I wish I had a dedicated room where I could go and escape the noise and distractions of "living"--a real "man cave" for my hifi and music collection. A place where I could set up the speakers optimally in the space and leave cables running here and there without concern about someone tripping (or chewing) on them. On the other hand, I wonder whether I would listen as often if I had to "go somewhere" to listen to music--it is real nice to drop right onto the living room couch and hear some tunes and sometimes my wife will join me for awhile. As long as she's not talking to me I like the company. In the "man cave" I'd be ALONE. Anyway, from the looks of some of the systems I've seen posted it looks like most audiophiles have a "special room" where they set up their rigs. Just wondering how people view the trade off between "man cave" and "system in the living area" thing.
128x128dodgealum
I have both, although as a single guy I guess both of the rooms could be considered to be my "man cave". The true man cave is for the 2 channel system, and the HT sits in the living room.

Michael
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My listening room is the family (living) room. I keep everything as tidy as possible so my wife and kid are comfortable there, as well as those that come to listen to music.
Living room is listening room also. Which, as you note, leads to a complicated set of compromises. But, like you, I think I'd feel funny stuck off in a back corner room alone with all my stereo gear in a big mess, even though all perfectly positioned, etc., etc. The nice thing about the living room is that it connects right up to the kitchen, and I rather enjoy cranking up the system while I'm cooking and later eating some complicated concoction (with a glass of wine in one hand, of course).
I found this out the hard way..........for me I do feel disconnected when down in the cave and I find myself listening to much more music in the living room on a simple mass market system simply because I am on the main floor. Dont get me wrong as I love to hang out down there having close to optimal set-up and no WAF grief and its great for hosting my audio buds but I underestimated how much time I wish to be down in basement away from the sunshine in the windows and feeling more a part of life. In a perfect world I would like to have a large family room in back of house open to the rest of house yet out of the way enough that a large system would be acceptable. I have the best of both worlds so I am not complaining but feeling more a part of things with natural light would be ideal for me