Don't know who's moderating this circle as Lonewolf has been MIA, but feel free to move it (if a truly better circle can be found).
I'm a big believer in having a proper (at least decent) room to listen in. By that I mean: 1.) Availability (to listen to what, when, and at the volume you want); 2.) Size/shape (not ridiculously small or stupidly shaped); 3.) Quiet (minimal sound transmission in - or out to help with #1, and quiet HVAC - Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning). This isn't the place to debate treatments or wall construction.
So I was wondering what problems/solutions folks have come across to address comfort versus noise issues in their rooms. I'll start off with some of what I've seen/done:
- A friend would shut off his furnace in the winter/shut his windows in the summer (no AirCon), and suffered to reduce noise (he's married now, so that gig is up)
- As many listening rooms are in the basement and close to the furnace/AirCon, those folks can experience lots of noise as the mechanicals cycle
- Professionals specify acoustic baffles/linings in the ductwork to mitigate noise where lots of ventilation is required in critical task environments (like operating rooms)*
- I've used rigid foil faced fiberglass ductwork that all but eliminates any furnace sound
- I currently have lined, fiberglass insulated, flexible ductwork to my room and can barely hear the furnace located 20 feet away
- In a cold climate basement, you might be able to get away without AirCon and just use some form of completely silent radiant heating
* Speaker designs could learn from some of those baffle designs, take a glance at images from a simple web search
