Good point about the OSD. My previous receiver (Pioneer Elite) had it, but since I will need to buy a new receiver with this theater I will be sure to check that.
Good idea on the shelves. Maybe they could serve as some level of diffusion panel. I will just alternate between blu-ray/hd-dvd and regular DVDs to create different thicknesses, etc. (just kidding by the way). That might be a viable solution to put some narrow shelving in for movie storage that is in the room instead of in the wall, and a small equipment rack up front with tinted glass.
I also am going to take the current duct in the room and add flex-duct to the end of it and snake it around in a soffet. Someone told me that at two 90 degree bends in the flex-duct decreases the sound transmitted through the duct by 60% or something. I figure that I can make that happen. Good thing about being in a basement is that the temps are fairly consistent year-round. Probably a 10-15 F degree variance from the hottest to coldest day, so that helps.
