How good is good?

[pereze]

Hello Forum!

I am a new poster and I am new to speaker building. With that said, I have built the Dayton III MTM and think it sounds pretty darn good for the money.

I am looking to build a new set of speakers for my home theater and am very interested in the RS speakers. I have listened to some very high end audio lately to get ideas and one that grabs my attention is the Sonus Faber Concerto. Now, I don't think i could convince LOML to spend over 3 grand on speakers so its not really an option to get those.

Getting to my question, How good are these RS speakers? Are they equvilant to a $3000 pair of speakers, or maybe a $1000 pair of speakers? I know we all hear different things, and this is subjective, but I would be interested in your opinions.

As an aside, can anyone point me (or tell me) how the shape of the speaker effects its sound (other than standing waves)?

TIA,
Eric

[ThomasW]

How good are these RS speakers?

Worst case as good as the high-end European drivers, in some cases better.

Are they equvilant to a $3000 pair of speakers

The larger designs in the sticky threads are better.

As an aside, can anyone point me (or tell me) how the shape of the speaker effects its sound

The baffle reinforces the sound coming off the drivers. The wider the baffle the greater the interaction (bass output is boosted) . Generally speaking we prefer narrow baffles, that limits the interaction and corresponding coloration...

[---k---]

I know that Chris won't speak up and tell you about how his budget MTM compete really well against speakers costing a lot more, so I will.

Chris's brought his RS MTM over to my place and we spent about 4 hours listening to them along side a pair of Paradigm Studio 40s (MSRP$1400), DynAudio Audiance 42 ($750), and Ascend 340SE ($560). In my opinion, Chris's were the best, the Ascend's were not far behind, and the Paradigms and Dyns were trailing. I also did a lot of listening at stores of speakers in the $600 - $1200, and I have no doubts that Chris's DIY MTM would beat ALL of them. Some of the $1000 ID speakers may be able to begin to compete, but I don't think anything that you'll find at your local dealer will for $1000.

And iirc, Chris's MTM's are around $300 to build. He'll have to speak up and correct me. But, they are the budget DIY speaker here, with the NatP and Modula MTM being a step up.

So, if Chris's $300 can beat the $1400 Paradigms, I'm willing to bet the NatP in floorstanding configuration will compete/beat those Sonus Farber you're looking at.


P.S. Chris, you need a cool name for your speakers, so I can stop refering to them as Chris's MTM.

[pereze]

Thanks for the response.

Just to clarify a bit, I am very interested in the WTMW center channel and would like to have my speakers then match for the rest of the speakers.

The reason I asked about the cabinet shape, is because I would be interested in doing something curved, but don't want to get to crazy, or mess anything up. I have heard that a curved shape can really help the sound, but I don't really know what all that means yet. I also like to do woodworking and thought it would add a nice challenge.

You mentioned price, and I did a quick search on the RS Center thread and did not find any cost. I know the drivers are about $160, but I am not sure how much the cross over is going to cost. Do you know an approx. number?

Thanks again,
Eric

[ThomasW]

Regarding the baffle, you can't change the width or the spacing of the drivers. If you do the crossover won't work properly, since it's specifically designed for the baffle as drawn.

You can play all you want with the height, depth and shape of the backside of the enclosure.

[---k---]

I haven't gotten past building subs yet. Someone else is going to have to answer your questions about cost. I'm sure if you asked in the thread, someone will answer you, if they don't here.

[pereze]

Thomas,
Baffle makes sense, thanks for clarifying.
Would making changes to the backside help in any way? Like I mentioned above I have heard this helps, and most speakers on the market seem to employ some shape. Not sure if thats for sound or looks.

Ryan,
Thanks, I will post over there.

Thanks

[joecarrow]

Part of the reason for curved walls is increased rigidity. Think about what shape they make high pressure gas tanks- they tend to be round. In practice, making good curved walls might be a lot harder for you than just making reasonably thick walls with some internal bracing.

Look at the subwoofers they make out of sonotube, I'm pretty sure that's just 3/8ths inch cardboard, in a tubular shape- and they tend to be very well regarded.

Oh yeah- and if the entire enclosure has some curve to it, the external shape can help control diffraction effects and change what is needed for control in the crossover and filters. This would be a bad thing if you build one of the existing designs here, but if you were starting from scratch (and up to the challege) you could measure the speakers in their final enclosure to consider this in the design of the crossover and end up with something quite good.

Bottom line, curves probably aren't worth your trouble unless you're really into the way that looks.

[sliceofhogan]

Maybe this provides some inspiration and encouragement....
Zaph's curved sides

[Hdale85]

Yea but thats not exactly curved walls Seems like those corners would be weaker doing it that way as well.

[silvercans]

Regarding the baffle, you can't change the width or the spacing of the drivers. If you do the crossover won't work properly, since it's specifically designed for the baffle as drawn.

You can play all you want with the height, depth and shape of the backside of the enclosure.

Please tell me an inch wider on the Nat. P baffle won't make a difference (I goofed and made it 10" wide instead of 9", I did however follow the same porportions for the alignment/placement of the drivers)

[JonMarsh]

No big deal. 3-4" would be another matter, though.

[Paul H]

I've built curved speakers - see pictures on left and this thread:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=3606&highlight=ported+m8n%27s

If you're looking for a woodworking challenge, this type of shape might be for you - it was a challenge for me

Paul

[pereze]

Very cool stuff! Thanks!

I think for the center I will keep it simple, but when I go to make the towers, I might throw some ideas out there.
Zaphs gives me some ideas for a dash kit I need to make for my car. For some reason, there are no standard dash kits to use an aftermarket reciever in my car so I am going to have to fabricate something with a little curve to the front and a taper on the side. That will help.
This site is pretty cool, lots of good info.

Eric