I'd personally leave the original drive where it is and put the SSD in the optical bay. That way you're touching as little of the hardware as possible. Then migrate to the new drive with migration assistant.
I'd think the main thing is to isolate the room from the floor/walls/ceiling if he wants to prevent sound transmission. That and it's probably a bad idea to install a whole basement subwoofer.
I went to bed after the first. 5am wakeup trumps shitty caps hockey, even when they're starting to get better. When the whole team starts playing well, I'll stop going to sleep after the first.