David, can you please PM me a list of markaudio and fostex box designs available at paid subscription? Thanks
So, I almost finished building the system. There were some changes from the initial plan. Here is the final design:
- Marantz 7011 receiver (planned to use Denon 4400, but I was lucky to grab 1 month old Marantz for a fraction of the retail price)
- 6п14п PP amp for music.(I wanted to use a 300B SE amplifier, but it lacked power for the space. The 300B goes to the study)
- Custom switchbox to commutate 2 amps with one pair of speakers
- Front speakers - Super Pensils with Markaudio 12p
- Center speaker - Markaudio Alpair 10p in Dave's custom design box
- Surround speakers - Markaudio Pluvia 7 in Pensils
- Ceiling speakers - Markaudio Pluvia 7 in Dave's custom design boxes. Not yet finished
The furniture was made with spacious tunnels for wiring. They are hidden, yet easy to access.
All the speaker plans were redrawn by my friend for CNC routing, then cut from birch ply of corresponding thickness. Front cabinets were made in interlocking design (a habbit from building balsa RC planes)
Then I glued them together with a Titebond D3 wood glue. Hollowfiber and natural felt were used for damping.
The front speakers lay on the concrete floor. The remaining space between the side walls of the niche and the speakers was filled with bags, buffed with hollowfiber in order to eliminate reflections. Speakers are without finish as they are hidden in dedicated niches, covered by a fabric.
Removable frames with acoustic fabric inserts are fixed by special locks for easy access.
Surround speakers were veneered by a furniture producing company. Pluvia 7 / black walnut combination looks great in modern interior, so I decided to go without grills. The speaker is mounted flush with the front panel. The port walls yet to be painted black or dark brown.
Center channel was veneered in dark oak to match the furniture. Alpair 10p has a greenish paper cone. It is in no way ugly, but I will probably make a grill to hide it
Mararantz 7011, 6п14п PP amp and a custom switchbox. We got so addicted to video streaming services that there is still no blu-ray….and I am not sure I will ever buy one. But a good DAC and a media player for FLAC will surely come. The AVR has 9 amplified channels, so 7 go to the theater… and other two are connected to outdoor speakers on a terrace. First I thought of a dedicated amp for outdoors, but this two extra channels with HEOS multiroom feature turned out to be a great coincidence.
Finally…
Wires, hanging from the ceiling - yes, they are for upper speakers. These were meant to be mounted flash with the ceiling and Dave did a big job making a super slim 100 mm design but I consider mounting them on surface. It turns out that cutouts in gypsum cardboard will weaken the structure.
The positioning of speakers is not ideal for a theater- the distance between front speakers is excessive (the room is 11 meters long so it is good for listening music from any location)and surround speakers are positioned not symmetrically - this is not a dedicated theater area but a living room, so, no way without compromises.
I used Audyssey to tune the system and the result is gorgeous to my ears, even in yet 5 channel config. The Super Pensils are bassy enough, so I will surely do without a subwoofer. The movie experience is fantastic. The sound is very warm and dynamic at the same time. The main shortcoming from not ideal speaker positioning is that the audio image deteriorates when in off center position. But still there is a space for 3 passengers getting good result.
Alpair 12P in Superpensils work great both with solidstate Marantz reciever and the tube amp. But they (12p) really need hundreds of hours of breaking in to show their character. Of course, when it comes to music, the 12w 6p14p tube totally demolishes a 200w (aha) receiver by deepness and detail.
I want to thank Dave for his plans and all the forumers who helped with advice!
- Marantz 7011 receiver (planned to use Denon 4400, but I was lucky to grab 1 month old Marantz for a fraction of the retail price)
- 6п14п PP amp for music.(I wanted to use a 300B SE amplifier, but it lacked power for the space. The 300B goes to the study)
- Custom switchbox to commutate 2 amps with one pair of speakers
- Front speakers - Super Pensils with Markaudio 12p
- Center speaker - Markaudio Alpair 10p in Dave's custom design box
- Surround speakers - Markaudio Pluvia 7 in Pensils
- Ceiling speakers - Markaudio Pluvia 7 in Dave's custom design boxes. Not yet finished
The furniture was made with spacious tunnels for wiring. They are hidden, yet easy to access.
All the speaker plans were redrawn by my friend for CNC routing, then cut from birch ply of corresponding thickness. Front cabinets were made in interlocking design (a habbit from building balsa RC planes
)
Then I glued them together with a Titebond D3 wood glue. Hollowfiber and natural felt were used for damping.
The front speakers lay on the concrete floor. The remaining space between the side walls of the niche and the speakers was filled with bags, buffed with hollowfiber in order to eliminate reflections. Speakers are without finish as they are hidden in dedicated niches, covered by a fabric.
Removable frames with acoustic fabric inserts are fixed by special locks for easy access.
Surround speakers were veneered by a furniture producing company. Pluvia 7 / black walnut combination looks great in modern interior, so I decided to go without grills. The speaker is mounted flush with the front panel. The port walls yet to be painted black or dark brown.
Center channel was veneered in dark oak to match the furniture. Alpair 10p has a greenish paper cone. It is in no way ugly, but I will probably make a grill to hide it
Mararantz 7011, 6п14п PP amp and a custom switchbox. We got so addicted to video streaming services that there is still no blu-ray….and I am not sure I will ever buy one. But a good DAC and a media player for FLAC will surely come. The AVR has 9 amplified channels, so 7 go to the theater… and other two are connected to outdoor speakers on a terrace. First I thought of a dedicated amp for outdoors, but this two extra channels with HEOS multiroom feature turned out to be a great coincidence.
Finally…
Wires, hanging from the ceiling - yes, they are for upper speakers
. These were meant to be mounted flash with the ceiling and Dave did a big job making a super slim 100 mm design but I consider mounting them on surface. It turns out that cutouts in gypsum cardboard will weaken the structure.
The positioning of speakers is not ideal for a theater- the distance between front speakers is excessive (the room is 11 meters long so it is good for listening music from any location)and surround speakers are positioned not symmetrically - this is not a dedicated theater area but a living room, so, no way without compromises.
I used Audyssey to tune the system and the result is gorgeous to my ears, even in yet 5 channel config. The Super Pensils are bassy enough, so I will surely do without a subwoofer. The movie experience is fantastic. The sound is very warm and dynamic at the same time. The main shortcoming from not ideal speaker positioning is that the audio image deteriorates when in off center position. But still there is a space for 3 passengers getting good result.
Alpair 12P in Superpensils work great both with solidstate Marantz reciever and the tube amp. But they (12p) really need hundreds of hours of breaking in to show their character. Of course, when it comes to music, the 12w 6p14p tube totally demolishes a 200w (aha) receiver by deepness and detail.
I want to thank Dave for his plans and all the forumers who helped with advice!
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