Hi, I had a JBL 2360a horn setup with DH1a DRIVERS AND SOME 1/4 Q pie bass bin in our home theater in our other house. I will be building a Klipsch Synergy horn setup later for our new home theater, but for now I need to get working on something for our new location (will be moving again in January), and I am not sure which way to go. Our living room will be all clay (wall, floors, and ceiling), which I will treat some with carpets and panels. We have a 65" 4k fp that will be above 2 equipment racks (about 30" tall and 20-24" deep, and wide).
I would like the new center channel to be a mirror of the new left and right speakers...so it will need to fit under the tv, and between the 2 racks. This will leave me 1' for width if I only move the outside of the racks to the edges of the tv. If I need to move wider that is fine, but I prefer not to move more than 1' per side. The setup will be powered by a Yamaha RV RX481 AVR, and if the speakers sound good I might make them for the surrounds too. The setup will be for mostly tv, and movies and general music (no serious music listening is intended as that will be in the HT.) I will be using a little sub for now and build a new one later on.
I am thinking an open baffle would be easiest to build, but I am not sure if my setup will have enough umph to drive them.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. My budget is not much for this, and I would like it to be under $300 per channel(lower would be better if I can get good sound).
I would like the new center channel to be a mirror of the new left and right speakers...so it will need to fit under the tv, and between the 2 racks. This will leave me 1' for width if I only move the outside of the racks to the edges of the tv. If I need to move wider that is fine, but I prefer not to move more than 1' per side. The setup will be powered by a Yamaha RV RX481 AVR, and if the speakers sound good I might make them for the surrounds too. The setup will be for mostly tv, and movies and general music (no serious music listening is intended as that will be in the HT.) I will be using a little sub for now and build a new one later on.
I am thinking an open baffle would be easiest to build, but I am not sure if my setup will have enough umph to drive them.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. My budget is not much for this, and I would like it to be under $300 per channel(lower would be better if I can get good sound).
I like folded horn speakers.
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We know.
But the W-bin you've shown saw most of its use around 40 years ago, where they needed to be in stacks of four or more to get a useful amount of LF gain. The path length is too short for real bass, but they'll hit you in the chest at 120Hz.
What they are not for is being part of a domestic surround-sound system. Here's why:
- Limited bandwidth. A 6" driver can go higher, and lower.
- Size. Not many home theatre setups will allow the use of five of those, with their associated midrange and HF horns.
- SAF. Spouse acceptance factor is almost certain to be an issue with bringing in a set of cabinets that are each 177 litres, not to mention there's no way of making them look pretty.
If the original poster had asked about something that'll really kick in the 100Hz range, I'd consider recommending W-bins. For literally anything else, they can be bettered.
If you're ever near Sheffield, let me know and I'd be happy to demo a modern PA system for you. You might be surprised at what a good ol' reflex cabinet can do when loaded with decent drivers and fed a couple of kilowatts.
To the original poster, sorry about the rant.
If you're fancying OBs, it'll be something like an Eminence Beta-15 plus full-range driver of choice, and a few crossover bits. Since you've got a subwoofer, you might get away with 12" drivers, but running a full-range driver OB is likely to leave you wanting IMHO.
Chris
One thing I should mention... the room has a circular fireplace in the middle of it, and the tv will be on the back side of it, so the center channel will be close to the rear of the fireplace. The sides though will most likely have several feet to each side, and at least 6' open behind them. We will be sitting about 10' from the tv.
So if the OB would leave me wanting...would you suggest going with a horn loaded setup?
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Room is an open area style so it is about 1500sqft. We dont listen at reference levels, but my AVR is only around 80wpc stereo...no idea what it is actually pumping out with 5 channels at once. I will be using a powered sub with a 80hz crossover unless I need to go higher.
Actually, your room is quite nice for OB. Lots of space behind, and to the sides.
Line Arrays with a bunch of small drivers are really cool, but they need a lot of EQ to shine. A lot more than a regular AVR can provide.
Get a couple of 15" for bass from 80 to 400Hz, then let a fullrange driver take over from there.
A simple 1st order XO will work ok, but if you want them to shine and have plenty of punch, a Harsch XO is quite something, albeit more parts and more expensive.
A few boards of plywood will get you there. Add a veneer of stone to add damping and amazing looks!
Apologies for the shameless plug!
Line Arrays with a bunch of small drivers are really cool, but they need a lot of EQ to shine. A lot more than a regular AVR can provide.
Get a couple of 15" for bass from 80 to 400Hz, then let a fullrange driver take over from there.
A simple 1st order XO will work ok, but if you want them to shine and have plenty of punch, a Harsch XO is quite something, albeit more parts and more expensive.
A few boards of plywood will get you there. Add a veneer of stone to add damping and amazing looks!
Apologies for the shameless plug!
If you're not going to listen at reference levels, a decent full-range driver per channel would probably be how I'd do it.
Something like Alpair 7s for the surrounds and 10 or 12s for the front LCR.
Chris
Those look great! I have some Emminence 15s laying around that were for my Synergy horns, but I could always order more when I am ready to work on that project.Actually, your room is quite nice for OB. Lots of space behind, and to the sides.
Line Arrays with a bunch of small drivers are really cool, but they need a lot of EQ to shine. A lot more than a regular AVR can provide.
Get a couple of 15" for bass from 80 to 400Hz, then let a fullrange driver take over from there.
A simple 1st order XO will work ok, but if you want them to shine and have plenty of punch, a Harsch XO is quite something, albeit more parts and more expensive.
A few boards of plywood will get you there. Add a veneer of stone to add damping and amazing looks!
Apologies for the shameless plug!
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I wouldn't go OB for center. Horn would be great there to keep a nice focused sound for dialogues and extra info, and keep OB for L/R.
As for surrounds, OB might work as we are looking for diffuse sound, but I have never tried it.
I'll add that to my list of things to try one day!
Thanks!
I'd go for small ported boxes in your situation.
Easy builds, decent sound, small boxes.
Chris
I really would like something 2-3' tall for my front 3 channels. I have even looked at the Frugal mk3s as they appear to be pretty well accepted. My only problem is that the center channel will not have the space behind or to the sides that my left and right channels will have.
Now this might be an option if I went with smaller speakers suggested...not sure on how I would build the sub part though, but I like the idea.
Bamberg Audio 5TMW Speaker Review - Dagogo
Bamberg Audio 5TMW Speaker Review - Dagogo
ML-TLs might be an option, or just knock together some stands.
Seems to me that, for what you want to use them for, a simple solution will work rather well.
That said, if you do find that you want to do something more complex, feel free. Nothing wrong with that. I just don't think it's strictly necessary here.
Chris
For those using FHs as LR i have released a small miniOnken centre channel for each of the usual candidate drivers specifically to solve th esame issue you have.
dave
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