Hardwood floors in basement music room?

Hi Tatool, I think I can sympathise with your plight, but the main sonic advantage in having a wood floor to begin with is indeed the air cavity created by the riser. A concrete slab will at least tend to cause unwanted bass reflections. If you have some cinderblock walls to contend with as well you're in a bit of a pickle...and I guess if you also happen to be in a square shaped room, then you may as well hang a sign on the door that sez: 'abandon all musical hope ye who enter' ;P But, I'm serious when I say the air gap will help blunt and diffuse the bass reflection. Bass traps IME and IMO are rather largely overrated for perhaps an inexhaustable number of reasons. EQ is recommendable if you can work it into your system, particularly if it's digital. And for that matter don't overlook the importance of good power conditioning which can be especially benificial to someone dealing with bass problems like this, more than you might suspect. Sounds like you're already onto the right information, it's just that the how-to of the construction of the floor itself is one problem I haven't actually had to solve. I know in your case it's probably fraught with impracticalities to say the least, but I suspect sonically it's worth considering what it would take to solve the problem. Actually this is something you can very likely google. If you take the time with it I bet you'll come up with a good number of detailed enough examples of how others have solved this very issue. Hope this helps.

It is not uncommon acoustical option to use a hardwood floor section at the front of the listening room where the equipment is located and use carpet in the listening portion of the room. Glued down or nailed down hardwood over underlayment would be a better choice than a floating hardwood floor.

I have most of my gear on concrete foundation in lower level with dense thin carpeting and padding.

I think this to be close to ideal, at least to my tastes. Feedback and vibrations are a non-issue even with vinyl for perhaps the first time ever for me. I would not want hardwood floors for fear changing the acoustics. I've had my gear in several rooms with hardwood floors (albeit not over a concrete foundation) and the sound was some of the worst I have ever had.

I guess it depends on the long term plan. Hardwood foors might work well in your case, but if things sound good already, expect a change and having to tweak further to some degree afterwards. If things do not sound so good, then nothing to loose.

In general I would prefer what you have over hardwood floors for the purpose of having the best sound. Hardwood floors look nice though! Its all a matter of priorities and budget to accomplish your goals.

I have built floor risers on and above concrete floors. You don't want to leave the cavity hollow but fill with rock and then vent or port the riser. This method diffuses and breaks up standing waves that tend to travel along large flat surfaces. You have to step up into a room such as this via a step or two . The other way that has worked well for myself would be to put down a vapor barrier and then jute fiber pad with a real or high content wool fiber. Natural fibers sound better even underneath a wool rug. The wool seems as if its more of a comb filter and the resulting highs are better and more linear and extended. Foam under man made fibers has more bounce and seems to have more of a resonant peak. That's been my experience. Tom

The room I am finishing off right now has plywood floors and carpet on top of that. This room is on the first floor and there is basement underneath. So of course, there is no concrete at this level. What opinions do you guys have on this setup?
I never actually though about this before, since I have always had concrete floor (with carpet on top) in the apartments that I have been living. First floor was always my preference and hence always concrete.
Please share some thoughts.