Future Home Theater Mains

[fschris]

Happy Holidays HTG'ers!


I am going to be building a house this year with a dedicated theater room and I am looking to build a new set of mains. My first build about 2 years ago were a pair of "Zaph 2.5 MMTMM Tall Towers"!! I thought it was a pretty crazy idea for someone who had never built a set of mains and I followed up building a pair of MFW15 clones!

For my new mains I am looking for something a bit bigger and fuller since I will have a 18 by 23 foot room. I have found a couple designs that have my attention. I have a local friend who built a pair of statements. I lust after them However you cant place them that close to the front wall and I may want my mains to be close to the wall since I will have a projector.

I found these awesome designs that are similar to the Statements called the Khanspire on divineaudio website and what appears to be the their bigger brother the Canaiolo's. Are the Canaiolo too large for my room? The only other option I was considering were the clearwave 4tse's. They have a pretty good following as well and use the same dayton drivers. I believe these 3 models will all fall in the same ball park as far as price is concerned.



fsChris
Columbia, SC

[---k---]

The build threads for both the Khans and the Canaiolo's are in the Mission Accomplished subforum. https://www.htguide.com/forum/forumd...s-Accomplished!

The Khans are probably similar price to your buddy's Statements. Maybe a little less. The Canaiolo's are going to be quite a bit more expensive.


If you have a projector, why aren't you considering a transparent screen and an in-wall design? CJD's HT mains would be very capable.

http://www.divine-audio.com/ht-mains/

If you're mostly going for HT and loud excitement, one of the Fusion waveguide kits might be the ticket.

http://www.diysoundgroup.com/waveguide-speaker-kits.html

[fschris]

I will take a look thanks. The reason I am not doing the behind the screen option is I want to also rock out to some Porcupine tree, Pink Floyd, Elton, John, Billy Joel etc...

The C's are big I see they are 50 inches tall and 22-24 inches deep and 14 inches wide. I would build them regardless of cost because I think they look amazing and probably sound amazingf but I think they are a bit too big for my room.

FsChris

[---k---]

Not optimal placement, I'm sure, but CJD had the Canaiolo's in a very small living room. He was sitting no more than 12' from them and basically sitting against the wall. But, the room was open to a loft above and the kitchen behind.

Behind the screen shouldn't kill the ability to rock out. At least I don't think so. It will roll the top off slightly, but not make them bad. The top end roll off is usually easy to adjust if needed.

[kevinm]

Just a thought, have you ever measured the frequency response of any of your previous speakers? Reason I ask is when I started measuring my own sound system, I found out that I prefer a good bit of high frequency roll-of. Without the measurements, I would've thought my speakers were high end were running hot, when actually they were running almost flat.

An acoustically transparent screen may actually improve your speakers if you prefer a high frequency roll off and the speakers you choose are a flat response. On the other hand, beautiful speakers hidden behind a screen is cruel

Not my response chart, but close to how I prefer

[Face]

A speaker that measures like that at the listening position could sound very nice, but a speaker that measures like that at 1m will sound dull at the listening position.

[fschris]

I will most likely not go with a transparent screen... I like the look of tower speakers I don't like my stuff hidden. I like to see what I'm spending my money on ...haha as well as hear it.

[fschris]

I am going to email Meniscus audio to see how much they will charge to build the XO's for those Khanspire's.

[fschris]

Well I got a good price on the XO from meniscus, They advised they would build with solen caps. I gather they are good. I will most likely build these khans ...I will advise once I have parts purchased.

[---k---]

No issues with the basic Solen caps. I think they are equal to the Dayton's, which is PE's house brand. Some think they are slightly better.

Good luck. Keep us posted on your progress.

[fschris]

Does anyone know how to get more detailed plans for the Khanspires or a program that can assist with this?

or maybe I just need to understand from the plans are the middle braces just indeed braces or is there a separate cabinet for the mids?

are all the braces in side 3/4" or 1/2" ?

is the baffle 2 x 3/4" glued together or is one 1/2 inch. or does that not matter?

[---k---]

The best way is by asking here. Me or CJD will try and respond. What you see in the Mission Accomplished thread is it. https://www.htguide.com/forum/showth...S150-225-WMTMW There is a ton of info in there. I recommend trying to read it a couple times. Unfortunately, all the build pictures disappeared when my webserver went away. If you need something, I still got the photos and can post them. I also think that reading all of JonMarsh's Modula and NatP threads are well worth the time.



There is a separate sealed box for the tweeter and mids. The inside depth is 6", the width is the full width of the box. The braces that for the top and bottom of the mid chamber have holes in them on the back side so that there is one big box for the woofers that wraps around the mid chamber.

The front is 2 x 3/4" = 1.5" thick. This obviously is builders choice. Some would do just 3/4", some would do 3/4" ply+ 1/2" MDF, Jon Marsh recently likes laminated bamboo, some do corian counter top, and I did 2 x 3/4". There are lots of options. The theory is you want something something stiff that won't vibrate with the drivers. Do what you feel is best here and are able to construct.

All my braces we're 3/4" ply, because they were made from the scrap wood. You can use 1/2" if you like. Oak dowels epoxied in will work well too. Those distances from the bottom aren't critical. Just trying to put some braces in there at reasonable spacing. So, if you're off 1/2" or 1" it doesn't matter, as long as you can get the driver in. The brace 14" up from the bottom may be worth while to leave a little more open so you can stick the crossovers down there. Mine ended up right behind the bottom woofer, which worked, but if possible I would rather have a little more distance between the woofer and the crossover.

Be very careful when following my dimensions, because I'm a better rough carpenter than a finish carpenter. And I don't finish my stuff to the level of quality that some of these guys do. Lay everything out and double check it. But, imho, if you're withing 1/8" - 1/4" (maybe even 1/2') and everything fits together, you'll be good enough. (Obviously my attitude here shows why you need to double check my dimensions. )

The center to center spacing between the tweeter and mids is really really tight. You will likely have tearout if you do it as shown (I did). If you want it to look a little prettier, you can add 1/8" to 1/4" to the spacing in order to provide a little more space between the mid frame and the tweeter frame.

[fschris]

Thanks K, I have some time so I will read those threads a couple times and takes notes.


Just FYI here is a Build I did...

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/diy-speakers/57053-za5-5tt-mmtmm-2-5-way-vertical-array-diy-build.html

Those were my first attempt!

Fschris

[---k---]

Those turned out great. I like the red and black combo. Looking forward to hearing your coments about these versus Zaph's speakers. I've gotten to hear a lot of DIY, but never a Zaph design. I was going to build a pair of his ZA MTM kit at one time, even had it in the house, but never got around to it.

Good to see you have some experience. It will make these go a lot easier. We're here for you.

[KyleDugger]

Yeah. Beautiful Work Fschris. I love the sub in your setup too.