# Kevin's Man Cave



## kevin360

Here's my Home Theater. My initial plan didn't involve video, but some friends urged me to create a space for college football viewing - glad they did. My local dealer sold me his demo Runco RS-1100 (had about 300 hours on it) for an unbelievable price and he talked me into the Stewart Filmscreen - glad he did. The whole room is encased in foam and I've taken measures to reduce as much sound leakage as I could. Being in a separate structure from the house (above a detached garage) helps dramatically. My only regret is that I didn't build a wider garage, thus enabling a wider room. Still, a 92" screen isn't too shabby. 

a rather old photo with the screen down - groovin' with the King 








a photo of the current rig








one of the subs hiding in the corners








one of the rears








the projector








the screen








the seating


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## tripplej

Wow. Looks nice. I like the overall look. I agree with your statement - 92" screen isn't too shabby. 
I am sure watching football on that screen will be very enjoyable.


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## B- one

Looks great!!


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## dougc

A great space to be proud of - a great day of football yesterday to enjoy in it too


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## NBPk402

Nice setup and Awesome Projector!


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## Mike0206

How are those def tech supercube I'm assuming reference subs treating you?


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## chrapladm

Great setup. Lucky steal on the Runco.


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## kevin360

Thanks for the positive comments. As I sailed past 50, I figured it was time for a dedicated audio room. My original plan was for nothing more than a nice stereo (getting that out of the living room pleased my wife), a comfortable chair and some exercise equipment. I blew my original budget by a huge margin, but we only live once.:bigsmile: I had my sights for the video components set far lower at the outset, but my local dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse on the Runco projector - would you believe $3500? It was less than a year old, but the RS-1100 was being discontinued and he wanted to mount a current product in his demo room. Since his demo room had a Stewart Filmscreen and I thought the image was to die for, I figured I'd go for broke (paid more for the screen than the projector) and I have absolutely no regrets. 

I had to reduce the exercise equipment to a Water Rower (you can see part of it to the right of the seats) and the big ball, but that's pretty much enough - gives me a great workout. Behind the smaller door is a half bath, which is convenient. Behind the rug on the wall is the window that building code required (between the rug and the window is acoustic foam). 

No matter how well I think I plan projects, I always forget things or make mistakes. That room is full of evidence of that fact, but it's a great space - the product of decades of dreaming and saving. Like most of us, I was also forced to compromise in order to keep the costs from running away too badly. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and I'm especially proud of my DIY cabinetry (warts and all). I built the bottom, center shelf of that rack to show off the main amp, which became this piece of eye candy (trust me when I say it's ear candy too).









Yes, the subs are Def Tech SuperCube Refs and they dig deep (measured in room -3dB point is 16Hz) with serious authority. Not only that, but they work very well as audio subs. In fact, I use a crossover (Bryston 10B Sub) to direct the bottom end away from the Maggies and to the subs. Thanks to REW (which is what brought me to this website), I managed to get the bass clean and strong. Well, I should also give credit to ASC for the sub-traps and bass-traps. 

The center seat has a built-in shaker, which I wasn't too enthusiastic about until I experienced it. It's not ridiculous at all. It's actually pretty cool.


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## JimShaw

_Still, a 92" screen isn't too shabby_

I agree 100%. I am envious!



m


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## ALMFamily

Great space Kevin - looks fantastic! :T


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## perfecxionx

those stand things for the wire? isnt that a myth?


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## kevin360

A myth? onder: Eh, I'm not so sure that synthetic fibers in carpet are completely innocuous, but at $5 a pop (I bought the Lapp porcelain insulators from an electrical supply house), who cares? They add to the mystique and they yell, "Don't step on the speaker cables!" Since my speaker cables have the 72V Dielectric Bias System, contact with the carpet would likely be even less of a concern. 

I don't mind if you think I'm crazy (I freely admit it). I also took measures to segregate my signal wires from the power cables. I even terminated my three dedicated lines in the floor beneath removable panels. Here's a shot with one of the panels removed (behind the power conditioner for the subs and digital stuff).









It might be a bit more clear what's going on back there if I show a picture of a power cable or two disappearing beneath the panels.


