Hello,

My basement is undergoing a reno to convert the space into an HT. It's a small space, roughly 10x20ft. The budget will allow for the Epic 60/500, but before I go ahead with it, I thought I would look to this board for some advise:

1) In a room of these dimensions, will the M60's be overkill... i.e. while the budget allows them, I don't want to through good money after bad.

2) If I am really nice to my wife, I might be able to extend the budget from the 500 to 2x350. What are the pros/cons of each option?

3) I will have full access to the wall behind the HT (furnace room). However, I want to sufficiently wire the other three rooms to allow for the most flexibility. Any suggestions?

4) Any recommendations for soundproofing the furnace room? I don't care about the HT bleeding into the furnace room, but I want to block the noise of the furnace into the HT.

5) Any other advice would be appreciated!

I apologize for the poor proofreading...

1) In a room of these dimensions, will the M60's be overkill... i.e. while the budget allows them, I don't want to throw good money after bad.

3) I will have full access to the wall behind the HT (furnace room). However, I want to sufficiently wire the other three walls to allow for the most flexibility. Any suggestions?

The M60s would be just fine in that room.

The pro on the dual 350s is smoother bass (with a fair amount of work on your part) vs. extension at the low end for the EP500. You can't really go wrong either way.

I got nothing on your other questions.

1) Not at all. Could you buy less speaker, sure. Will the M60s sound better than their bookshelf counterparts, I believe so. I have M80s in a room that is 14x20 (so not much bigger), and I've never said or even thought to myself, "geeze, I should have bought smaller speakers." I don't think you will either.

2) 2 vs. 1 sub: 2 subwoofers in one room means that you'll have more even response throughout the room. (i.e. not as many big dips in volume at certain frequencies, or big peaks at other frequencies) With two subs, you'll be able to achieve slightly higher volumes than with one alone. Cons: 2 are more expensive than 1, and the 350 won't play quite as low/loud as the 500.

I can't personally make a recommendation between the two as I haven't heard the new 350s, but I can tell you that people rave about them here all the time. I have however heard the 500 in person in a room about the size you are describing and it is a fantastic speaker. I didn't feel it was lacking at all, so don't think for a moment you wouldn't be happy with "only" one 500 in your room. If you allow yourself some flexibility as to where the subwoofer can be placed, you should be able to experiment to find the best location when you get it and locate it where it provides the best response for your primary listening position.

The other thing to think about with one sub versus two in a room your size is whether you will have the floor space to accommodate an extra subwoofer. If space is at a premium, you may want to save the space for extra seating room versus another subwoofer.

3) 14 gauge wire should be fine assuming you're locating your equipment rack somewhere within the 20x10 room (or very close to it). Most of us here love Monoprice for quality/price ratio. Don't be fooled by the Monster cable marketing hype. Save money on cable and reapply it elsewhere where it will make more of a difference. If you want to allow for maximum future flexibility, drill the holes through your studs 2-3x bigger than the diameter of your speaker wire and run a length of twine from your rack area to each speaker as well. This will serve as a "pull cord" for any wires you need to run through to those locations in the future (i.e. you tie the twine to the end of the wire you need to run to the speaker and then pull it through from the other end - this should save you from ripping up walls in the future).

If you're wiring for a projector, run a length of corrugated tubing from your equipment rack through the walls/ceiling to the projector location so that wires are protected and pull through more easily. Add a pull cord through the tubing as well for the same reasons.

4) It's hard to effectively block the bass from the HT going out, but good quality high density insulation should prevent some furnace noises from coming in. There are some specialty products that have been discussed here in the past - I'll let others who remember them better comment.

5) Enjoy the project! Lots of work, but oh so worth it in the end!

Jason

Arez, on your question 3), as to the location of wiring, unless you're going to be sitting almost up against the back wall, the side surround QSs should be mounted on the sidewalls maybe a couple feet farther back than the seating and 2-3' above ear level. So, your wiring should accomodate that location.

I agree with what has been written so far. I chose the M80s for a room almost the same size. While I will never use them to their mazimum from an spl perspective, the extra detail and bass these speakers deliver is well worth the price even for my size room.

On soundproofing the furnice room, it depends on how low a frequency the noise from the furnace is. If you have space, 4" of high density fibre board or fiberglass board is the minimum you should use to get good absorbtion down to 100Hz.

good luck and keep us posted as you progress.

Most audio advice these days is to go with multiple subs to smooth frequency reponse.