Huge Room, Concrete and Glass

[ACFerguson]

Hi, I am a classically trained woodworker with a fully equiped shop. I've been reading quite a bit online about building your own speakers. I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but I do like to hear good sound. I'm looking for some advice about what design/type of speakers would work well in my particular environment. It is an odd environment. I have 10' high walls with a cathedral ceiling extending up to 25' at the peek (like an "A"-frame). The room is 30'x20'. The wall opposite the home theater is the gable end and it is basically all glass. The walls and ceiling are drywall and the floor is an 8" thick concrete slab. So, lots of hard surfaces and a huge volume of space. We typically sit on sofas about 10' from the home theater front speakers. and we don't use the whole width of the room, only about 1/2 for viewing/listening. I have a Marantz SR7000 amp (100w/ch, with 5 chanels). I just bought a Velodyne 12" Sub. And our current speakers are not very good. Two are 20+ years old, one I'm using as a centre channel is over 45 years old, and the two rear speakers are plastic cased bookshelf speakers. I really need new speakers! I'm sure I can build the cabinets for the speakers without too much difficulty and I have done pleanty of soldering and have built small things with resistors for use in my astronomy hobby. However, given my room constraints and my lack of knowledge about what might work, I'm desperate for advice on what to build that will work in this environment!

Thanks

Tony

 

[454Casull]

Do you want to replace all of your speakers, or just the front pair for music?

Do you have a floor plan that shows the walls and all the furniture in the room?

What's your budget?

 

[planet10]

What's your budget?

and size constraints?

dave

 

[Ronmeister]

Tony,

Besides the room layout, budget and size it's good to keep in mind the sound-characteristics of your receiver when attempting a DIY Speaker - Receiver match. The SR-7000 - as far as I can remember - is one of these rare receivers that possesses musical talents. Though not exact science I believe the sound to be warmer than most receivers. The (stereo) soundstage is also far above par, and is transparant and open. Finally, the Marantz has a fair sized and capable power supply, I don't believe the load is particularly critical.

Besides this electronic aspect I often advise people to purchase/build a warmer speaker to off-set the "cold" characteristics of their receiver for example, here I'm inclined to go the other way; a neutral if not exact design that will accentuate the details whilst delivering the already existent warmth, transparency and soundstage.

The exact design, again, depends on the budget, size, room etc. It would also be good to know what source you'll be using and whether you plan on 5.1 or 7.1 etc.? Finally, would you want to build, for example, floorstanders in front and (character matched) bookshelfs for the remaining 3 or 5? Or would you want them all to be the same.

For the sake of keeping the post short... sort of... I've oversimplified the topic a little (a lot actually...), but I'll be more than happy to offer a few suggestions depending on the additional info.

Ron

 

[eeyore]

Sounds like a perfect setup for the Orion found at Linkwitz Lab, should also team up with the Pluto sub. Given you skills with timber, it should make an excellent project.

Note: I have not myself heard the Orion. But from reading from the web and my own experiences, it sounds like a great choice.

 

[Antripodean]

In describing your environment, you did mention some fairly hard and reflective surfaces. You could also get some improved sound from something as simple as a nice floor rug, wall hangings etc. Then your future speakers can really shine. Acoustic treatments on walls are further options to be considered.