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## ZombiEE

Hi kevin, those gears are to die for...the amp is definitely an eye candy
What are those white standing cylinders, acoustic panel?
U too, have a very nice shelf


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## kevin360

Thanks. I lucked into the amp and then into an upgrade by the manufacturer. It's not only pretty; it's a very sweet amplifier that makes beautiful music with the Magnepans. 

Those cylinders are ASC Tube Traps and the subs are resting on ASC Sub Traps. It was a built from scratch room (over a detached garage) and I used a calculator to minimize bass problems as much as I could, but I still had some issues in the 70-300Hz range. The traps help.

I'm happy with the equipment rack, warts and all - I'm a bit of a hack when it comes to building things, but I have fun. When my tube phono preamp project turned sour, I moved the turntable back to the bedroom system temporarily - a year later, it's still there. Most of the shelving in the back of the room is for records (the few I have left), but I do have enough room for my concert DVDs & BluRays. All of the movies are in the bedroom with the other stereo.

I could have skipped the wallboard and just painted the blown foam to look like rock for a more convincing man cave.:laugh:


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## cr136124

Congrats Kevin.............this is an amazing room!

Man and all those toys.................but, the amp my friend..........that thing is just sexy!!!


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## kevin360

The room was a fun project, but it was fast paced. That opened the door to errors and oversights. The photo of the rolled up filmscreen hides a comedy of errors in plain sight. I ran PVC from behind the projector mounting boards to the front wall for the HDMI cables, but I completely forgot about the pick wire for the screen. It's red wire because I got if from the alarm guy on the morning that the drywall guys did their thing. If I had cut the power wire for the screen a half inch shorter before re-terminating it, it wouldn't have reached the outlet. The mounting ears for the screen made the assembly almost an inch wider than the spec sheet from which I sized the ceiling (model update) - had to modify them to make the screen fit. Man, I could go on and on... Still, it was fun and I'm very happy with the results (warts and all).

As for the amp, I had a moment of weakness. Actually, adding the crossover in search of better bass integration changed my power requirements and I really wanted to try a valve amp. I held on to the big Pass amp for about 9 months before letting it go - hated to sell it. That VAC amp sounds as good as it looks - great stuff designed by a really nice guy.


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## cr136124

^^^^^

Did you sell the amp already....... and not to me?!?!?!



*Spoiler*


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## kevin360

I wasn't registered here at the time, nor was I even aware of this site. Yeah, I suppose my head was under a rock, but life happens. That's a good thing, really - I hope life keeps on happening.

REW brought me here. It proved to be so useful that it seemed rude not to contribute to its support. Still, I only passingly perused this site (which was a bit rude in a different way). A post on another forum directed me here to vote for the Magnepan 1.7s to be entered in the current $2500 sampling. I poked around a bit deeper and found so many amazing builds - really fun to see and read about the progressions. 

These threads are loaded with ingenuity and creativity. Lots and lots of amazing rooms.

The first amp in my room was a Pass X350. It's an elegantly simple design, but it did have a beautiful face - and sound to match. I almost went for a pair of XA monos, but answered the call of the tubes instead. I still have an X150 for the rear channels. 

I think my wife grew tired of this in the living room.









The speakers were a DIY project (not the center) and they're currently in a bedroom. The TV is on the cabinet now and there's a soundbar with sub. There is decorative furniture where there was once audio gear. I have a room to go nuts in - and I did.


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## Owen Bartley

Great dedicated room, Kevin. No reason an "audio first" setup can't also be a great place to watch movies, TV, etc! I don't know much about tube gear, but I'll agree, that amp looks beautiful.


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## kevin360

Owen Bartley said:


> Great dedicated room, Kevin. No reason an "audio first" setup can't also be a great place to watch movies, TV, etc! I don't know much about tube gear, but I'll agree, that amp looks beautiful.


Thanks. The focus was definitely on audio, but it is the best place I've ever had for movie watching - by far. The distance from the seats to the screen is a bit much for the screen size, but nobody has complained (except my son). Over the weekend, I added another component - a preamp between the crossover and the subs. That solved my need for being able to remotely control the level of the subs. Idiot me, the solution was right in front of me, but I didn't see it - someone on another forum recommended it. I had an Acurus RL11 sitting in a closet, collecting dust - what a waste!

