High End Home Theater Design 9.1

Which Kit For High-end Home Theater?

  • Eekels' Mini

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • SEAS 5INCH

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • 3-Way Classic

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • CA18RLY/22TAF-G

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • SEAS Excel Bifrost

    Votes: 5 15.6%
  • QUATTRO

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Lumine One

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • A Different Kit - Please List Below

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • I Have No Idea But I Like To Vote

    Votes: 17 53.1%

  • Total voters
    32
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I would like to build a 9.1 surround sound for my small theater room thats 12x10.5. After reading many reviews I would like to stick with SEAS Excel line for midbass/midrange if possible.

Are there good kits available for this kind of setup?

These are some of the kits ive been looking at

Eekels' Mini
SEAS 5INCH
3-Way Classic
CA18RLY/22TAF-G
SEAS Excel Bifrost Kit - Pair - Parts Only: Madisound Speaker Store
QUATTRO
Lumine One 2-Way Speaker Kit: Madisound Speaker Store

Thanks in advance for your advice
 
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2muchrice,

The bass response of a large 6" 2 way like the Quattro, BiFrost, or Lumine cannot compare to the abilities of the 12cm woofer in the Eekel's Mini.

Since your room is small (12 ft x 10.5ft) I believe that 9 Quattros/BiFrosts/Lumine will overwhelm the room visually as well as aurally.

Maybe the Eekel's mini or a smaller design like the W15-Neo3 or OW1 will suffice.
Monitor W15NeoSEAS W15CY001 +
W15CY001-OWI
 
9.1 in that room is totally and utterly wasted, better suited to very large spaces. 5.1 is more than enough.
If you are going with standard mini monitor box speakers there are lots of options within traditional retail models. There will be so many S/hand, Ebay, Ex demo commercial options that I do not think you will make a significant saving as such building these.
Importantly retail would give you the option to hear different styles.
That said if you want to build them for the love of it, personal styling.......

for something different add Gedlee Harper in 5.1
Harper


If you want lots of speakers go for two sub's instead and use them at the same volume. Try back and front of room and also left and right.
 
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This combo is very appealing, but how is the frequency response below 1250?

1250Hz? The W15CY should be able to go to 50Hz at moderate SPLs.

BTW if you dont feel like DIY @$100 per pair this is a great option. Yeah we all know it's a Pioneer but maybe my expectations were low, still this little thing rocked (when mated to a sub). Pioneer has made some nice stuff lately their S4EX had me dreaming of a SEAS Excel Coax based system.
SP-BS21-LR - Bookshelf Loudspeakers. | Pioneer Electronics USA

S-4EX - Speaker with Ceramic Graphite Tweeter Dome and LDMC technology | Pioneer Electronics USA

Well if you are looking at high end audiophile names then here are some (the list is exhausting, this lot is only repsentative)
Dali
MENTOR MENUET
KEF
United Kingdom - Showroom - XQ10
Aperion
Product Comparison - Aperion Audio
Paradigm (do we list them as "audiophile").
Signature S1 - Welcome to the New Official Paradigm® Website.
 
Kef's new budget range sounds quite a bit better than the old XQ range. The drivers are notably better.

Have a look a Kef Q100. Cabinets aren't as well braced but the drivers are quite a bit better, so much so that they sound sweeter and smoother even with a simple 1st order crossover. Ripe for DIY improvement.

The new equivalent of the XQ range is the R range with tidy three way standmount.

To compare a ribbon speaker look at the Monitor Audio GX range.

Usher make a lovely smooth little bookshelf speaker the S520.

ATC SCM7 would be good choice too.
 
I really like the kit you suggested Monitor W15NeoSEAS W15CY001 +

The question is where can I buy the crossover parts in the US? I looked on parts express website but none of the part number match even though they claim to be a jenzen dealer.

I just ordered a DTQWT from jenzen and the shipping/conversion/bank fees was over $275. I would prefer to buy local/US if possible.
SEASW15CY001-FountekNeoCD3_kit-parts.GIF
 
Get decent air core inductors. Buy quality cap's from Digikey. Large value cap's buy Solen, audiophile but not nutty price territory.
Hardwire the crossover, put the crossovers in external boxes perhaps.


Perfect. Thanks for the help.

Im just about to order but before I do can you tell me the main differences between
Monitor W15NeoSEAS W15CY001 +
and
SEAS 5INCH

Im leaning more towards the ribbon setup but the magnesium makes me nervous as others describe them as 'not as colourful'. Unsure really what that means.
 
That's a thorny one. Now you're getting into loudspeaker religion!
Ribbon versus dome, paper versus metal etc.
Paper drivers are typically a safe bet but less apparently detailed than metal cones.
Also fine grain study of the loudspeaker response on and off axis. careful study of individual drive unit performance etc.
No one can honestly answer this for you, save perhaps someone who has built them all.
If the ribbon, metal cone design hasn't been handled well it could be harsh and fatiguing. That said I expect it is a well designed little speaker as the designer has a good rep it seems. I expect the ribbon speaker is the best version.

Personally I would prefer to see larger domes matched to those bass mid's. I do not think there is any real world audible benefits to tiny domes. Personal prejudice maybe I think it is better to have drive units with more power handling where music has the most energy, drive units that are as smoothly married as possible, operating comfortably in their working range. One of the smoothest mini's I have heard was the AVI NuNeutron III, a well designed speaker with a large tweeter for the cab size.


The colour should be in the music not made by the cone!
 
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That's a thorny one. Now you're getting into loudspeaker religion!
Ribbon versus dome, paper versus metal etc.
Paper drivers are typically a safe bet but less apparently detailed than metal cones.
Also fine grain study of the loudspeaker response on and off axis. careful study of individual drive unit performance etc.
No one can honestly answer this for you, save perhaps someone who has built them all.
If the ribbon, metal cone design hasn't been handled well it could be harsh and fatiguing. That said I expect it is a well designed little speaker as the designer has a good rep it seems. I expect the ribbon speaker is the best version.

Personally I would prefer to see larger domes matched to those bass mid's. I do not think there is any real world audible benefits to tiny domes. Personal prejudice maybe I think it is better to have drive units with more power handling where music has the most energy, drive units that are as smoothly married as possible, operating comfortably in their working range. One of the smoothest mini's I have heard was the AVI NuNeutron III, a well designed speaker with a large tweeter for the cab size.


The colour should be in the music not made by the cone!

Awesome explanation!

All of the tests that claim ~86db is 1w/1m right?

Also the RMS power output of the ribbon is 17watts? I guess thats not a good match for my receiver that is 9x130wrms
 
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