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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
bdgregory
1,715 posts
 
I have both - actually 2 dedicated rooms in the basement, and I have rig in the living room. My wife really doesn't like music at volumes higher than background music levels, so I retire to the "man cave" for listening unless she's not at home. I do find it lonely at times, though often the solitude and peace is what I want. The other issue is since the cave is in the basement and windows are small, it can be a little dark and depressing. I try to address this with lighting and color, but it's not the same as the living room which has a large picture window with a view of the yard and street.

The other advantage of the basement cave is that I like to build, (which is one reason I have 2 rooms down there) and I have total freedom to remodel/rebuild as I see fit.
seasoned's avatar
seasoned
181 posts
 
I guess I am a happy cave man - I have a dedicated listening room. When we had our house built, a dedicated room for audio was a must for me. The only thing in the room is my system, a single chair and room treatment. It sure is nice to have a perfectly symmetrical large room with no TV or other stuff to mess up the sound. Now where did I put my bone tool and flint?
chashmal
605 posts
 
If I did not have my own room (away from everything) to listen and obsess I would go crazy. I found this out the hard way the first year of my marriage when my wife, 2 cats, and I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment. A nightmare. My very understanding wife let me take over the bedroom for a 'man cave', knowing my 'situation'. She slept on the couch in the living room. I know it sounds like a bad deal for her, but it had a happy ending. I am now NOT in a mental institution.
samhar
1,048 posts
 
My system is in the living room with an open kitchen, so I can cook to my "good" system. This is a compromise but I think the system gets more use this way (maybe to much use for my tube budget). The problem is WAF of room treatments, cords etc.
jdombrow
371 posts
 
I was at a party last week and saw a real "man cave". There was a bar and game room in the basement, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along one wall. One of the shelf units was hinged, and opened like a door into the guy's theater room.
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