Help plan oneplustwo's listening room/home theatre/family room/

[BobEllis]

Agree with TEK, really cool work. I'm looking forward to the rest of the build.

If it's that loud, consider "double bagging" your ears - plugs and muffs if you aren't already. You're putting too much effort into this to risk your ears. I caught grief for doing that working the flight deck of and aircraft carrier, but survived my Navy career with my hearing intact.

[oneplustwo]

It's loud, but I don't think it's double bag loud. That said, you can't have too much hearing protection so maybe I'll do that with the second baffle if I hammer out the whole thing in one sitting. Thanks for the reminder... safety first!

Hope to have more done this weekend and maybe some test fit of drivers.

[oneplustwo]

Got the other side driver holes cut out. Hole saw still going strong. Forearms are sore from deburring both sides of 56 holes.

Also, got the side strips milled out. Need to drill the mounting holes to connect the baffles to the strips and also the holes that will accommodate the screws that go into the walls next and maybe mount and wire up the drivers!

[chrisn]

Looking good. You may have already stated it, but are you using screws to mount the drivers, or bolts? Kind of surprised the hole saw is still sharp, what brand is it? I used a Lenox to cut a hole in my hood and it worked great.

[oneplustwo]

The hole saw is a Freud Diablo. Carbide teeth. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has as well. I took my time though. Used the lowest possible speed on my drill press. Paused twice or three times to apply cutting fluid. And actually, I found that once I got the hang of "hearing" when the tool was happy, there were a few cuts that went straight through without stopping. I didn't risk that until the last few holes though so I'm actually not sure if it was happy or not but the chips looks good, the saw seemed to cut with less effort, and there was less vibration. I also bought a DeWalt version thinking that I would need it after the Freud was used up but no need!

I'm mounting the drivers with nuts/bolts. Trying to isolate them a little from the baffle with O-rings and washers as well. I'm hoping all the holes are accurate enough (or have enough play) that I don't have any problems mounting them up. Might get to that milestone this weekend!

[chrisn]

You're almost there. Are you going to "finish" the baffles, or do u get to bolt, solder, and then listen?

[oneplustwo]

The “finish” will be a grill cloth cover. I toyed with the idea of a polished aluminum front but my wife would prefer something more subtle. Less work, but less bling as well.

[oneplustwo]

Any ideas as to what to do with 56 1/4” thick 3” diameter aluminum discs?

[Steve Manning]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]27842[/ATTACH]Any ideas as to what to do with 56 1/4” thick 3” diameter aluminum discs?

Monitor stands?

[oneplustwo]

Drivers getting installed.

[Fdas]

wow... that is intense

[chrisn]

That's a lot of screws 8O

[oneplustwo]

Mock up of how the speakers will look when in place. I will have gray grill cloth covering everything up so it won’t be as um... intimidating when complete. Second photo just show the back side of the speakers with the dynamat installed.

[chrisn]

That will blend in very nice. What subwoofers are those on the floor if I may ask?

[oneplustwo]

Those are stereo integrity 18" 600W. Can't remember the model specifically since I bought them a few years ago. I'm not sure they're even still available.

Got a lot done this last week.



Still have to figure out how to make the top of the grill cloth cleaner. And then the fun with convolution with JRiver begins. Right now, they're run through the Dirac Live of my Emotiva XMC-1 which is adequate but I think they can be much better.

[oneplustwo]

Quick update... I got an Intel NUC on black friday, got REW fired up and ran some sweeps, applied some EQ, and got a reasonable looking FR. (This is at the listening position.)

Also, I bought myself a DATS v2 to make impedance sweeps and that looks reasonable as well. A couple wiggles but nothing I'm terribly concerned about.

Finally, I also have DRC Designer up and running and have convolution running on JRiver which sounds really great! There is definitely something to be said about FIR vs IIR and the flexibility with implementing via software is really cool.

