so you chose the lengthy and slim dining table to make space for your ht den? darn, that is a great idea.
i live in a condo too, in rockwell. i have decent space. not big. not small, but my problem is i have a living room where i keep my listening gear, and an adjacent dining is that is not closed out from my living room. typical condo design that seems very anti audio.
i am considering putting a divider as well. Would you recommend glass or a sliding wood panel. You seem to have both. which is more costly?
Basically yes & no
. We actually bought that table on a sale, one year before we moved in. Its an expandable table on both sides and believe it or not, we could accommodate up to 14-18 diners here in our small space, elmers knows that, lol
. We were supposed to face it to the window before, but I wanted to close the HT room (with much opposition from the missus
) and the table was in the way. So I had it repositioned to its current layout and put it near the mirrored wall to create an illusion of a very long table. It was a
last minute repositioning that actually worked to the advantage of the HT. But even a round table would fit, but it could accomodate less people.
On condos being anti audio. Most basic designs are , but it depends on you if you
really want to make it pro audio. My listening area is living proof of how desperate one can get to squeeze a A/V den
, even on a small space. hahaha.
Adjacent dining area, in my previous experience (we were renting before while waiting for this unit) would be great for HT, its a wonderful place to position your 6th & 7th channel if its a long living room + dining room connected to each other. The surrounds are just great! but not for audio listening
.
Glass dividers are for aesthetic puposes and not recommended for audio (acoustically). BUT
its very easy to install though, no renovation needed Maybe a day is enough for installation. I dont know the cost because the glass we used, we got it for free from a closed commercial store of a relative. Cutting & installation cost was minimal. I put it there so I could compromise with my wife's request to have the HT room visible from the dining...and aesthetic too. It's positioned at the back for acoustic reasons.
Wood dividers is better recommended, specially for audio, but you might need a
small renovation, thats time & money, not to mention you live there and there will be carpenters working around. If you will have ducco finish, its easier, but varnished veneer? Gee it takes forever for the painters to polish if you want a good quality finish (labor cost is gonna kill ya
). The cost would depend on the meterials you use, but in my case it was the labor cost that really got my attention, lol. I hired a very expensive painter who chose his (expensive) assistant
s. But in the end, the finish was great and even my wife loved it, the guests too. so word of advice...hire a good finishing painter, kahit mahal, huwag magtipid, cuz you will get what you pay for..
I hope that helps
