Building a 3-way center channel. Massive help needed.

[Jdurg]

Okay, I am a newbie with the whole speaker building thing, so hopefully I can get some help and advice here.

First thing's first. My FL, FR, RL, RR speakers are all Daytson RS621BK speakers. They are wonderful speakers and sound great. My subwoofer is a Dayton RS subwoofer (15" or 18", I can't remember) which provides all the bass I need. My receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR606S which is rated for 100 w/ channel and 6-16 Ohm speakers.

So I now need to build a 3-way center channel to compliment my existing equipment. I would like to build something that doesn't have a great deal of off-axis loss since I am not always sitting directly in front of the center. As a result, I believe that a three-way speaker would work best. The three drivers I'm looking at are the RS150-8 6" woofer, the RS52AN-8 2" midrange, and the RS28A-4 1.125" Tweeter.

Looking at the frequency response graphs available on this site, I think the best places for the crossover (trying for a 2nd order crossover here) would be about 500 and 2500 Hz. (These are numbers i'm not quite sure on so was wondering if those would be good for this setup).

My main speakers only have the tweeter and woofer in them and no midrange. I'm wondering if there is even a reason to use a midrange? Since this will be a center channel, the vocals are VERY important so I want those to come out clear and precise.

For the build, to compensate for off-axis response, should I include two woofers and two midranges with one tweeter? Put the mid-range and woofers slightly (and I mean VERY slightly) angled in opposite directions so that the left and right of the center hear the same sound. The tweeter would remain in the middle.

The wiring up of these drivers is where confusion starts to set in. I want to ensure that the two 'sets' of drivers output the same sound, but I also want to make sure that the impedance of the entire speaker doesn't fall below the 6-ohm minimum that my amplifier indicates. I would hate to fry all of my electronics because the imedpance of my center channel was too low. How can I go about building this without any fear of hurting my existing components?

So basically, if anybody has some advice it would be greatly appreciated. If you think I can go with a 2-way for the center and still have it sound good, that's fine too. I tried the phantom center trick and it just didn't work. The layout of my living room causes issues that really prevent a phantom center from working.

[Steve Henry]

Okay, I am a newbie with the whole speaker building thing, so hopefully I can get some help and advice here.

First thing's first. My FL, FR, RL, RR speakers are all Daytson RS621BK speakers. They are wonderful speakers and sound great. My subwoofer is a Dayton RS subwoofer (15" or 18", I can't remember) which provides all the bass I need. My receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR606S which is rated for 100 w/ channel and 6-16 Ohm speakers.

So I now need to build a 3-way center channel to compliment my existing equipment. I would like to build something that doesn't have a great deal of off-axis loss since I am not always sitting directly in front of the center. As a result, I believe that a three-way speaker would work best. The three drivers I'm looking at are the RS150-8 6" woofer, the RS52AN-8 2" midrange, and the RS28A-4 1.125" Tweeter.

Looking at the frequency response graphs available on this site, I think the best places for the crossover (trying for a 2nd order crossover here) would be about 500 and 2500 Hz. (These are numbers i'm not quite sure on so was wondering if those would be good for this setup).

My main speakers only have the tweeter and woofer in them and no midrange. I'm wondering if there is even a reason to use a midrange? Since this will be a center channel, the vocals are VERY important so I want those to come out clear and precise.

For the build, to compensate for off-axis response, should I include two woofers and two midranges with one tweeter? Put the mid-range and woofers slightly (and I mean VERY slightly) angled in opposite directions so that the left and right of the center hear the same sound. The tweeter would remain in the middle.

The wiring up of these drivers is where confusion starts to set in. I want to ensure that the two 'sets' of drivers output the same sound, but I also want to make sure that the impedance of the entire speaker doesn't fall below the 6-ohm minimum that my amplifier indicates. I would hate to fry all of my electronics because the imedpance of my center channel was too low. How can I go about building this without any fear of hurting my existing components?

