About to semi-build my first HT setup

[ashmostro]

I say "semi" and probably mean "assemble" because I am using the ZRT two-way kit from Madisound (with a little tweak or two) and have provided specs to a professional cabinet maker to do cabinets to my liking. I suck at woodwork and while I do intend to learn, am currently more interested in building some speakers that I have been yearning for since the very first time I heard revelators (it was a revelation... hyuck hyuck.)

So, I have some questions to ask the pros as I plan on completing the build. I want to get this as close to perfect as possible so I tend to plan a lot

I am assembling five towers for use in HT. All Two-way. All sealed. The center channel tower will be shorter than the other four to accommodate the tv. I will probably use spikes to tilt this one back a bit to get it more on axis. Will test by ear of course.

On to the questions (thanks in advance!)

The speaker compartment is separated from the crossover compartment (on all the speakers). I'm going to run biwire through a shelf between the compartments and seal it off. Should I:
a) use hot glue or silicone sealant for this?
b) secure the wire to the walls of the cabinet as much as I can until reaching the speaker terminals, or suspend them in the air in the cabinet (I'm wondering if the latter is known to cause vibrational artifacts)?
c) solder the wire directly to the speaker terminals, or avoid applying heat to the speaker coils altogether by using female disconnects of the appropriate gauge? I typically solder my wire directly to the disconnect for a better connection under these circumstances but I'm wondering what you all prefer and why
d) should I use open cell acoustic foam on all the inside walls of the enclosure? What about polyfill?

Now to the crossover compartment. There will be a separate compartment and a large access door that I can use to easily get to the crossover and binding posts without affecting the speaker compartment seal. Should I:
e) suspend the crossover on two wooden planks that screw into the bottom of the enclosure so as not to influence cabinet vibrations, or just screw the crossover board directly into the cabinet bottom?
f) like above, secure all loose wire to the cabinet walls as much as possible?

Thanks for your expertise! I am excited about this kit and look forward to your responses, or any other suggestions. I hope to have pics up soon once i receive my cabinets. The veneer alone has be thrilled

Ash

[oneplustwo]

a) Either one should work fine here.
b) I would secure the wires to the frame of the driver as strain relief. Probably don't need to attach to the wall of the cabinet as long as you don't have an excessive length of wiring.
c) Female disconnects are easy and low risk with no downside really. Just make sure you use properly sized ones
d) Acoustic foam is a yes. Polyfill seems to be a subjective thing. Some people like more, some people like less. Personally, I like a "middle" amount.
e) Just screw directly to the bottom of the enclosure and put some polyfill on top of it.
f) As above, I wouldn't worry about this much unless you have a mess of wires to contend with. Just make sure you don't have areas of excessive strain. In this case, you might just cable tie the wire somewhere close to the crossover.

Best of luck! Is the ZRT good as a center channel? I don't remember seeing a horizontal polar response.

[ashmostro]

Thanks for the responses, they will definitely be taken under advisement!

The ZRT should make a better center than most MTM setups given the arrangement of drivers. This image, while not a polar graph, is the horizontal response of the speaker (off the Zaph website): http://www.zaphaudio.com/ZRT-2way-me...FR-offaxis.gif

Thanks again and please keep the responses and/or questions coming! Anything to improve my opportunities for a successful final product.