sorry for not keeping up with the thread.

here is an update, ive made some changes(hence my lack of internet time):

now as you can see i moved all furniture but my primary listening seat out of the front of the room, made a set of plinths for my speakers which are finished, and created the wife friendly "social area" behind my desk with the couch and chair that used to be up front by the speakers. now my speakers are 4' from the front of the box to the wall behind and 2.3' from the side walls. i also removed 6 HF panels which has brought better balance to the room over all, none were bass traps though. I still need to build a rack to sit the TV and gear on but think ill wait until im more sure of what my needs are after i get my new amp. over all im very happy with the improvements, the sound is noticeably better in both image and sound stage, a performance bump indeed just by opening the buisness end of the room for sound waves....











the speakers seem to really benefit having the plinths in the low end. i have them spiked on the stone so they are as solid as a rock, thats for sure. the centers are concrete, with a rubber dampener between the concrete and the stone toppers. the wood is just cosmetic of course.











and this fossil was free with my purchase of the cut stone
[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_4786.jpg[/img]

once i replace my amp i plan to find a better preamp. i liked the idea of the all in 1 DAC/pre, but after this i think ill look for a stereo pre and a separate DAC since the combined unit in a stereo box is very pricy vs the separates.

...but man do i love my mancave.