In light of the ongoing bass debate in the 950 forum, I thought this might be an interesting topic to pursue. Plus, I have a dream of one day doing this so I'd like to do research plenty ahead of the game. Sure, the components may change over the next ten or more years but the laws of physics won't!

If you're building a dedicated room like RAF recently did (hope RAF doesn't mind this link) , what things would you consider mandatory, and what would just be nice to have? Also, given free reign for the room, how would you approach certain known issues, such as the great bass debate has revealed? Would something like carpeted/padded walls be a good idea? Would you maybe employ long heavy curtains to prevent sound reflection from your shelves of media? Some sound relfection is good, isn't it? How much damping is too much? What about keeping the sound confined in your home so you don't entertain the whole neigborhood? Would you put in windows so your home looks normal from the outside or just put the whole thing underground in the basement?

I realize a lot of these things depend greatly on the room characteristics and the ears of the listener so, for the sake of argument, let's pretend you're creating a space in a house you're designing. What would you guys do? What would be your "ideal" room?

Edit: Also, what about lighting, power distribution, seating, and component placement? I'd like to avoid getting in to specific component discussions in this thread, and focus purely on room design and layout.

[This message has been edited by Owl's_Warder (edited March 15, 2002).]