As with so many setups, mine keeps nudging closer and closer to where I want it. I doubt it will ever get there, but the journey is half the fun.


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## kennyrod

Wow. You can tell you focused on audio and I bet it sounds amazing! Nicely put together!


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## GearIT

definitely a nice setup. Congrats!


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## Savjac

I think I have seen your room but, my mind does not remember, I would have commented.
One does not know at my advanced age. None the less, great room and I am envious, I wish my knee walls were higher like yours, but could not do it. I did make with the super insulation and it works well, my wife can barely hear my sound, so we are both happy.
Thanks for showing your stuff, it gives me great ideas.


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## kevin360

kennyrod said:


> Wow. You can tell you focused on audio and I bet it sounds amazing! Nicely put together!





GearIT said:


> definitely a nice setup. Congrats!


Thanks, guys! Well, it's been nearly a year since I opened this thread. It wasn't exactly new at the time, but it's a gradual evolution which continues to this day - started 6 years ago. I recently mounted something else on the ceiling. I needed a suspended light and found the ideal solution at Lowe's. So, this is now behind the screen.









The switch fit like a glove (doesn't look kludged) and I drilled another hole, added a grommet and routed the wire out the other 'side' (didn't have a box, but there was a conveniently located outlet) and terminated it. 









I resurrected my old Thorens 126 MKIII turntable - new capacitors, lamps, belts and a polished platter. More work is planned, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. So, the equipment arrangement has changed a bit. It's more ergonomic and I also put an old preamp back into service (Acurus RL-11 with some power supply mods) between my crossover and subs - as a remote volume control (definitely more ergonomic). Part of the fun is fiddling with the gear.:bigsmile: Oh yeah, I also added some fake greenery.









The next to last change is that the subs are back out of the corners. They are further out than I had them initially (before trying the corners) - 38% of the way into the room off the front wall. The last change to mention is the new speaker setup geometry. I decided to try something that I thought was nutty and I fell in love with it. My Maggies are pushed about as close to the side walls as I can get them and they are absolutely perpendicular to those walls - the spacious soundstage this arrangement can generate is intoxicating.









Is a setup ever truly finished? Sorry for the crummy photos. One of the aggravating things about getting old(er) is not being able to see to focus a bloody camera.


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## Savjac

I was liking it before but it is really coming together, the foliage is wonderful and frankly, I am stealing that idea. Hope you don't mind too much.


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## kevin360

Savjac said:


> I think I have seen your room but, my mind does not remember, I would have commented.
> One does not know at my advanced age. None the less, great room and I am envious, I wish my knee walls were higher like yours, but could not do it. I did make with the super insulation and it works well, my wife can barely hear my sound, so we are both happy.
> Thanks for showing your stuff, it gives me great ideas.


I was the 'architect' for the garage/room and an active participant in its construction. A friend of a friend is a builder. I sketched a semi-rough plan and asked him what he thought. His response was, "Piece of cake." So, we were off and running. I just wish I had gone with a 40'x40' garage. The knee walls would not only be a little taller (right at 5' now), but they'd be further apart. Eh, I'm not complaining. The awesome thing is having the room in a completely different structure. As you succinctly put it. Great insulation (etc) means that my wife doesn't hear my music/concert/movie. It's great!

I hear you on the advanced age thing. I'm not 'old' yet, but I'm getting there. Part of the proof is that I've been sitting here for several minutes trying to remember what I was going to type when I began this response. I had something in mind, but I'll be...if I can remember what that was. Oh, well. It's always a pleasure to cross paths with you on this forum and thanks for the kind words.


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## kevin360

Savjac said:


> I was liking it before but it is really coming together, the foliage is wonderful and frankly, I am stealing that idea. Hope you don't mind too much.


Steal away, but I can't take credit for the foliage idea. I'm not sure how much diffusion it provides, but I really like the way it looks. I should have done it a long time ago. My wife likes it too. The only problem with putting the turntable back into service is the realization that many of the records I have left (donated hundreds of them to a library a couple of decades ago) aren't exactly in pristine condition.


