[grantc79]

So we are house shopping. I'm currently sitting about 9 feet away from a 70 inch TV and HT3's and I'm hating life.

We continually put offers on houses my wife loved, many of which had built in cabinets everywhere which means no speakers.

Now we have settled on building a house with a 750 sq ft bonus room that has media room written all over it. Designing from the ground up with treated walls, room treatments, bass traps, the whole 9.

Life is good.

[Tone Depth]

You'll get more mileage if you make sure its win-win with your wife.

[Jdgate]

Good for you!  Hmm, I see a projector in your future, and with the volume of that room, maybe a call to Jim for a matching Rythmik sub or 2  ......

While not necessarily house shopping, we are finishing our basement (I promised I would get it finished with in 5 years of purchasing the house and we are on year 3).  I had plans for the built in office, bathroom, you name it.  I seeded all those plans to the wife the minute she told me I could have my home theater/man cave with riser seating.  I now have SCST's and a SCSC on order and she is even contemplating having the built in office match the finish of the speaker (dyed curly maple).

[grantc79]

Already have the sub and the HTC. I just need surrounds and figure out a projector and screen that fits the bill.

[ctviggen]

I looked into building a house, but where I live, current homes are much cheaper.  We have a contract for a house that's less than $150/square foot, which is a great price here.  Keep in mind that this price includes landscaping, the land, etc.  Lots in the same area run almost $200,000.  And builders say the minimum they can build for is $200/square foot and they say a more realistic value is $225+/square foot.  So, if you could get a reasonably priced lot where you could get it cleared for a total price (lot + clearing) of 200k, and built a 2,200 square foot house, you'd be at $640,000-695,000 and you haven't dug the hole for the house and you don't have any landscaping.   You're looking at 700,000+ easily, which in many areas around here makes your house several hundred thousand more than the other houses on the block.  So, where I live, it's just too expensive to build a house right now. 

It's good you can build.  There are a lot of options for building.  I've been looking into Green/passive homes.  Since you're building, you could incorporate a lot of those concepts and not spend a huge amount of money (relative to me, where I have to retrofit).  For instance, you can insulate the outside of the basement/slab; add thicker walls with more insulation; seal the attic; add a heat/energy recovery system; etc.  All of that stuff is possible to retrofit, but it's harder to do. 

[grantc79]

Location location location.

I'm building 2850 sq foot plus a 750 ft media room to bring it up to more like 3600.

This is on a huge lot that backs up to a golf course.

Decked out for 500 including the lot with all the trimmings plus gutters, shutters, drapes, and blinds.

[ArthurDent]

Don't forget the netting in back if you want to protect siding & windows. And undoubtedly you know you'll hear some loud and colorful language early morning on weekends, though easy access should aid in lowering your handicap. Hope all goes well with the build. 

[Ace Deprave]

Don't forget the netting in back if you want to protect siding & windows. And undoubtedly you know you'll hear some loud and colorful language early morning on weekends, though easy access should aid in lowering your handicap. Hope all goes well with the build. 

The HT3s should help drown out any language you don't want to hear!