So basically, if anybody has some advice it would be greatly appreciated. If you think I can go with a 2-way for the center and still have it sound good, that's fine too. I tried the phantom center trick and it just didn't work. The layout of my living room causes issues that really prevent a phantom center from working.

The 3 way idea is fine. I would center the tweeter over the mid, for the best response, with 2 of the 4 ohm woofs in series for an 8 ohm load, on each side.

[philiparcario]

Okay, I am a newbie with the whole speaker building thing, so hopefully I can get some help and advice here.

First thing's first. My FL, FR, RL, RR speakers are all Daytson RS621BK speakers. They are wonderful speakers and sound great. My subwoofer is a Dayton RS subwoofer (15" or 18", I can't remember) which provides all the bass I need. My receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR606S which is rated for 100 w/ channel and 6-16 Ohm speakers.

So I now need to build a 3-way center channel to compliment my existing equipment. I would like to build something that doesn't have a great deal of off-axis loss since I am not always sitting directly in front of the center. As a result, I believe that a three-way speaker would work best. The three drivers I'm looking at are the RS150-8 6" woofer, the RS52AN-8 2" midrange, and the RS28A-4 1.125" Tweeter.

Looking at the frequency response graphs available on this site, I think the best places for the crossover (trying for a 2nd order crossover here) would be about 500 and 2500 Hz. (These are numbers i'm not quite sure on so was wondering if those would be good for this setup).

My main speakers only have the tweeter and woofer in them and no midrange. I'm wondering if there is even a reason to use a midrange? Since this will be a center channel, the vocals are VERY important so I want those to come out clear and precise.

For the build, to compensate for off-axis response, should I include two woofers and two midranges with one tweeter? Put the mid-range and woofers slightly (and I mean VERY slightly) angled in opposite directions so that the left and right of the center hear the same sound. The tweeter would remain in the middle.

The wiring up of these drivers is where confusion starts to set in. I want to ensure that the two 'sets' of drivers output the same sound, but I also want to make sure that the impedance of the entire speaker doesn't fall below the 6-ohm minimum that my amplifier indicates. I would hate to fry all of my electronics because the imedpance of my center channel was too low. How can I go about building this without any fear of hurting my existing components?

So basically, if anybody has some advice it would be greatly appreciated. If you think I can go with a 2-way for the center and still have it sound good, that's fine too. I tried the phantom center trick and it just didn't work. The layout of my living room causes issues that really prevent a phantom center from working.

why not use 2 rs621bk speakers for your center. lay them side to side so you have a mttm layout or a tmmt layout. same drivers would help with voice matching. I posted this question about an other mt two way never got any answers? has anyone done this for a center. also I know you can set the center pair up in other layouts. I can think of 8 ways to arrange a pair of t ways. as a center speaker

[Jdurg]

why not use 2 rs621bk speakers for your center. lay them side to side so you have a mttm layout or a tmmt layout. same drivers would help with voice matching. I posted this question about an other mt two way never got any answers? has anyone done this for a center. also I know you can set the center pair up in other layouts. I can think of 8 ways to arrange a pair of t ways. as a center speaker

That's a potentially viable idea as well since I've already got the parts for one of the two centers. It would just be a matter of hooking them up properly. However I also figure that by building a 3-way center it would give me that experience in doing it which is also a positive. So many good decisions to choose from.

[Pete Schumacher ®]

Okay, I am a newbie with the whole speaker building thing, so hopefully I can get some help and advice here.

First thing's first. My FL, FR, RL, RR speakers are all Daytson RS621BK speakers. They are wonderful speakers and sound great. My subwoofer is a Dayton RS subwoofer (15" or 18", I can't remember) which provides all the bass I need. My receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR606S which is rated for 100 w/ channel and 6-16 Ohm speakers.

