Center channel idea

[richh]

I've got the dreaded "center channel needs to fit into a cubby hole in an entertainment center that we just bought" dilema. The space for the center channel is about 15" wide by 9" tall by 17" deep. The entertainment center is built like a bookcase so the cubby hole is more or less a 5 sided box.

Background info:

Room is probably a mess acoustic wise. Large 2 story room, about 16x22, hardwood floors, opens up to a large kitchen and dinette area on one side, stairs and foyer on another side.

Main L and R speakers are Kef 104/2, sub is an SVS PB-10, Denon 989 AVR

Before we bought the entertainment center I used an old AV123 ELT MTM center channel. That center is too wide to fit into the entertainment center so temporarily I have a monitor from the ELT system laying on it's side. While there is no real critical listening done here, I do notice my temp solution of putting in a monitor on it's side sounds noticably worse than the MTM center channel I used before getting the entertainment center.

First thought was to look at the existing DIY mtm designs and find one that would work dimension wise. Looks like the majority are over the 15" max width. Plus I figure most are probably designed to be free standing speakers and not like being placed into a box.

I then noticed a lot of the in-wall center channels are narrower (most likely due to the 16" oc stud spacing) so then I thought about making a custom baffle that would fit my exact opening in the entertainment center and then mounting the drivers and crossover from one of these in-walls into my baffle.

Anything fundamentally wrong with this idea?

Any other options I can consider?

Not looking for or expecting a miracle here given the constraints; just something to get me closer to where I was before.

Thanks,
Rich

[fbov]

Normally, the tough part is finding a design that fits in 9", but here, 15" is the constraint. To have any chance of keeping up with your mains, you need an MTM that fits in 15" (c-c distance + driver diameter < 15"). The depth gives you plenty of volume.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=35905

This would be good as designed; note comments regarding BSC and placement in furniture as you will.

http://www.parts-express.com/projectshowcase/indexn.cfm?project=AviaTrix

Another ND140 design, a little wider but also a good fit.

And, of course, there is always the master list of lists...

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?t=211558

Have fun!
Frank

[richh]

Thanks for the reply Frank. So pretty much I can adjust the baffle size to fit my opening and then adjust the depth of the speaker so I match the same internal volume of the as designed box?

Is keeping the drivers in a line a must? For example if I look at the Aviatrix, to get to the 15" width I would need to decrease the center to center dimension of the two mid ranges which would necessitate raising the tweeter. Would that be changing the design too much?

[Curt C]

Decreasing the C to C spacing shouldn't be an issue. The tweeter could be moved up a tad if that looks better, but the AviaTrix drivers should 'just' fit on an 15" wide baffle, expecially since you can overlap the woofers over the tweeter flange a bit...

C

[Silver1omo]

If you are really tight in space you can always build the speaker into the cubby using the walls of the cubby as walls for the speaker, just add bracing...
That should give you some more space. it is not the best idea, but should work to some extent :P

[fbov]

Thanks for the reply Frank. So pretty much I can adjust the baffle size to fit my opening and then adjust the depth of the speaker so I match the same internal volume of the as designed box?

Yep, and you'll find box volume is quite forgiving, especially if sealed.

Is keeping the drivers in a line a must? For example if I look at the Aviatrix, ....

The neat thing is, you already have the answer from the proverbial horse's mouth. The -trixes are Curt C designs. If he says "go for it," then go for it!

Have fun,
Frank

[servicetech]

If you are really tight in space you can always build the speaker into the cubby using the walls of the cubby as walls for the speaker, just add bracing...
That should give you some more space. it is not the best idea, but should work to some extent :P

That's the way we're going to do our Entertainment Center.

[Paul Spencer]

Ideally for a centre you want to do it one of two ways:

1. Use a coax
2. Mount tweeter and mid vertically

The problem with not doing that is destructive interference. A sideways MTM is fine on axis, but problemmatic at the sides, which is where a centre speaker is intended to make the biggest difference!

So your better choices are ...

1. Do a 3 way with a small mid so you can mount MTM vertically then add a woofer on the side to your custom baffle
2. Coax - Seas have a good one with a dome tweeter where the dust cap would normally be
3. TM with a woofer on the side - this would be a 2.5 way design

The problem in each case is matching your KEF speakers. It can probably be done, you would need to aim for drivers that are as close as you can get and measure carefully to aim to match the response.