I'm still playing with the DRC options and will post something when it's stable. I'm also figuring out what room treatments I want to get in place. For now, I just have a bunch of Roxul lying around the first reflection points. That has made the soundstage imaging much better already. My wife won't let me keep it as is for much longer though so I need to get that fixed soon!

[oneplustwo]

Has anyone used Costco photo canvas for absorption panels? Wondering about price/quality for the application compared to other options out there.

[JonMarsh]

These are going to be so much fun when you've got them finished up. I'm still thinking of doing something like this for the HT setup when I get moved to Idaho in a couple of years or so.

[oneplustwo]

Up and running! Man, movies are more fun with subs. The infinite baffle concept works well too from what I can tell in that they’re not boomy at all. Still need to re run the PEQ as well as the DRC designer stuff. But I’ll wait until our canvas photos with roxul are up. Sounds pretty good for now.

And yes, those are two Mac pros acting as a coffee table!

[JonMarsh]

And yes, those are two Mac pros acting as a coffee table!

Wow! So THAT'S what I can do with my old Mac Pro's once I no longer need to run MathCAD or some other work related stuff on them! That's pretty Sierra Hotel!

your setup there is an awful lot like what I'm thinking about for the future... possibly a bit wider room, and a bit smaller screen for now (what's your size? 120"?) And I have some ideas for an Ardent derived center channel using WO24's as woofers.

And two STW-350F's are on the way... just for initial testing and T/S confirmation. No chance to build enclosures in the next year or so, unless I can farm it out to Steve....

What's the amp you're using on your subs? Behringer iNuke? How do you think it sounds on the bottom end?

[dar47]

Jon,

W024? What's this, You know Tek has been sitting on his hands waiting for Ardent center, Let us at least help with this cab! Or is this just xover style?, lol

[oneplustwo]

Yes, 120" screen. Very easy to build kit from Amazon for reasonable money.

Yes, I have an iNuke 3000 for the subs. It seems to sound fine to me. I have yet to dial them in though since I'm waiting on my canvas photos to wrap the roxul for some first reflection absorption. And eventually, I'm planning a wet bar for the rear of the room so I may need to redo them again along with just tweaking in general. But with the size of my room and the subs I'm using, the iNuke 3000 seems to do the trick.

One thing I did do is mount it to the wall on the other side of the screen and then I routed the signal and speaker wire there too. And the I plugged the sub into one of these wifi enabled plugs so I can power it on and off from inside the room. I'd prefer a trigger, but this works well enough. Sometimes I forget to turn it off is all.

[TEK]

Jon,

Jon:
W024? What's this, You know Tek has been sitting on his hands waiting for Ardent center, Let us at least help with this cab! Or is this just xover style?, lol

Is that the Satori WO24?

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/approx-10-woofers/satori-wo24p-8-9.5-egyptian-papyrus-cone-woofer-8-ohm/

Just for curiosity:
Compared to the Wavecor drivers WO24 has a lot less power handling (90w vs 200w).
I’m I correct in assuming that (given you drive the wavecor to the max) the center will be able to keep up because it will not go full depth - so it will not pass on the same power to the center woofers as to the Ardents woofers?
Or will the center - if based on these drivers - get a lower power handling than the Ardents?
(I’m not sure if the woofers on the Ardent actually are the limiting factor, it might be the mid or tweeter - causing the compare to be irrelevant).
The basic question here is probably - if you are playing around with the idea of a center that goes with the ardents - do you plan to give them the simular power handling and sensitivity attributes?

[JonMarsh]

Wow, seems we have a hot button topic here!

There is no reason not to do a full fledged center with all WA components; then sensitivities and all will match up. But if I use line arrays in HT for sides, they are pretty high sensitivity, so for that I was pondering the WO24-P mainly for sensitivity reasons (higher efficiency for lower power HT amps- like 100W) and not really needing bass extension, but wanting a clean mid bass and lower mid.

This is all at the concept stage.. and if its mainly for HT and CC, then I was also pondering a TL ceramic tweeter to lower costs.

