2. misc-audio
  3. 185968-128813

Rant: PSA to builders, housewives, and general complaint

In our search for a new house, I’m seeing some disturbing and annoying trends, mainly, living rooms where the ONLY place to put a TV is way high above a fireplace. This leaves zero flexibility for tv placement, additional audio components etc. Most don’t even have plugs. I'm also in Texas and there's ZERO need for a fireplace.

Not to mention all the "open concepts" we’re seeing where the living room is strangely shaped and the kitchen is basically in the room where you hear all the kitchen noise and you’re 100% accessible to your spouse and their conversation (ramblings).

This isn’t a problem if you have $2m to spend but for most of us, we’re limited in where we can set up our toys and this does not help.

Thank you for listening.

dtximages
dtximages OP
364 posts
 

@yesiam_a_pirate agree!  I'm not anti fireplace, just anti most $400k-900k homes build the fireplace right in the main entertainment spot of the house, right where my system should go forcing me to work around it where it's totally unused 99.9% of the time.

A fireplace off to the side or out of the way is great., as long as nothing is too rattly on the doors and such.

stuartk
2,473 posts
 

@larsman 

unless I was hiring the contractor to be my decorator, why would I care the slightest about what the contractor thought about feng shui or anything else regarding home decoration? If he laughed at me, he'd be a contractor looking for another gig and I'll find a good one who respected clients. 

I wasn't suggesting you should care, let alone hire such a person. I was pointing out that many contactors seem to be fairly oblivious about how livable various floor-plans are. At least, that's been my experience. 

 

larsman's avatar
larsman
1,812 posts
 

@mhemusic - that's a great idea; I'd not heard of that - thank you! I'll check out the link, but I hope one can use one's own artwork? 

@stuartk - yes, I totally agree with you on that; I misunderstood the point. 

vonhelmholtz
911 posts
 

I’m not anti fireplace, just anti most $400k-900k homes build the fireplace right in the main entertainment spot of the house, right where my system should go

I guess that we all differ in terms of “should”. I would never place my primary two channel, nor home theater setup in “the main entertainment spot”. I understanding supporting video and audio in such a room, but talking, crowds and busy environments are not where I want to listen to music, or watch a movie.  Room acoustics are critical, whereas an entertainment area has much different priorities.     Also, expensive speakers and delicate turntable, arm and cartridges should not be exposed to such traffic and potential damage.

mhemusic
6 posts
 

@larsman you can absolutely add your own artwork or use their's. You can purchase the frame and commission your own art or picture to be used.

More to discover