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## Savjac

kevin360 said:


> I was the 'architect' for the garage/room and an active participant in its construction. A friend of a friend is a builder. I sketched a semi-rough plan and asked him what he thought. His response was, "Piece of cake." So, we were off and running. I just wish I had gone with a 40'x40' garage. The knee walls would not only be a little taller (right at 5' now), but they'd be further apart. Eh, I'm not complaining. The awesome thing is having the room in a completely different structure. As you succinctly put it. Great insulation (etc) means that my wife doesn't hear my music/concert/movie. It's great!
> 
> I hear you on the advanced age thing. I'm not 'old' yet, but I'm getting there. Part of the proof is that I've been sitting here for several minutes trying to remember what I was going to type when I began this response. I had something in mind, but I'll be...if I can remember what that was. Oh, well. It's always a pleasure to cross paths with you on this forum and thanks for the kind words.


Tis funny you mention the being the architect for the room, as was I, kind of. When we were looking at homes in this area a year before we decided to buy, I spoke to the builder and told him, I really like the idea of a room above the garage but 12' wide just would not do, I needed 16'. He shook his head and said something similar to your friend, we can do it and when i was ready, i was to just purchase the property and voila, he would make it happen. Fast forward a year later and we come into the sub division in need of a home right quick (The wall in our apt was allowing water to pour in) and he showed us the home we have now. We went through it, walked upstairs and wonder of wonders, there it was, a wide room with plenty of length but knee walls..eek. When i asked him what possessed him to turn the room over the long axis of the garage, he said some guy gave him the idea over a year ago and he decided to build it as a showcase home. I told him who i was, we both laughed and i bought it, no showcase for him, although we did let a few people walk through after we moved in.

Although it is above an attached garage, the room is well insulated and only a small modicum of noise gets into the living room and I have had zero complaints. I am not sure i will like the stairs as i get older but for now, it is a good room. 

I have put off doing too much up there in way of permanent decorations as I did lose my job, but i have gone on my own and we are squeaking by so I may just start painting, adding some lighting and foliage, I dont think I can go wrong with that. Oh and...the equipment is not the same as it was, I am now in the high efficiency horn speaker clan and have a tube amp as well. Not quite in your league but maybe one day


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## kevin360

Savjac said:


> When i asked him what possessed him to turn the room over the long axis of the garage, he said some guy gave him the idea over a year ago and he decided to build it as a showcase home. I told him who i was, we both laughed and i bought it, no showcase for him, although we did let a few people walk through after we moved in.


It's funny how things work out like that sometimes - a great coincidence.



Savjac said:


> Although it is above an attached garage, the room is well insulated and only a small modicum of noise gets into the living room and I have had zero complaints. I am not sure i will like the stairs as i get older but for now, it is a good room.


I certainly didn't enjoy lugging a 150lb amp up (then, eventually, down) my stairs. That was probably the heaviest single component, but not by much. 

Like an idiot, I set a spray can on the next to last step several months ago. I glued up another CD rack (for the bedroom wall) upstairs in the mancave. When I carried it downstairs to take it outside for paint prep, I forgot about the can and the rack obscured my view. I stepped on the thing, but managed to catch myself. The only problem is that I torqued my right knee in the process - still giving me grief. Lately, I haven't been trotting up and down the stairs like I used to. Still, could be worse! :bigsmile: 



Savjac said:


> I have put off doing too much up there in way of permanent decorations as I did lose my job, but i have gone on my own and we are squeaking by so I may just start painting, adding some lighting and foliage, I dont think I can go wrong with that. Oh and...the equipment is not the same as it was, I am now in the high efficiency horn speaker clan and have a tube amp as well. Not quite in your league but maybe one day


My original plan was to be retired by 50 - the payoff of working 80 hour weeks in my younger days (self employed). My earnings declined massively when I took a regular job about a dozen years ago, but that was triggered by a number of unforeseen changes in the computer industry, etc. Just before building the new garage and room, that job changed - dropped to three day weeks. I dug into some of the retirement nest egg. I rather like semi-retirement, since I can't fully retire as planned. The problem that I've discovered is that it's expensive. Not only am I not earning anything on those two extra days of weekend, but I'm spending extra money on those days. I also have an Amazon addiction - new music, new music, new music...

