DIY Surround Speakers in Columns?

[DMGambone]

I'm looking at placing speakers inside a wooden column that will house a 3" support pole for my theater. I want to do this to hide the speaker from view, but also want to provide a rich sound in the room. I've attached an overhead of the room layout (a 17' x 12' x 7' 4" main area with an adjacent 14' x 5' concessions area).

A couple of questions arise from this:
- I know very little about speakers so a good tutorial would be great... where do I go?
- Would a simple in-wall speaker set work best for me?
- If not, what kind of drivers should I put in the column and where would they go? I would assume the tweeter should be located in the top section of the column, but what about the woofer? Do I put in midrange?

Then there are problems:
- The surround right column is close to a perpendicular wall. Will this cause problems with the sound?
- The seating is about 2' to 3' from the columns. How will the sound be if the person is this close and should the speakers be aimed at the seating?

Thanks for any information you can provide me.

[mrogowski]

Hi there,

Based on your post, I'm assuming that you want these speakers for more than just surround sound correct? If so, there are a number of avenues you can take, but you will be limited by the size of your column, how structurally strong it is and the air space within it.

For example, I've seen some stock columns that Home Depot sells that are made out of 5/8" MDF - very tough and would take mounting a small set of drivers nicely.

Here's a link to get you started reading on speaker design theory:

http://www.danmarx.org/audioinnovation/index.html

If you provide a few more details such as the width of the column, size and depth from the outer edge to the pole inside others may chime in with some recommendations.

Best,
Mark

[ThomasW]

This is the stereotypic acoustical nightmare situation.

For good sound you want symetry in the room with regard to speaker placement, and the main speakers away from any boundries = corners, walls, etc.

My suggestion.

Wall off the alcove. Use a small part of it for equipment and the rest for a custom built in sub woofer.

Center a flat panel screen or better yet a front projection system with a pull down screen on the wall.

Center the sofas and use wall mounted speaker for the rears

[DMGambone]

Based on your post, I'm assuming that you want these speakers for more than just surround sound correct? If so, there are a number of avenues you can take, but you will be limited by the size of your column, how structurally strong it is and the air space within it.

For example, I've seen some stock columns that Home Depot sells that are made out of 5/8" MDF - very tough and would take mounting a small set of drivers nicely.

The speakers in the columns would be for surround sound. I've updated the image and indicated where I plan to place the 5.1 surround speakers and where I would place the future 7.1 speakers rear.

My original idea was to make the columns 1' x 1' using 1/4" or 1/2" MDF (whichever would be best). The perimeter columns were 6" x 1'. However, I am going to increase the size by 4" or 6" to make them 16" x 16" or 18" x 18" columns and construct it with no less than 1/2" MDF.

I'm working on a new design for the columns now that would fit these new dimensions. I've read someone else's idea who was doing DIY speakers in the perimeter columns that they are placing 2 sets of drivers (1 tweeter and 1 woofer) at a 10degree angles into the room. Here is his post on another site: Swithey Theater Construction Thread

This brings up the question: Would ceiling mount DIY speakers be better suited for my situation? That would allow me to place them in their ideal spot on the ceiling and angle them towards the viewer/listener. What are your thoughts on this?

This is the stereotypic acoustical nightmare situation.

That is what I was afraid of.

Wall off the alcove. Use a small part of it for equipment and the rest for a custom built in sub woofer.

Center a flat panel screen or better yet a front projection system with a pull down screen on the wall.

Center the sofas and use wall mounted speaker for the rears

The room is a dedicated theater room with a fixed screen (possibly acoustically transparent so I can place the center channel behind it) and a projector. The theater room section itself is only 12' wide so having the alcove helps open the space up some but, as you mentioned, hurts the acoustics of the room. Given the space I am working with and the purpose of the room, I would really prefer to keep the room layout the way it is.

[Owen Bartley]

I think what you've got in the last image would be reasonable. Is it ideal? Not really, but it's what I thought of when I looked at your original image. I think this would still sound pretty good, and maybe you could put some damping on the rear wall to keep reflections from the SR speaker to a minimum.