DIY Home Theatre

[luckybob]

I am new to the whole DIY home Theatre game. I am in the midst of building a DIY Projector and I am thinking a DIY Home Theatre would complement this well.

I want to build 2 fronts, 2 rears, a center and a sub. The room this will be in is about 12' X 12'. I don't need anything that will be ridiculously loud, as my little girls room is in the next room, and most of the movie watching will be done while she is sleeping.

I currently have a crappy "home theatre system in a box" in the living room, and for all intensive purposes it works fine, so my expectations are set low.

Since I am new to this I am having a tough time finding a starting point. I have been through the forums, and have seen a few designs I liked. The fact is I know little about home theatre setups, but I am willing and ready to learn.

One question I have is in regards to loudspeakers, are these considered the Fronts and rears? Does it also include the center channel? If someone could point me in the direction of as step by step home theatre build I could get ideas from I would appreciate it.

One last thing before I loose your attention. I have been looking for places online to buy drivers from. I have found this while going through the HATT-MkIII setup, http://www.madisound.com. Am I on the right track, or are the better places I can order from preferably in the US.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Cal Weldon]

If you want high quality sound, fairly quiet, I would recommend 5 of the CSS FR125 full range drivers.

http://www.creativesound.ca/ (Canadian)

and an 8" woofer, perhaps the Tangband W8-740C

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=264-854

and a small plate amp.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=300-784

You can make nice compact enclosures and enjoy the quality for years to come as these won't need an upgrade for a lot of years unless moving to a large room .

 

[lousymusician]

I bought a pair of the FR125's to see how they'd work as rear channels (if not fronts) in my HT rig. I think they are a bit too directional to work for an audience that might be spread around the room. If you do your movie watching alone, they would be OK.

You don't give a budget, but look at the kits here . The Exodus kits use the related (but less expensive) WR125, with a tweeter that should add some welcome dispersion at the top.

A pair of the 641's or 2641's in front, with 41's in the rear and LCR center channel should make a pretty darned good system. Might not need a sub at all, they should go plenty deep to wake the kiddies as they are. Or, five 41's plus a sub could be nice too.

The usual disclaimer - no financial interest on my part, nor have I heard that setup. There are lots of other designs out there, too. The research is half of the fun, right?

 

[sqlkev]

I would go for this design
http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker20b.html

add a sub and you're good to go.

 

[francis varkey]

I bought a pair of the FR125's to see how they'd work as rear channels (if not fronts) in my HT rig. I think they are a bit too directional to work for an audience that might be spread around the room.

For the rears, you could try placing them at below arm chair seating level and firing up towards the ceiling and preferably close to a wall. It helps to clear the directionality, a cheap alternative