CHR 70 for front/surround, DENON AV reciever

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Hello friends,

I am in a state of choosing speaker configuration for a home theater with DENON 3400 7.1 as a head unit.

I have a very good experience building a pair of Frugel-Horn XL with Alpair 10P for a 6S4S SET amp.
So when I came across center/surround plans for Mark Audio CHR70 I thought it would be a good idea to use them in a home theater.
The only thing that bothers me: wouldn't be CHR70 speakers too weak for a 130w per channel reciever?

I would appreciate your advice. Thanks in advance!
 
Well, IMO, the discrete center channel in a true 5.1 or more surround system should be of at least equal merit to the L&R mains - and not only in terms of max power handling. I've used a range of wideband drivers in my own 7.1 system over the years - currently with A10.3 (metals) as L&R mains(Pensil) , A10P in small vented center enclosure, A6 metals for rear surrounds, and Pluvia7s for front height surrounds.

As for power ratings on surround receivers - read very carefully between the lines, in the case of the 3400 @ 8ohms, 2 channels driven = 105WPC. I'd be inclined to de-rate that by at least 10% (other members may have different figures) when 5 or more channels are driven, but even at a very conservative 80WPC, if you're looking for THX reference levels (105dB peaks, IIRC) in a moderate to large room, the risk of excursion damage is definitely there.
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Forget about power ratings. Unless you go whole hog on the volume you will not have any issue, and if you do it is because the amp is running out of power.

What Chris said. Use the same driver for centre. Here is the free plan for a centre to go with FHXL: http://www.planet10-hifi.com/downloads/MarKen10p-CentreC-plan-110514.pdf

For the surrounds i’d suggest the new Pluvia 7. Marginally more than CHR and Mark Audio has had more time to refine them. Or the A6.2p which has similar voicing to the A10p. If you wanted to go whole hog you could use more A10p if you had the budget (room/dollars).

dave
dave
 
Guys, thanks a lot for your input! I got the idea, 10p(pensil or marken design, though?) for the surround as a best choice, pluvia 7\6p as a second best. I didn't state it clear, my FHXLs with a SET amp are in my brothers apartment. For the theater front channel I am going to use 12p pensils. So should I stick to 12p as a center channel driver or 10p will do?
 
Savad, if you already have the A12P, then by all means use them, but aside from their extra sensitivity over the 10s, I actually prefer the latter, which need a smaller box to go as deep.

I'm running the Pluvias in a little "milli" sized box - which in typical "Davish" lexicon would have a hyphenated name - not sure if those plans have been posted yet?

And I'll politely disagree with Bare's assessment of surround - I find more engagement beyond just the crash and boom stuff, but it definitely helps with those too. Of course I can see a full Atmos 9.1.6 setup to be a logistical nightmare for anything less than a fully engineered dedicated room, which not all of us can afford.
 
Savad, if you already have the A12P, then by all means use them, but aside from their extra sensitivity over the 10s, I actually prefer the latter, which need a smaller box to go as deep.

I'm running the Pluvias in a little "milli" sized box - which in typical "Davish" lexicon would have a hyphenated name - not sure if those plans have been posted yet?

And I'll politely disagree with Bare's assessment of surround - I find more engagement beyond just the crash and boom stuff, but it definitely helps with those too. Of course I can see a full Atmos 9.1.6 setup to be a logistical nightmare for anything less than a fully engineered dedicated room, which not all of us can afford.


Chris, a single pair of 12p in my case will be shared by a reciever and a 300B SET amp through a dedicated acoustic switch. As the system will be mounted in a rather large 80 sq.m (800 sq.ft) open space, 300B power will be marginal in my opinion so extra sensitivity would be no nonsense. And as I don't want to abuse the space with two pairs of front speakers, compromise is needed.
I will build center on a 10p, Dave thank you for the plans.
As for back speakers, if there are plans for sale (please inform me, if they are)for Pluvia(floorstand, like pensil), I'll stick to it.
The last thing to choose is a driver/cabinet for two ceiling channels. I'll be happy to mount the speakers flush with the surface. Guys, is it possible to mount a Markaudio driver without any cabinet? There is some 10 cm space between the gypsum board and concrete ceiling.
 
ceiling.png

here's the place for a ceiling speaker
 
I've never installed a pair of MA drivers in-wall or ceiling, and while the smaller drivers you're considering are certainly light enough that not much structural reinforcement would be required, I think you'd still want some type of enclosure behind the drywall.

Every room / system is different of course, and mine has some constraints; it's a basement den with a total floor space of approx 320ft^2, with doorway, staircase, fireplace and large picture window on end wall that limit placement of both furniture and size of enclosures for surrounds. The ceiling was already torn apart once to allow for new HVAC ducting and electrical wiring, and reskinned with another layer of drywall, so even though listening locations are fixed enough that it might be possible to install there, it's not in the cards.

As I cycled through various makes and models of FR drivers in my own surround system, I found that setting the bass management to HP filter the surround channels to 100Hz allowed to reduce the size of the required enclosures. Using 15mm material, the little milli sized enclosure for Pluvia is roughly 300mm x 178mm x 174mm. No doubt a Pensil would be possible - can't remember if that drawing already exists - and in spite of some opinions, I'd generally opt for a floorstander whenever space allows.
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
I couldn’t find a Pensil for the Pluvia 7. There is a Compact Fllorstander for it thou. Thet is one of the EL70 plans i have adapted for the P7. No changes except for those for fitting the drivers IIRC. Buying the Pluvia 7 planset also gets you the EL70 planset and i will redraw any EL70 plan for use for the P7. planet10-hifi miniOnken Plan-Set Subscriptions

dave
 
I couldn’t find a Pensil for the Pluvia 7. There is a Compact Fllorstander for it thou. Thet is one of the EL70 plans i have adapted for the P7. No changes except for those for fitting the drivers IIRC. Buying the Pluvia 7 planset also gets you the EL70 planset and i will redraw any EL70 plan for use for the P7. planet10-hifi miniOnken Plan-Set Subscriptions

dave

Dave, thank you, I'll check it
 
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