Well after 3 years in our new home my wife and I are finally gearing up to finish our basement. And while this is a really exciting project for us, I am constantly being distracted during this planning process by the prospect of upgrading my stereo/HT gear!! While originally thinking i wanted an enclosed dedicated HT room in my basement, i'm now thinking of keeping the basement more open and free-flowing. Not to mention that the money in construction costs saved by not walling off sections of the basement could better be used to buy HT gear like an EP500 sub! You see, I currently own a pair of M60's so i am addicted to the Axiom sound, quality, and service. I'm thinking of rounding out my HT for my basement with a VP150, 2 x QS8's and an EP500.

The sub is really the my biggest concern. I currently own an SVS PB10 - ISD which would have been plenty in a smaller enclosed room but my proposed basement design is going to be L: 40' W: 15' H: 9' or 5400 cubic feet. For those who own the EP500, do you think it will fill a room of this size with chest thumping bass?

Thanks

Hey there,

Well I can say that my HT is an open design versus a dedicated HT room. Basically, 1/2 my basement is a room that consists of a HT area and recroom/family room.

I started with an ep350 (1 year), upgraded to an ep500(1 year), and now own an ep600. Each upgrade brought an improved result, more so when I went from the 350 to the 500.

Anyway, my room is 8,000+ cubic ft, just to give you an idea.

Geez, that's only *half* your basement ?

Guess there is something to be said for living in those wide open spaces

Yep John, we built a new ranch home about 4-5 years ago on almost 3 acres. I have to mow about 2.5 of that, thanks to God for commercial zero turning mowers. Our house has 2100 Sq Ft per level.

and nine levels....

Very nice. The mower sounds like a lot of fun, is that one of those things you see doing pirouettes in the summer ?

I only have about 50x50 feet of grass (over the septic tank) so I was thinking of just getting a goat.

Guess we hijacked this thread pretty good. Sorry about that.

I'm not real sure on this, but my guess is that if you want "real chest thumping bass" from a 500 -- or any single 12" sub in a room that size -- you would need to use it nearfield, ie maybe close behind or beside the main seating area.

In my HT the floor starts shaking and scaring everyone before we get to the chest thumping, so take this with a grain of salt.

I've only ever felt "chest thumping bass" in a car. If that's what you're referring to, you'll only get that in a 8' x 8' room.

My Ep600 is on the main floor of our open concept home. It easily pressurizes ~12,000 to 15,000 cubic feet. The floors, walls, and couch vibrate - but no chest thumping.