So I now need to build a 3-way center channel to compliment my existing equipment. I would like to build something that doesn't have a great deal of off-axis loss since I am not always sitting directly in front of the center. As a result, I believe that a three-way speaker would work best. The three drivers I'm looking at are the RS150-8 6" woofer, the RS52AN-8 2" midrange, and the RS28A-4 1.125" Tweeter.

Looking at the frequency response graphs available on this site, I think the best places for the crossover (trying for a 2nd order crossover here) would be about 500 and 2500 Hz. (These are numbers i'm not quite sure on so was wondering if those would be good for this setup).

My main speakers only have the tweeter and woofer in them and no midrange. I'm wondering if there is even a reason to use a midrange? Since this will be a center channel, the vocals are VERY important so I want those to come out clear and precise.

For the build, to compensate for off-axis response, should I include two woofers and two midranges with one tweeter? Put the mid-range and woofers slightly (and I mean VERY slightly) angled in opposite directions so that the left and right of the center hear the same sound. The tweeter would remain in the middle.

The wiring up of these drivers is where confusion starts to set in. I want to ensure that the two 'sets' of drivers output the same sound, but I also want to make sure that the impedance of the entire speaker doesn't fall below the 6-ohm minimum that my amplifier indicates. I would hate to fry all of my electronics because the imedpance of my center channel was too low. How can I go about building this without any fear of hurting my existing components?

So basically, if anybody has some advice it would be greatly appreciated. If you think I can go with a 2-way for the center and still have it sound good, that's fine too. I tried the phantom center trick and it just didn't work. The layout of my living room causes issues that really prevent a phantom center from working.

XO point at 500Hz is a bit low for the RS52, unless you go with a fairly steep XO topology. 800Hz would be better, and then you could get away with 2nd order electrical for a 4th order acoustic slope.

The Centilana by Paul K uses the RS180-4, and could easily be modified to accept a pair of them for an 8 Ohm load. And the RS28 just happens to match very closely to the XT19 in terms of response and impedance, allowing a drop in substitution with perhaps only a minor tweak to the padding resistor. The RS150-8 could also work, but there'd likely be some adjusting of the RS52 and RS28 padding to accommodate the sensitivity differences without much change to the XO as it exists.

[the kid]

I have the same question as Phil. Can you decently use 1 little pair of speakers side-by-side? You may be able to use a mount for each and angle them independently for better coverage.

[Pete Schumacher ®]

I have the same question as Phil. Can you decently use 1 little pair of speakers side-by-side? You may be able to use a mount for each and angle them independently for better coverage.

You will get issues with interference between the two tweeters as you move side to side in the seating area.

Just use another kit for your center. There's nothing that says you have to have two woofers for your center channel.

[HareBrained]

Have you seen Zaph's ZD3C? Scroll down to near the bottom. Should actually be cheaper to build than the other solutions proposed.

[Pete Schumacher ®]

Have you seen Zaph's ZD3C? Scroll down to near the bottom. Should actually be cheaper to build than the other solutions proposed.

Definitely less expensive. The tweeter saves a bunch, and the RS52 easily goes high enough to use a less expensive tweeter.

There's advantages either way though. A lower XO point on the tweeter allows for a taller forward lobe. The RS28 is also more rugged without the exposed dome. And, it looks fantastic.

[johnastockman]

That's a potentially viable idea as well since I've already got the parts for one of the two centers. It would just be a matter of hooking them up properly. However I also figure that by building a 3-way center it would give me that experience in doing it which is also a positive. So many good decisions to choose from.

As Pete said, there's no reason why you can't use another RS621 single as your center, oriented vertically. I've done this many times, using one of the various 2-way DIY designs sitting vertically that matched the two front L&R mains. You'll have less off-axis problems and won't need to worry about wiring and the negative affects of two mids and/or two tweeters. One of the guys (I think it was Pete) posted a pic a couple days ago where the center was a pair of RS woofers with a tweeter-over-mid in between the woofers. The center was sitting on top of the two TMWWWW main speakers.

John A.