High End Home Theater Design 9.1

[2MuchRiceMakesMeSick]

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

[navin]

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

[rob g]

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.

[rob g]

Navin's first choice SEAS W15CY001 + Fountek NeoCD3
should be a nice little speaker. A good ribbon can sound very nice.

[navin]

Other options (you'll have to design these yourself are):

Peerless 149W with B&G Neo 3 in 6-7 liters
Morel 5" with tweeter in the link below
Morel Loudspeakers - Home Audio - Octave Signature Audiophile Speakers - Octave Signature Bookshelf
If on a budget the bookselves shown here should work fine
http://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy

As rob mentioned, in a room that is 10x12 5.1 or at best 7.1 should suffice.

[2MuchRiceMakesMeSick]

Originally Posted by rob g

Navin's first choice SEAS W15CY001 + Fountek NeoCD3
should be a nice little speaker. A good ribbon can sound very nice.

This combo is very appealing, but how is the frequency response below 1250?

[navin]

Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

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.

[navin]

Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

This combo is very appealing, but how is the frequency response below 1250?

One more option:
The Usher sealed 2 way home theater satellites

Confused? LOL.

[rob g]

Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

This combo is very appealing, but how is the frequency response below 1250?

Are you just looking at the tweeter response chart?
Check out the whole page. They look decently flat. These charts do not tell you a lot about how the speaker will sound but it is a good start.

[rob g]

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.