Htm3s in Cabinet. Need help with accoustic treatment

[stewfoo]

I am runnng my HTM3s placed inside a cabinet. It has about 12 inches behind it and about 5 inches on either side. It, of course is, is a big echo chamber. Any thoughts on accoustic treatment for the inside of the cabinet to deaden it up?






Stew
B&W 803s mains
B&W HTM3s center
B&W ccm80 ceiling surrounds
Classe ssp-300 pre-proc
Classe 3200 amp
Rotel 2x40w surround amp (lol)

[ZX10 Guy]

Why are you negating the quality of this speaker by stuffing it in a cabinet? You have some top notch equipment based on your signature. It'll be a shame to handicap your system with a less than ideal placement of your center speaker.

[Eliav]

Why are you negating the quality of this speaker by stuffing it in a cabinet? You have some top notch equipment based on your signature. It'll be a shame to handicap your system with a less than ideal placement of your center speaker.

Hi
I concur. IMHO the HTM3s should be out there free, otherwise it will sound "boxy" , this will defeat all of it's great advantages. Anyhow, if you'd like to kill the echo inside a closed box you need to cusion it's walls with an absorbing material. I found that the simple mattress foam ( sold in Wal Mart for 12$ apiece) is a great way to deal with echo. you can also use rigid fiberglass tiles, the regular ones used for isolation in construction work.
Good luck.
Eliav

[grit]

I'd love to see a picture of the speaker inside the cabinet. I'm having concerns right now about placing my center channel speaker. It can NOT go above the TV without sitting it on top of a wall-mounted TV stand (similar to the kind in hospitals). I can not put it on a stand in front of the TV (space constrictions). And I can not put it on TOP of the stand (that's where the TV sits).

In a perfect world, I guess I'd have the speaker on top of the cabinet and a plasma TV mounted to the back. Since I can NOT do that (DLP projection screen), I was considering putting the speaker on a shelf UNDER the television, but with the front of the speaker all the way forward. Will this still cause the 'echo box' problem? Does anyone have ANY suggestions for alternatives???

[stewfoo]

I appreciate all of your comments. First of all, it does sound echoey. I am not concerned with staging or imaging with the center channel. The reason I bought the Htm3s was for its Fidelity for movies. If I had it my way the mains would also be 5 feet from the rear walls and there would be bass traps in all corners with accoustic paneling everywhere, as well as soffit traps. But, my family room would look like a padded psych ward and my wife would dump me. So, I had a beautiful custom entertainment center build to my specs that was both functional and beautiful. It is the same reason I am using those crap in ceilings as surrounds. My wife would shoot me if I had the sig stuff hanging from the ceilings.
I don't want this to be taken wrong. But, I don't like the look of most audiophile systems. I think that too much emphasis is placed on function/performance and not enough on form/appearance.

So, the center channel must stay in its cubby hole. I guess I will just try an absorbing material or call ASC to see what they have.
Stew

[Karma]

HI Stew,
Well, it comes down to priorities, right? An audio system is for making sound as far as I know. If it looks good, fine. For me, if a choice has to be made, sound wins by a large margin. A pretty room is just a pretty room; just a decoration; eye candy. Ho, hum. But if a room sounds good, now that's something I can get excited about.

Now you know my priorities.

Sparky

[stewfoo]

If I do any "critical" listening, I do it in 2ch. The two main 803s are not in any cabinet. I find multi channel recordings as more of a gimmicky distracting unnatural sound. While I appreciate your lack of appreciation for the compromise that I have made for the sake of aesthetics and functionality, it is the route I enjoy. As "ho hum" as it may be, it sure impresses the hell out of anyone who hears or sees it.

[Eliav]

If I do any "critical" listening, I do it in 2ch. The two main 803s are not in any cabinet. I find multi channel recordings as more of a gimmicky distracting unnatural sound. While I appreciate your lack of appreciation for the compromise that I have made for the sake of aesthetics and functionality, it is the route I enjoy. As "ho hum" as it may be, it sure impresses the hell out of anyone who hears or sees it.

Stewfoo, I see your point. Have you considered placing your htm3 in front of the TV ? B&W has a nice speaker stand that is a few inch tall and is designed to place the speaker in front of the TV.it has a slight tilt upward so to aim the speakers toward the audience ears. I use this setting, sound great looks good !
Eliav

[alpina]

Stewfoo, I see your point. Have you considered placing your htm3 in front of the TV ? B&W has a nice speaker stand that is a few inch tall and is designed to place the speaker in front of the TV.it has a slight tilt upward so to aim the speakers toward the audience ears. I use this setting, sound great looks good !
Eliav

Hi Eliav,

Do you have a picture of this stand? Been wondering for awhile how to sit a htm7 given that there is nothing under our wall mounted plasma. This might be the answer

Stewfoo, as a female, I understand your pt 100%. I would kill hubby if he filled our room full of speakers. as it im concerned about his proposal - 705s on stands with htm7 with asw700 with fpm6s for surrounds. aesthetics is important and in many instances more so that the purest of sound.

cheers,

julie

[Eliav]

Hi Eliav,

Do you have a picture of this stand? Been wondering for awhile how to sit a htm7 given that there is nothing under our wall mounted plasma. This might be the answer

Stewfoo, as a female, I understand your pt 100%. I would kill hubby if he filled our room full of speakers. as it im concerned about his proposal - 705s on stands with htm7 with asw700 with fpm6s for surrounds. aesthetics is important and in many instances more so that the purest of sound.

cheers,

julie

Hi Julie
I will post a photo this evening (central time)
Eliav

[Eliav]

Hi Julie
I will post a photo this evening (central time)
Eliav

Julie
I apologize for the delay.
hope this gives an Idea.
BTW anyone knows how to upload photos to this forum without shrinking the image to a microscopic size ?
Cheers
Eliav

[alpina]

wow!

nice setup eliav

thanks for posting.

julie