Building a house with dedicated stereo room-advice

I am also looking to build my own house and will be looking to customize my media room to fit 2ch. I will be following this thread and emailing Agear.

What are the basics that every audiophile should have in their listening room?

Dedicated 20amp circuits and an isolated room? Probably something to block or disperse first reflections off the rear wall, side wall, and ceiling?

I'd recommend reading "Premium Home Theater" by Earl Geddes. Don't remember it going into electrical distribution per se, but at the very least it will give you a working knowledge of the basic concepts of and what it takes to build a room that sounds good. And although it looks like the ASC system incorporates many of the concepts found in the book it probably comes at a fairly high premium. After reading the book you may find you can achieve much the same results in your own (with your contractor of course) using things like Dietrich resilient channels, green glue, etc. rather than ASC products. I'm not a handyman and can barely nail two pieces of wood together, but after reading that book I'd feel comfortable working with a contractor I know and trust to construct a good sounding room (which is exactly what I plan to do). Then again, if you're willing to pay for the ASC system it looks like it addresses the main issues assuming it's implemented properly. FWIW and best of luck.

No need to spend the money on a Rives room. I've done several dedicated rooms over the years. By a wide margin the best results I've achieved is by building exactly to Cardas Golden Ratio dimensions. Cardas also has a formula for speaker placement and listening chair position (equilateral triangle) and it's the best I've heard. I'd go with an MGE Power Supress 100 isolation transformer- $1000- dedicated AC lines and Jena, Porter Port or Oyaide outlets and you're pretty well done. Save the Rives money for better equipment, more music, etc. The Rives program is no panacea!!

The Wattgate 381 outlet is another option to consider.

I've had good luck with Hubbel 5362's and Pass & Seymour 5362's recently cryoe'd.I agree that building a dedicated room is the best route to a great sounding system, be patient and do it right. Well worth the work.