My research indicates that the speed of sound is about 1116 feet per second, but perhaps that assumes a different temperature or humidity or other variable than the 1127 feet per second cited by Nsgarch; but let's say either is in the ball park.
I'm not sure it it's necessary to push for a system that can reach all the way down to 20 Hz; personally, I'd be happy to get a clean 32 Hz. At 1116 feet per second, a 32 Hz wave will be just under 35 feet long. I've been under the impression that you'd like to have 35' between the speakers and the back wall (behind the listener) to avoid a wall reflection before the wave completes one cycle. Nsgarch suggest that maybe you only need to have enough room for the wave to complete half it's form, ie, 17.5 feet will get you 180 degrees of a sine wave for 32 Hz (assuming a 1116 feet per second speed of sound). I don't know if Nsgarch is right, but I'm rooting for him to be correct as that makes the challenge of finding a decent room only half as difficult as I had presumed. Further, if I understood Nsgarch, he says that that dimension will suffice even if it's from a wall/floor line to the diagonally opposite wall/ceiling line. My geometry isn't working, but someone should be able to compute how long the room needs to be for a given ceiling height to support such a 17.5' diagonal. That would in turn tell us the minimum length needed to support 32 Hz. Then from that length, we could use the Cardas formula to see what width would compliment the length (and height). Then we'd have a pretty good room identified, but to make it optimum we'd need to pie out the walls and the ceiling so those wouldn't be parallel surfaces. Then we'd just have some room treatments left to go to get the absorbtions and relflections dialed-in.
Again, I don't know if Nsgarch is right about the need for only half the length of the lowest desired frequency, but either way, I am highly confident that there is a minimum room length needed to get solid/accurate bass. And if the bass isn't right, it's going to be a struggle to get the midrange and highs right.
My main point is that you can buy all the world-class gear you want, but without a decent room, you aren't going to realize the potential of the gear. And the more capable the gear is the more the room is going to become the limiting factor. I'm pretty sure that spending 100k on a system wouldn't make as much sense as spending 50k on a system and 50k on a room (unless you already had a deluxe room). I've found that somewhere around $2500 to $10k for a system, the room can easily become the limiting factor. In fact, all the critiquing we share with each other on Agon about how speakers, amps, preamps, etc. have this or that tonal characteristic is often just a report on what our equipment plus our room sounded like. If people think ICs can act like mini "tone controls" (and no doubt they do), I think we would be surprised to hear how our rooms are mega tone controls if we could swap rooms as easily as we swap ICs.
I'm not against pursuing great equipment and great systems, I'm just advocating a recognition that the room is a huge variable that introduces a huge number subtle variables that add up to an almost random and often unpredictable result. Being aware of the causes and effects of room acoustics could save you a lot of time, money, and effort.
I'm not sure it it's necessary to push for a system that can reach all the way down to 20 Hz; personally, I'd be happy to get a clean 32 Hz. At 1116 feet per second, a 32 Hz wave will be just under 35 feet long. I've been under the impression that you'd like to have 35' between the speakers and the back wall (behind the listener) to avoid a wall reflection before the wave completes one cycle. Nsgarch suggest that maybe you only need to have enough room for the wave to complete half it's form, ie, 17.5 feet will get you 180 degrees of a sine wave for 32 Hz (assuming a 1116 feet per second speed of sound). I don't know if Nsgarch is right, but I'm rooting for him to be correct as that makes the challenge of finding a decent room only half as difficult as I had presumed. Further, if I understood Nsgarch, he says that that dimension will suffice even if it's from a wall/floor line to the diagonally opposite wall/ceiling line. My geometry isn't working, but someone should be able to compute how long the room needs to be for a given ceiling height to support such a 17.5' diagonal. That would in turn tell us the minimum length needed to support 32 Hz. Then from that length, we could use the Cardas formula to see what width would compliment the length (and height). Then we'd have a pretty good room identified, but to make it optimum we'd need to pie out the walls and the ceiling so those wouldn't be parallel surfaces. Then we'd just have some room treatments left to go to get the absorbtions and relflections dialed-in.
Again, I don't know if Nsgarch is right about the need for only half the length of the lowest desired frequency, but either way, I am highly confident that there is a minimum room length needed to get solid/accurate bass. And if the bass isn't right, it's going to be a struggle to get the midrange and highs right.
My main point is that you can buy all the world-class gear you want, but without a decent room, you aren't going to realize the potential of the gear. And the more capable the gear is the more the room is going to become the limiting factor. I'm pretty sure that spending 100k on a system wouldn't make as much sense as spending 50k on a system and 50k on a room (unless you already had a deluxe room). I've found that somewhere around $2500 to $10k for a system, the room can easily become the limiting factor. In fact, all the critiquing we share with each other on Agon about how speakers, amps, preamps, etc. have this or that tonal characteristic is often just a report on what our equipment plus our room sounded like. If people think ICs can act like mini "tone controls" (and no doubt they do), I think we would be surprised to hear how our rooms are mega tone controls if we could swap rooms as easily as we swap ICs.
I'm not against pursuing great equipment and great systems, I'm just advocating a recognition that the room is a huge variable that introduces a huge number subtle variables that add up to an almost random and often unpredictable result. Being aware of the causes and effects of room acoustics could save you a lot of time, money, and effort.