Cabinet Mounting Central Speaker

[DavidB]

Hi,

I'm going to be taking delivery of my speakers soon including an HTM2D. I can see from the various system pictures that quite a few people have their centre channel mounted in a cabinet, I'm thinking of going the same way but wondered if people had problems with it?

Also would appreciate any recommendations people have for cabinet makers in the UK as I think I will have to go that route.

Thanks

[Indytown]

Hi,

I'm going to be taking delivery of my speakers soon including an HTM2D. I can see from the various system pictures that quite a few people have their centre channel mounted in a cabinet, I'm thinking of going the same way but wondered if people had problems with it?

Also would appreciate any recommendations people have for cabinet makers in the UK as I think I will have to go that route.

Thanks

Daivid, your center HTMD2 is a rear ported center, two ports. Thats a design feature of the speaker cabinet.

[DavidB]

Thanks for your reply but I meant the cabinet/stand to house the whole system not the speaker cabinet itself. I'm looking to put my system in a purpose built wooden cabinet and wondered how this would affaect the performance of the HTM2D.

[DavidB]

Thanks for your reply but I meant the cabinet/stand to house the whole system not the speaker cabinet itself. I'm looking to put my system in a purpose built wooden cabinet and wondered how this would affaect the performance of the HTM2D.

[aphexist]

Thanks for your reply but I meant the cabinet/stand to house the whole system not the speaker cabinet itself. I'm looking to put my system in a purpose built wooden cabinet and wondered how this would affaect the performance of the HTM2D.

Two things to consider:

The height of the speaker should ideally be around the ear level of the listener/viewer. This level should be roughly the same for the 3 front speakers. If the center channel must be mounted below ear level, then the front of the center speaker can be tilted up to point at an angle matching the level of the viewer's head.

Having this speaker in an enclosed space will probably negatively affect the dispersion of the tweeter, as well as the bass response. The bass response may be muddled on account of the rear ports being obstructed, and having the tweeter boxed in may cause reflections from the cabinet and the other equipment in the cabinet. Both of these problems can be remedied by designing the cabinet with an open back (for the rear ports), or plenty of rear rack space, and having the opening for the center channel to have plenty of space above it and bringing it as far to the front of the cabinet as you can. This will allow the tweeter to "breathe."

[DavidB]

Maybe the best thing to do is have the speaker mounted on the B&W stand and have a niche built under the cabinet which the speaker can fit into and be pulled out when I listen to the system?

To me it seems criminal to spend that much on a speaker and then have it's performance compromised by it's housing/mounting.

[bryan w]

Hi,

I'm going to be taking delivery of my speakers soon including an HTM2D. I can see from the various system pictures that quite a few people have their centre channel mounted in a cabinet, I'm thinking of going the same way but wondered if people had problems with it?

Also would appreciate any recommendations people have for cabinet makers in the UK as I think I will have to go that route.

Thanks

david why would u want to hide such a beautifull speaker have a look at my htm3s

[DavidB]

Bryan, very true. I'm having a hard enough time with the 802D's which are arriving at the same time. My house is about 100 years old and it's not a dedicated listening room so I'm trying to be a bit symapthetic to surroundings...and my girlfriends views!

[stewfoo]

Bryan,
I understand your need for cabinetry. There is a recent thread in which I asked the same question. It is not very helpful to tell somebody how beautiful their speaker is if a solution isn't offered. I have the Htm3s inside a cabinet. The difference is that Mine is not rear ported. I have not yet treated the inside of the cabinet with any accoustic treatment.... That will be done in the next week or so. I will probably just use some Auralex absorbing treatment. I will post my results. Sometimes your need for aesthetics outweigh the downside of fidelity loss.... I like the look of mine. It was all custom built.

[bryan w]

Bryan,
I understand your need for cabinetry. There is a recent thread in which I asked the same question. It is not very helpful to tell somebody how beautiful their speaker is if a solution isn't offered. I have the Htm3s inside a cabinet. The difference is that Mine is not rear ported. I have not yet treated the inside of the cabinet with any accoustic treatment.... That will be done in the next week or so. I will probably just use some Auralex absorbing treatment. I will post my results. Sometimes your need for aesthetics outweigh the downside of fidelity loss.... I like the look of mine. It was all custom built.

why spend £1650 on a centre speaker and hide it in a cabinet where u will degrade sound quality

[stewfoo]

My Dilemma as well, Bryan> You have the girlfriend factor. I have to deal with my wife. Aesthetics are important to us. I think that if I can absorb the echo reflections, fidelity will be fine. I dont particularly like the look of an exposed center channel. So, there is no aesthetic compromise.

[stewfoo]

Well, Here we go. I will probably also raise the x-over point to 80 hz from 60 as well in order to control the bass reflection. Also, I will treat the adjoining enclosures. I have no opinion of the sound yet. I have not had time to listen.

Anyone else have thoughts on the matter??

[DavidB]

I'm getting round this problem by siting everything else away from my screen except the centre channel. It was just getting to the stage where there was going to be too much equipment as well as a big centre channel.

[DavidB]

I'm getting round this problem by siting everything else away from my screen except the centre channel. It was just getting to the stage where there was going to be too much equipment as well as a big centre channel.