Once upon a time, I had a pair of Klipsh Belles. They were rather large and my wife correctly objected, eventually. So, I sold them. I still miss them, especially now that I have the valve amp and a dedicated room. Of course, then I wouldn't have the Maggies. I do still have other speakers from years past - more than I have need. :coocoo:


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## kevin360

Life got interesting in the wake of a death in the family, which changed living arrangements. The man cave is now my bedroom, which pushed the seating forward in order to make space for a bed. This made the large planars unworkable - they are now in a room in the house (daughter's girl cave). It also effectively increased the size of my screen, since I now sit ~10' closer to it.

It's now more of a proper home theater system, but it's still an excellent stereo rig. The valve amp is resting in the back of the room, in its box. I should sell it, but I'm finding it very difficult to bring myself to actually do that. I can't help thinking that one day I'll be able to put it back in play, but it's quite a lot of money to have languishing in a box, taking up space. :coocoo:

Anyway, the gear in the photo is now listed in 'my system', except that one piece isn't actually pictured and the device on right side of the middle shelf is a home theater PC, which isn't listed. To anyone interested in putting one together for streaming duties, I can't recommend the SilverStone cases and power supplies highly enough.


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## albe

I love the fact you focused on "audio" first! Great room!


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## Savjac

Irrespective of what you had to do, and I am sorry the life change is not for the better, you still have a very warm and welcoming room. I would guess that it still sounds great albeiit maybe not in the maggie realm of speakers. How do those Def Techs sound ? I have an older set that originally came out in the early 2000's area but they still work fine and sound pretty good. They do throw a sound stage that is brilliant even by today's standards. 

Never the less, Looks Good Kevin.


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## kevin360

Savjac said:


> How do those Def Techs sound ?
> 
> Never the less, Looks Good Kevin.


The sound of the Def Techs was a known going into the transition. My daughter had a pair of the Mythos STS reviewed here (by Wes Phillips / Stereophile): 

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/808dt/#iyA8Fl5vWDZvbror.97

I bought them for her when she moved out of the house. They arrived before all of the electronics for her new system, so I put them in my bedroom system (in place of my currently unused seriously modded MMGs) to start the break-in process. Wow! I was very impressed. I had heard a pair of their BP series before and these are in another league. 

My Maggie dealer had a pair of the Mythos ST speakers at home, which he had just replaced with a pair of Maggies. So. we made a deal that was good for both of us. I ordered a Mythos 10 to fill out the system. It did give me a moment of hesitation when I knelt before my rack to drill holes for mounting it, but hey - commit!

It's not the same, but I wouldn't call it worse - just different. Synergy being a 'one of those words we don't use here ;-)', I didn't like the ST + VAC combination. The sound was just too laid back and cranking up the treble didn't do it for me. The A31 is overkill in terms of power, but it's voiced right for these speakers. I need to get an A23 for the rears, but I had the old A200 in a closet. The pass X150 I was using is boxed and ready to sell - has been since April.

I'm having a hard time listing my old system. I _really_ liked it, even though the greater distance in time from its replacement, the less I care. I _really_ like this new system and I'm ecstatic about sitting closer to the screen. I no longer need my glasses. Another area that has definitely improved is the focus of this site - surround sound. I have a growing collection of 5.1 music, and it sounds phenomenal with this system. It's been a long time since I had a center channel and I don't think I've ever had one that blended with the speakers that flanked it as well as this one.

I should borrow my son's camera (or one of his lenses (I should borrow him )) to take a better photo. The back half of the room is still in disarray. Having all of that gear in boxes doesn't help. My daughter is digging the 3.7s, but when I asked her if she wanted her old speakers back, she said that she'd be happy with either, but her old speakers would take up less space. I may end up letting them go. Someday, a pair of serious electrostatic speakers may be in my listening room (part of why I want to keep the VAC).

Oh, first world problems are tough, eh? :crying:




albe said:


> I love the fact you focused on "audio" first! Great room!


Well, I certainly did, at first. I don't think the changes took me off that path...at least, not far enough to matter.


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## kevin360

I now have ST-L mains and the pair of ST speakers has moved to the rear. I am very impressed with the ST-Ls - a surprisingly thorough improvement over the STs, which are excellent speakers. With the ST-L, Definitive Technology has made me forget the Magnepans. I've decided to sell the 3.7s. My daughter is happy to have her old speakers back - the Mythos STS. 

(Yes, that's a dog toy.)


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