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Good day gents!
I have been lurking for some time and sorting through the many impressive build threads on this site. I'm impressed with the quality of the information and general tone of the discussions.
This said, I am looking for some recommendations for an on-wall build to replace my existing set up of Focal 836V fronts and SR-800V surrounds due to a need for more floor space to accommodate an expanding family!
My living room doubles as a home theater and is about 12.5 ft x 17 ft x 8 ft but the back left corner is taken up by a pantry of 6 ft x 3 ft as shown below:
I'm running an IB sub split into two floor mounted manifolds located at the front left and right (documented on the CotIB -- many thanks to Thomasw and the CotIB for assistance in that build ;x( ).
Due to my location (6h drive from audio shops), it is difficult for me to go and listen to decent quality speakers and thus my exposure to higher-end gear is limited. I must therefore rely somewhat on other people's listening impressions and design expertise to guide my decision on this project.
I can provide my impressions (at least the issues that annoyed me) on two speakers: my Focals and some Paradigm Studio 100 (4th gen?) that I auditioned at the time of my purchase. I had a chance to listen to these in a well treated room at a higher end dealer.
First the Studio 100: I felt there was a bit too much upper bass and the sound was a bit too "forward" for my taste. Sounded like a nice speaker for a party or room full of people but that is rarely my case.
After living with the 836V for some time I am finding that the tone (or timbre?) of male voices sounds off to me. Equalization helps a bit but then detracts from what I initially liked about these speakers. Placement in the room is somewhat tricky to avoid excessive bass and listener fatigue sets in on extended listening sessions, especially at moderately high spl (75 dB or so). Dialogue clarity in movies is also an issue sometimes (maybe due to phantom center?).
There are a few challenges in my installation:
1.) Screen is about 90 inches wide leaving about 30 inches each side between walls and screen (boundary issues/BSC). I have a big CRT projector so not keen on altering that setup and acoustically transparent screen would cost me too many lumens.
2.) Seating is near the pantry wall so the right surround is near a corner. On the side opposite there is a window so the left surround is mounted further back. This led me to pick bipolars as a compromise.
Guidelines/goals for project:
1.) Component budget: about $800 for mains, surrounds TBD.
2.) On-wall mount required, shallow box preferred but not at expense of SQ.
3.) 80% movies/20% music, dialog clarity important, usually listen 20 dB below reference but occasionally like to crank it up.
4.) IB sub takes care of bass.
So far I have been impressed with CJD's work (weird shape surrounds might work in my setup) but I also like the Nat P and Modula series. I am open to suggestions as well.
I have a Denon 3808ci receiver and a QSC RMX 2450 left over from the IB sub project if I need to drive a difficult load.
That basically sums up where I'm at for now. I hope this is not too long winded for a first post.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Richard
I have been lurking for some time and sorting through the many impressive build threads on this site. I'm impressed with the quality of the information and general tone of the discussions.
This said, I am looking for some recommendations for an on-wall build to replace my existing set up of Focal 836V fronts and SR-800V surrounds due to a need for more floor space to accommodate an expanding family!
My living room doubles as a home theater and is about 12.5 ft x 17 ft x 8 ft but the back left corner is taken up by a pantry of 6 ft x 3 ft as shown below:
I'm running an IB sub split into two floor mounted manifolds located at the front left and right (documented on the CotIB -- many thanks to Thomasw and the CotIB for assistance in that build ;x( ).
Due to my location (6h drive from audio shops), it is difficult for me to go and listen to decent quality speakers and thus my exposure to higher-end gear is limited. I must therefore rely somewhat on other people's listening impressions and design expertise to guide my decision on this project.
I can provide my impressions (at least the issues that annoyed me) on two speakers: my Focals and some Paradigm Studio 100 (4th gen?) that I auditioned at the time of my purchase. I had a chance to listen to these in a well treated room at a higher end dealer.
First the Studio 100: I felt there was a bit too much upper bass and the sound was a bit too "forward" for my taste. Sounded like a nice speaker for a party or room full of people but that is rarely my case.
After living with the 836V for some time I am finding that the tone (or timbre?) of male voices sounds off to me. Equalization helps a bit but then detracts from what I initially liked about these speakers. Placement in the room is somewhat tricky to avoid excessive bass and listener fatigue sets in on extended listening sessions, especially at moderately high spl (75 dB or so). Dialogue clarity in movies is also an issue sometimes (maybe due to phantom center?).
There are a few challenges in my installation:
1.) Screen is about 90 inches wide leaving about 30 inches each side between walls and screen (boundary issues/BSC). I have a big CRT projector so not keen on altering that setup and acoustically transparent screen would cost me too many lumens.
2.) Seating is near the pantry wall so the right surround is near a corner. On the side opposite there is a window so the left surround is mounted further back. This led me to pick bipolars as a compromise.
Guidelines/goals for project:
1.) Component budget: about $800 for mains, surrounds TBD.
2.) On-wall mount required, shallow box preferred but not at expense of SQ.
3.) 80% movies/20% music, dialog clarity important, usually listen 20 dB below reference but occasionally like to crank it up.
4.) IB sub takes care of bass.
So far I have been impressed with CJD's work (weird shape surrounds might work in my setup) but I also like the Nat P and Modula series. I am open to suggestions as well.
I have a Denon 3808ci receiver and a QSC RMX 2450 left over from the IB sub project if I need to drive a difficult load.
That basically sums up where I'm at for now. I hope this is not too long winded for a first post.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Richard
ops: The horn tweeters were inherently better protected.)
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