[Darwin011]

I'm pretty much in the stage where you have a game plan and you're slowly building out your dream theater. All the stars aligned in 2019-2020 where I was finally in a position to purchase my first home and my only requirement was to have a home theater where I could enjoy movies and gaming with my family.

I've always loved good audio and the earliest I could remember was putting together some spare change from a retail job to purchase a Sony DAV-FX900W and then moonlighting in car audio for a bit moving from system to system until eventually in 2018 moving to another state and deciding to finally put something together no matter how long it took. I bought a Denon X2700H to power my MartinLogan 60XTs, a MartinLogan Focus ESL C18 center, and a Dynamo 1500X to play on my LG OLED C7 for my apartment. I later found a good deal on a Denon X4500H and sold my X2700H with the intention of having preouts for when I eventually would need it. I demoed these speakers at a local Best Buy with Magnolia and the staff was kind enough to let me bring my Playstation to play some games and bring my favorite movies to test everything out. At the time I quite simply preferred the ML sound and bought things little by little and traded things whenever I wasn't entirely onboard with it.

Fast forward to today and I'm in a brand-new home still using the MartinLogans while I built out a full 7.1.4 and now, I'm finally at a stage where I can upgrade my equipment to my taste as I expand my limited knowledge of things. The Human Virus slowed things down a lot and finding someone to work with was extremely difficult, so I tried to educate myself as much as possible using predominantly various forums and YouTube. I have added an Epson 5040UB, 4 JTR 110HT for my surrounds, 4 JBL 328CT for Atmos, AC Infinity Aircom T10, Panamax M5400, XBOX Series X, PS5, Nvidia Shield, and an Emotiva XPA-3 and XPA-5 to power my bed layer so my Denon can take care of the Atmos channels.

All this to say, I stumbled across you fine folks as I'm digging in all the old posts that Tommy O'Brien wrote because I was finally able to get my dream end-game Cherry amp to replace my XPA-3 until the day I can find a 5-Cherry on sale somewhere and finally move to separates and continue to find my endgame (if that exists). I'm saddened to hear about his passing as I was never in a position to acquire one of his amps and interact with him, but his legacy is definitely something to admire. After hearing Cherry amps matched with JTR speakers, I am laser focused on having that be my endgame. I signed up to this page because it looks like he was very active here and I'd love to use the search button.

That's my story. If you made it all the way here, I apologize for the long post.

Cheers friends! 

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC 

[JLM]

Wonderful introduction.  What is the final room like?

[Phil A]

Welcome!

[Darwin011]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I have a small-average sized room but big aspirations (13x16). My final room would have the following upgrades:
- With the latest price increase I can't even dream of having a Trinnov so this frees up funds to probably get an AVM70 next.
- I'll probably also get a BasX A5 until I'm able to get my grubby hands on a 5-Cherry for the rest of the bed layer and move my XPA-5 to Atmos Duty.
- Move all my equipment to a rack in an unused closet so I can have more space in front
- When I move my equipment, I'll be able to get a larger screen. Currently running a 115" 2.35:1 AT screen because that's the max size I could get my Epson to project given the throw distance limitations I have.
- Eventually I'd love to get a 5-Cherry for the Atmos and not have to think about amps for a long time
- JTR Noesis 212HTR for LCR
- I'm split between upgrading to either 2 JTR RS2s or 4 RS1s. I worry about the woofers eating up all the space in my room
- More aesthetically pleasing room treatments (full wall covered so you don't see the panels)
- Eventually upgrade my projector to a laser unit that has a good throw distance for my small room.
- The final step will probably be working on aesthetics, smart tech, and HVAC to make the room less noisy if possible. But there is a ton of money in the bullets above this one.

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC   

[JLM]

My audio room is 8ft x 13ft x 21ft (Greek Golden Rectangle), well insulated, with an exterior insulated fiberglass door with weather seal, flexible insulated ductwork (can't hear the furnace), and three 20 amp hospital grade cryogenically treated duplex receptacles grounded together and apart from the rest of the house.  Being in the basement there are no windows. 

I place the room as the #2 most important audio component, after the loudspeakers.

[Darwin011]

My audio room is 8ft x 13ft x 21ft (Greek Golden Rectangle), well insulated, with an exterior insulated fiberglass door with weather seal, flexible insulated ductwork (can't hear the furnace), and three 20 amp hospital grade cryogenically treated duplex receptacles grounded together and apart from the rest of the house.  Being in the basement there are no windows. 

I place the room as the #2 most important audio component, after the loudspeakers.

Sage advice! I absolutely think it's very important to consider the room. I currently have the basics covered with a couple bass traps and mixed panels based on what I've been able to learn from videos but I'm looking at making it a bit more aesthetically pleasing and calculated with professional guidance. Everything in my HT is a work in progress basically but hopefully a couple years pass by and I'll be able to say something like what you said.