what drivers to use???

[Zymrgy]

hey all, I am pretty new around here, but I have been interesting in speaker building for wuite some time. After reading the Loundspeaker design cookbook for the nth time, I think I am now ready for my first "real" attempt. (I have prevoiusly built a sub, but I already had a external crossover and a amp, so all it did was get my feet wet and my hair full of sawdust. It turned out great tho...)

Currently I have a pair of Acoustic Research M6 speakers, pictured here: http://www.arsenal.net/speakers/ar/AR-Holograms.pdf

I really do like the sound that they put out and I am happy with their performance. Years ago I got ahold of a Polk center channel which is the weak spot in my home theater. It just does not blend in that well with the AR's. So my plan is to build a center channel. I know that in a ideal world it is best to use the same drivers, but I am thinking that would be difficult and expensive. I did take apart the speaker, only to find the letters "811TNC" and the back of the 5 1/4" mid and "811TND" on the back of the tweeter.

What I would like to build is the ever popular MTM style. Since it is going on top of my television, either the drivers or the box will have to be shielded. Budget is a concern, but not of higest priority. Crossover suggestions would be helpful also...I am looking forward to taking the next step into the speaker building world.

Thanks all for your suggestions!

[leadbelly]

Originally posted by Zymrgy
It just does not blend in that well with the AR's

What I would like to build is the ever popular MTM style.

In what way did the Polk not blend in well with the center? We need more to go on here

If you already have a center and want better, an MTM may not please you. Some feel the MTM is poorly suited to CC duties.

[Zymrgy]

the sensitivity on the polk center channel is way off from the AR's ( at least 4 or 5 db, a rough measurement with my good old radio shack sound meter). This can be overcome by adjusting the volume on my reciever, but the sound quality just seems "flat" compared to the AR's. The polk has (2) 4" drivers which limits the bottom end on it. By no means is it a terrible sounding speaker, I have a pair of Polk RT 3's as surrounds and they blend in perfectly with the AR's.

Asthetics has alot to do with it also...the Polk just looks out of place on top of my 32" TV. I was thinking of working out a cabnet the same width as the TV...it would just look better.

My main reason for wanting to build a MTM is the cabnet would work perfectly for this design...but by no means am I totally set on that.

Thanks!

[mntanabob]

zymrgy,

The drivers for the M5 & M6 were manufactured by foster/tonegen. I used to have about a half dozen of the mid drivers lying around, but I threw them out about 8 years ago. The 8" woofer was manufactured by IJI (AR's parent company) or Foster depending on the build date of the speakers. I hope this helps. It good to know that a product I worked on such a long time ago is still being used by someone.
Regards