Things are very much in upheaval personally, with GF's passing this week last Monday- expected a long time, but now the kids and I have to shift into high gear for emptying out the house; I may keep the home office here for some weeks, so someone can be around for possible contractors or vendors if we have more work done.

But I'm thinking about speaker stuff again... well, starting to.

And since, on the Internet, nothing is real without pictures, then...






Just bought one for some evaluation... but getting an enclosure set for testing may be tricky. OTOH, can send a baffle to Steve to have cut out. New apartment doesn't have any space for woodworking...

To create a good CC with the existing Ardent configuration should require nothing more than a reconfigured cabinet in a traditional WMTW arrangement, and the existing crossover.

[CraigJ]

Hi Oneplustwo,

I've enjoyed your progress over the past years and your home theatre looks fantastic, congratulations. I don't know if you have this in your plans, but you might want to add some dark absorbing material near the front of your screen. Adding this will really improve your picture and more info can be found here; http://www.avsforum.com/forum/24-dig...ter-image.html

[oneplustwo]

Thanks for the tip! I'll look into it some more. Might need to pass the WAF test first to be viable, but there could be a movable solution that would be ok.

[CraigJ]

I didn't realize that there were 150 some pages to that discussion. It is amazing what a 5' strip of black velvet can do to make your picture pop by cutting down on reflective light.

[TEK]

To create a good CC with the existing Ardent configuration should require nothing more than a reconfigured cabinet in a traditional WMTW arrangement, and the existing crossover.

Hmm, that’s a interesting approach.
As a center might preferrable be a bit smaller than a main, the bass drivers will be likely to get some less volume.
Would that just result in a bit less output in the lower end?
What about that famous baffel step compensation in such a configuration?

[oneplustwo]

Had 13 20x30 canvas photos printed at Costco. Stuffed above 2” of Roxul behind each one and here we are. Seems to be pretty good as far as the clap test goes. Probably could use some more at the French door so I may make a temporary one that I can move when as needed. Otherwise, it’s done for now until I get the wet bar behind the couch built.

[fish fingers]

Jon, those Satori's have me drooling. Both the beautiful basket design and parameters scream 'Isobaric'.. (imo)

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[JonMarsh]

Hmm, that’s a interesting approach.
As a center might preferrable be a bit smaller than a main, the bass drivers will be likely to get some less volume.
Would that just result in a bit less output in the lower end?
What about that famous baffel step compensation in such a configuration?

You can reduce the enclosure size substantially before you have to worry about peaking of the SW223BD01 or 2. I'll figure out how much and post later. Remember, these are already pretty small for dual 9" drivers.

If you keep close to the same height laid down as the width standing up, BSC shouldn't be an issue. There is more effect from how you position the speaker in relation to adjacent walls and floor.

Of course, if I was doing a dedicated HT setup with WA and I wanted a minimal visible footprint, I would build into the walls and redesign the crossover to eliminate BSC. Not a bit deal. I could present an alternative crossover design fairly quickly for that, if there's interest. Fairly quickly possibly meaning waiting until we have all the stuff cleared out of the house here over the next two months...

There are so many possible permutations...

[oneplustwo]

I’m not an admin, but perhaps the WA discussions deserves a separate thread?

[CraigJ]

I’m not an admin, but perhaps the WA discussions deserves a separate thread?

Back to the main topic , your personalized canvas photos really finish your home theatre, congratulations. Hope you continue to enjoy your work and room.

[JonMarsh]

I’m not an admin, but perhaps the WA discussions deserves a separate thread?

Good point, yes, if it were to continue, but I don't think it will...

[oneplustwo]

Doesn’t bother me either way. Just figured it would deserve it’s own thread if it were to gather steam.

I’m looking forward to re running my convolution sweeps again. I may also retry the Dirac system to see if it’s better with the subs and the room treatments. Will report back with results!

[oneplustwo]

SPL and phase with the subs. The whole house shook with the subs cranking at the low levels during the sweeps. Felt like an earthquake. No joke!