Hey you're welcome.
I think that you'd really like the Raals but the 6600 is no slouch either and it's all about balancing all your different needs.
I would suggest the Satori over the SS15W however, ie
System 4.1:
SS 6600 - 2 x $213 = $ 426
Satori - 2 x $287 = $ 574
Anarchy - 8 x $90 = $ 720
total = $1720
Look at the HD graphs for each driver that I posted. It's the blue (3rd order) and the grey (5th order) lines that 'dirty' up a driver the most. In the range where you'll use it, 200 - 4000Hz (which includes an octave above and below the xo frequencies) the Satori is the clear winner. Also it's 8ohm instead of 4ohm which is just preferable, altho by no means necessary.
If you're filling a large area, then you can't go wrong with 4 of the Anarchies. The first graph below shows the low frequency (blue line) of 4 of them wired with 2 pairs in parallel and then those wired in series. The place the line drops 3dB below the rest (the F3) is 31Hz. Input power is 30W per driver which results in 110dB output which is about the max this combo is capable of before exceeding its suggested linear travel limits when playing content below 30Hz (graph 2). That's crazy loud. You might note that at 20Hz, output is down 22dB, to about 88dB, which should be fine for music content but you'd still want a sub for movies. Third graph shows port air speed at this output level. It's greatest right about at 31Hz but stays nicely below the red line which is what you want.
Your SPL addition is incorrect. Wire 2 drivers in parallel and impedance is halved while SPL gain is +6dB. Wire 2 drivers in series and impedance is doubled while SPL gain is 0dB. Net gain then with 4 Anarchies is +6dB, so 91dB total sensitivity, while impedance stays at 8ohm.
But you still have to account for the baffle step loss. With a 8.5 or 9" wide speaker, that means that at about 500Hz the FR will start dropping as frequency decreases until it flattens out again about 4 to 6dB lower, sort of depending on speaker placement relative to walls. I would probably model your speakers at their full 6dB loss to start, so that would set your speaker sensitivity back to about 85dB. But as I said before, with a passive xo you can still adjust this level once you get the speakers set up in your room. And don't worry about that 85dB sensitivity vs 92dB for the S8 - it'll be fine. You're hitting 110dB with only 30 W per driver and you have 500W available per side.
Ported vs transmission line? I don't know anything about TL's so someone else will have to chime in there. Not sure how easily it works with 4 drivers and whether or not it would require a lot more internal volume to reach the same F3. I think you're already low enough just going with the ports.
Yes a curved cabinet is more difficult to build but it has certain advantages, not the least of which is that I think they look better. There are basically 3 ways to build them:
- kerf a thick piece of wood and then bend it, like this Ekta-
- laminate several panels of thinner wood to the desired curve, Anarchy/Dayton TM build
- do a translam, vertically glueing multiple layers preferably with baltic birch or it's equivalent http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php?37343-Dynamic-2-MK2-in-Translam
Your success with any of these will depend on your skill level but there is all kinds of info out there so do some more reading first. Or maybe someone else can provide some build links? The translams make very effective cabinets but can be very wasteful of material depending on how you do it, so therefore expensive, and if you diy, very time consuming especially for a tall floor-standing cabinet. But they're actually not that difficult. A router table is an absolute necessity and a drill press really helps. Actually they also make nice looking and very solid baffles - If your gonna go.... . I used this method on my build and I've since grown a little tired of the look tho. So perhaps veneer it?
If you stick more or less with the very mild curved lines of the S8, I was thinking that a combination of 1 x 3/4" kerfed plywood with the kerfs filled with epoxy resin plus another 2 or 3 layers of 1/4" hardboard well braced would provide you with an excellent cabinet. Depending on the profile you want on the top piece, you might want to do that in a translam. Then veneer everything. But really, you can choose any shape you want. A curved radius at the front corners does help to improve the sound. I wouldn't suggest a curved front baffle unless you can measure your speaker before making the xo because the sort of mini waveguide-like driver openings that result will change the FR a little from the simulation. Not enough of an advantage for you either I don't think.
Make some drawings. See what you like. And then we can tweek it 'til you're satisfied.
And I don't know what the deal is at all with the supply of the Anarchies. For a full HT system btw, I would use 2 of them in the CC and just 1 in each of the surrounds unless of course you have so much room that you want to put bigger ones in the rear.
Cheers
