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In trying for a balance between pleasant living space and audiophile lair, I made a few other deals with the devil. For instance, there are no audiophile-approved audio racks in my room. I'd have needed nine or 10 shelves—two racks, give or take. Aside from the expense, high-end racks would've given less of a "livable" vibe to the room, so I'm happy I found the equipment console I mentioned. For the best sound, it should probably be closer to me, along one of the two long sides of the room, but for various reasons, this proved impractical. I ultimately put the console about 2' from the front wall so that I can get behind it when swapping out equipment and cables. The Focal Scala speakers are positioned far enough into the room—their baffles are 7' 6" from the front wall—that the sonic effect of the console behind and between them is small.

Originally, the console wasn't really suited for the heavy amplifiers I intended to place on it. A local carpenter fitted it with vibration-resistant Sorbothane strips, then reinforced the structure with a thick, black valance (spanning the 6' width of the cabinet) that supports the bottom shelf. This had the added advantage that, from my listening chair, I no longer had the distraction of seeing cables on the floor behind the equipment.

Few visitors suspect that the big work of art on the front wall is a TV screen (footnote 4). With its power cable hidden in the wall, its matte finish, and with brightness auto-dimmed to low, it does a surprisingly credible job of disguising itself as a framed photo or painting. (I have always disliked how a large TV looks like a black hole when it's not on.)

For months, I'd looked at 4K short-throw projectors as an alternative because—well, wouldn't I get audible sound reflections bouncing off a glass TV screen? I needn't have worried. Modern hi-def TVs have much softer screens—try it: Poke one and it gives. All the same, I bought a third-party external wooden frame, in part so that its sculpted, protruding edges would create a little extra diffusion.

Crucially, there's a second reason why there's a screen in the room. Audiophiles with dedicated listening spaces can get isolated from their housemates. I've always enjoyed the domesticity of family life—the patter of kids and dogs, the teasing and joking, the noises of a house alive with activity. It's no small thing to essentially remove yourself from that. Because my wife and children aren't especially into high-end stereo gear or long listening sessions, the TV in the new room is there in part so they can drift in to watch shows and movies together, as a family.

Smaller, cheaper tweaks
Things were rapidly improving soundwise. Still, a few more room-response issues had to be addressed. On my left side, where there's a bank of five windows, I obviously couldn't mount an absorption panel at the first reflection point. I placed a large, soft-leather couch there instead. The window coverings, too, were chosen for sound-taming effect: They're accordion-shaped, cloth cellular blinds that have minor absorptive and reflective properties.

The panels, from GIK, ATS Acoustics, and others, ended up costing about five grand total, and I consider that something of a bargain considering the enormous difference they would soon make. But I also got good results with smaller, cheaper tweaks. In fact, various improvements to a room's sound are free or can be folded into a normal home-decorating budget. One obvious example: A rug isn't just pleasant for your bare feet; it's a joy to the ears if your room is reflective (too live). When I needed storage containers, a friend suggested a couple of padded, lidded ottomans. Excellent choice. They do double duty as absorbers, and they work a treat.

One evening, I mounted a 4'-long bookshelf on the wall behind the listening position, above the diffuser panels, and was chuffed to discover that I could subtly improve the sound by varying the depth of the books—deliberately pushing some spines farther onto the shelf and letting others jut out a little.

With each modification and addition, things got better. Aaron wisely cautioned me not to overdo it. Neither of us are fans of overdamped rooms, where a lack of reflections makes music sound anemic, robbed of energy and sparkle.

All's well that ends well?
The second serious listen came at the end of February. There was still a room mode around 35Hz, but the ARC Genesis room correction software made quick work of it, and we reveled in the excellent sonics. The hassle and just-over-six-figure cost had been well worth it.

Here's the main thing: A dedicated high-end space allows your music's full dynamics to blossom (and not just decibels, though that's a big part of it). It's next to useless to play Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks," Control Machete's "Si Señor," or the Minnesota Orchestra's version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Snow Maiden" at low levels. I'm not embarrassed to say that for me, the power of such recordings isn't unleashed until the SPLs begin to border on unreasonable.

Most audiophiles have spent a small (or large) fortune on speakers and electronics, and another bundle on cables, antivibration solutions, power conditioners, and so on. The vital component most often overlooked is the room. I'm very fortunate that I was able to build mine almost from scratch. The expense seemed excessively self-indulgent until I realized that, unlike equipment, an extra room should more than pay for itself when the time comes to sell the house.

Even if a custom room is not in the cards, more audiophiles ought to consider acoustical treatments. Your mileage may vary, but to me, nine out of 10 times, putting a high-end stereo rig in an untreated listening room seems a bit like playing a Stradivarius with a $5 bow

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Footnote 4: See samsung.com/us/tvs/the-frame/highlights.