Building speakers into Entertainment Center

[ArtVandelayII]

Forgive me if this is the wrong forum for this question, but I'm about to build my second set of speakers and could use a bit of advice. I built a set of pensils a few years ago, but for this new build I want to build a custom entertainment center and build the speakers into the actual cabinetry. I know I could simply buy a set of in-wall speakers for this use case, and mount them into the cabinets, but since my entertainment center is going to be 16" deep, it seems like I could get better results by custom building something to take advantage of that depth instead of using in-wall speakers that were designed to be installed in 4" thick walls.

Anyway, here's a sketch of what I have in mind. I plan on doing a 3.1 set up. This is our main TV in our family room area, so I feel like I need a center channel for the TV, but the stereo performance is just as important to me. My question is, can anyone recommend a kit that would function well if built into an entertainment center? I can make the speaker "compartments" any size I want, but in this sketch I have them at 16x18x16", so I was thinking something similar to the Seas A26 kit from Madisound might do the trick?

 

[David Morison]

Something designed to be positioned near a wall will be needed, as there will be less bafflestep losses in such a position - I don't think the A26 is designed with that in mind.

Troels Gravesen's Bookshelf 3Way Classic does account for that, so may be one place to start looking. It's slightly wider than your planned spaces, but if you moved the vent below the bass driver instead of beside it, you might be able to reshape the baffle to fit pretty well. If your change to the shape was small enough, it might not disturb the crossover alignment too much.

 

[picowallspeaker]

Not mentioning how all the speakers attached to that structure will buzz&vibrate, but why a 10" ? A 8" is still to big...going from a Pencil cabinet, desiged for a fullrange driver not too big, say 4 or 5", to a big woofer(plus tweeter) will change lots of things, but the biggest one would be the piston force to all the structure ( no way of doing anything with neoprene or sorbothane or anything else). A 10" alone is to be considered a subwoofer...and you'd want to put 3 in that extended cabinet. Plus the .1 which i presume is a subwoofer.
Since you are mentioning kits, which are allright but might require some expertise if modded ( change of the baffle > little change in radiation>probably different slope for the woofer is required), I put another one which catches my attention ( I like little speakers), I hope the link works
Kartesian Bookshelf

 

[picowallspeaker]

BTW I wouldn't use what I proposed! Why? because they use a little woofer with big excursion and that requires a big roll surround, which is a no-no for voice reproduction. I'd probably steer to other Kartesian products, such as the inverted surround mid-woofers.
And make the baffles not flat, a truncated pyramid might do better ( many rectangles attached )

 

[ArtVandelayII]

Thanks so much for the responses.

Dave, I hadn’t seen the Troels Bookshelf, that looks almost ideal to me for my stereo needs. I’ll definitely research that one more.

Pico, the main reason I want something larger (and perhaps 10” is too large) is because I’m looking for something with more impact in stereo. I love speakers that feel like a “wall of sound”. In my ideal world I’d just buy a set of magnepans and be done, but those won’t make it past the wife…

Also, I built those pensils for a small room in a 900sqft house, and we have just finished remodeling up to 2400sq ft and we now have a very large open area comprised of living room, dining area, kitchen, and entryway lounge. There’s also a 20’ sliding glass door in the space. Visually, I love it, but acoustically is going to be a challenge. Photos for reference (excuse the mess, we’re still unboxing and moving back in).

 

[Lojzek]

Basically any competently designed speaker kit should perform reasonably well within your entertainment center. The ones meant to be placed specifically in open space, will be a bit bass heavier, which may very well be a desirable feature. I would make that a 3 way, a 10" bass in a sealed cabinet.

 

[ArtVandelayII]

Thanks, while I do appreciate a clear midrange, you’ll never hear me complain about extra bass. Especially with modern music I could argue that bass is more important than clarity…and I do listen to virtually all genres of music. Everything from classical, to jazz, to good country (Sturgill Simpson, Johnny Cash, etc), Americana, hip hop, rock, etc…

 

[picowallspeaker]

I would make 3 half-eggshells that are positioned in a cradle, so the upper part of the structure has è semi-circles. Still I have to resolve the problem of vibrations of all the thing. Those eggshells will house a mid and a tweeter, still using the Kartesian as reference for design. Positioning the mid on top, and the tweeter below, might tilt the vertical directivity - for standing people is more a 'party speaker' - and still the woofers hadn't been examined nor cosidered. This leads to think about the subwoofer:what, where, how..!?
Problem is to think the speakers detached from the furniture and allow some aerodynamical performance, the same expectation that the listener has, it has to be transposed in the architectural field-curiosity only architects has some graduation in acoustics(it should be accompanied by mechanics & hifi studies to fill the expectations of a hifi enthusiast)
So, for me any 8 or 10 inch woofer is out, and definitely not in the scattered position of the TG example, but rigorously vertically aligned( thinking about little co_axyals in 'balls' a la Grundig either).