I'll try to make this short and address any potential concerns those of you may have. I'm a fan of scan drivers. Plain and simple. I realize they're not cheap and I realize that you can broach the product quality with less expensive products. Luckily, I have personal experience with Scan that has helped mold my desire to continue using the product and also I have a friend who can get me some good prices on the products.
That all said, I'm looking to either go DIY or purchase a 'DIY' design kit such as the Zaph ZRT 2.0/2.5 from Madisound. Troel's site lists a great deal of designs as well. This would be for my future home... which may be out as far as 1 year or 2 years. We're about to put our house on the market so there's no telling how long it will take to sell or what it will sell for; though I'm hopeful of a target price. I'm really just 'shopping' for system components for an HT room that will double as 2-channel listening during non-HT mode.
The idea (as it stands) is to build a false wall to hide the speakers in and use an acoustically transparent screen when in HT mode; no screen when listening in stereo (assuming the screen even encompasses the L/R speakers). This wall would be about 3-4' off the real backwall and also encompass the A/V gear. Of course, this is assuming I build or buy a house with a large enough bonus room to pull this off. If not, then it's standard ol' room. Of course, the room isn't as important to me right now; I'm just hunting for ideas and what works best will be what I use. For example, Zaph's 2.5 is desired in cases where you're at least 2-2.5m from the speakers (according to his site) and the 2.0 is used for more 'near field'.
If I go the false wall route I'm going to use the same design for center as whatever I choose for L/R. Surrounds will be whatever works best. Honestly, not an important issue to me... hivi designs look very cost friendly and nice... then again, store bought setups would suffice. So, to recap, my L/C/R setup would be the same design; all vertical rather than a horizontal center.
I'm pretty time limited with work travel so I'm not doing away with the idea of purchasing pre-built cabs for whatever I choose. Zaph's 2.5 ZRT calls for Madisounds MD38T cabs. Then again, if things settle down I'll build my own cabs.
As far as low end response I'll be going IB and also build a couple extra sub setups to implement the Geddes notion of averaging low end response by using multiples. I already have two JL 12w6v2's on hand for 'satellite' subs; no design yet, though.
I know that 1-2 years out may seem a bit far fetched but for the past 3 years I've wanted to employ a Scan system as part of (at least) a stereo setup so I doubt my desires will shift from that.
Right now, I'm just doing some research and trying to really explore the options available. I hope to possibly set up some demos and plan to drive out to Atlanta sometime soon to hit up some hi-fi shops and get some ideas. Let's call this the research phase; started extremely early. I built my current house and wired it up for an HT room. However when the first mortgage payment came rolling in, desires changed. 2 years later, no HT room. That will NOT happen with the next home. And my wife is fully supportive of it. So much so, that we've already decided on a decent budget for the HT that will not shift unless we have to give our current house away. 😉
I am curious to hear feedback and see others' builds using Scan Revelators and either the rev or air circ tweeters. Links will be great.
I appreciate the input. Hopefully I've given you fellas enough specifications to give some feedback.
- Erin
That all said, I'm looking to either go DIY or purchase a 'DIY' design kit such as the Zaph ZRT 2.0/2.5 from Madisound. Troel's site lists a great deal of designs as well. This would be for my future home... which may be out as far as 1 year or 2 years. We're about to put our house on the market so there's no telling how long it will take to sell or what it will sell for; though I'm hopeful of a target price. I'm really just 'shopping' for system components for an HT room that will double as 2-channel listening during non-HT mode.
The idea (as it stands) is to build a false wall to hide the speakers in and use an acoustically transparent screen when in HT mode; no screen when listening in stereo (assuming the screen even encompasses the L/R speakers). This wall would be about 3-4' off the real backwall and also encompass the A/V gear. Of course, this is assuming I build or buy a house with a large enough bonus room to pull this off. If not, then it's standard ol' room. Of course, the room isn't as important to me right now; I'm just hunting for ideas and what works best will be what I use. For example, Zaph's 2.5 is desired in cases where you're at least 2-2.5m from the speakers (according to his site) and the 2.0 is used for more 'near field'.
If I go the false wall route I'm going to use the same design for center as whatever I choose for L/R. Surrounds will be whatever works best. Honestly, not an important issue to me... hivi designs look very cost friendly and nice... then again, store bought setups would suffice. So, to recap, my L/C/R setup would be the same design; all vertical rather than a horizontal center.
I'm pretty time limited with work travel so I'm not doing away with the idea of purchasing pre-built cabs for whatever I choose. Zaph's 2.5 ZRT calls for Madisounds MD38T cabs. Then again, if things settle down I'll build my own cabs.
As far as low end response I'll be going IB and also build a couple extra sub setups to implement the Geddes notion of averaging low end response by using multiples. I already have two JL 12w6v2's on hand for 'satellite' subs; no design yet, though.
I know that 1-2 years out may seem a bit far fetched but for the past 3 years I've wanted to employ a Scan system as part of (at least) a stereo setup so I doubt my desires will shift from that.
Right now, I'm just doing some research and trying to really explore the options available. I hope to possibly set up some demos and plan to drive out to Atlanta sometime soon to hit up some hi-fi shops and get some ideas. Let's call this the research phase; started extremely early. I built my current house and wired it up for an HT room. However when the first mortgage payment came rolling in, desires changed. 2 years later, no HT room. That will NOT happen with the next home. And my wife is fully supportive of it. So much so, that we've already decided on a decent budget for the HT that will not shift unless we have to give our current house away. 😉
I am curious to hear feedback and see others' builds using Scan Revelators and either the rev or air circ tweeters. Links will be great.
I appreciate the input. Hopefully I've given you fellas enough specifications to give some feedback.
- Erin