What's the 'ideal' room size?

Go to the Cardas Website, George has some good, sound info on this. I believe www.cardas.com.

Have fun.

This is actually a complex subject. You could read the Master Handbook of Acoustics and use the required room optimizer software and then hope you get it right or you could hire Richard Rives who is an experienced acoustic engineer specializing in home audio. When and if I build a new home, that is what I will do. Your room has a lot to do with the quality of the sound. My recollection of the handbook is that it gave a range of desirable ratios and suggested a minimum volume.

How tall is the ceiling? Is the surface of the ceiling a hard surface or will it be a dropped ceiling. The appropriate room ratio takes all three dimensions into account. Let us know and I'll be glad to run it through my homemade first order calculator for you.

If you really want it to sound good use the "live end dead end" approach by covering one third of the wall and ceiling length with absorbent material. I would not make the room smaller. Stan

well it's a basement and the ceiling height is about 7-9ft.
I can do some stuff since I am finishing the basement from scratch, but I'm not planing to hire somebody or spend "a lot" of money just for the room. I would rather spend the money in equipments. I'm trying to make the most out of what I have to get the biggest, bang for the buck. thanks. I should probably check out the libratry, too...