DIY question for towers

[Hosejockey61]

Hi Everyone,

Brand new here but I have been lurking for a very long time in all the various forums.

My hope is to build my own speakers (yes I have my eyes on a few plans right now )

I am not very speaker savvy but love to build stuff. I just finished a 3000sf basement (2000sf of it) and am trying to figure out an acceptable sound system for the theater.

Before I go any further, let me ask the following question:

How does the Polk Monitor 70's stand up compared to Vince's VHT's? What about Khanspires or Statements?

I ask this question to help me understand the difference between speakers as a whole.

From my research, I am leaning toward the Khanspires or Statements simply by judging others opinions of them but am curious about the VHT's.

With that asked, would any of the above need more power than that of a receiver?

My current receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR608. My theater area is 14x 22 and is not a dedicated theater (it opens to the bar and poker area).

Let's start with that and I'll add more later including pictures if needed.

You guys (whether you know it or not) are going to help me build a system.

Thanks in advance!

Mike O

[MrkCrwly]

How does the Polk Monitor 70's stand up compared to Vince's VHT's? What about Khanspires or Statements?

I have not heard the Monitor 70's but I did have a HT setup with Polk R50's and a Polk CSR. I replaced the Polks with 5 sealed TriTrix. (The TriTrix is a lower cost design by Curt C. who also designed the Statements.) The TriTrix are much better than the polks at everything. The fact that I built them myself is just icing on the cake.

Provide a budget and you should get plenty of help.

[johnastockman]

Hi Everyone,

Brand new here but I have been lurking for a very long time in all the various forums.

My hope is to build my own speakers (yes I have my eyes on a few plans right now )

I am not very speaker savvy but love to build stuff. I just finished a 3000sf basement (2000sf of it) and am trying to figure out an acceptable sound system for the theater.

Before I go any further, let me ask the following question:

How does the Polk Monitor 70's stand up compared to Vince's VHT's? What about Khanspires or Statements?

I ask this question to help me understand the difference between speakers as a whole.

From my research, I am leaning toward the Khanspires or Statements simply by judging others opinions of them but am curious about the VHT's.

With that asked, would any of the above need more power than that of a receiver?

My current receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR608. My theater area is 14x 22 and is not a dedicated theater (it opens to the bar and poker area).

Let's start with that and I'll add more later including pictures if needed.

You guys (whether you know it or not) are going to help me build a system.

Thanks in advance!

Mike O

Nice to have you around! If you did the basement yourself, you can build some speaker cabinets. The Onkyo is a nice piece of kit. Polk and other big-box store brands (popular, recognized brands) are, well, not to offend, but they aren't even in the same solar system as something like the Statements. Not even with some of the budget projects like the TriTrix, Topaz, Azurites, Overnight Sensations, Dayton Budget Project, D8, etc. My simple budget designs (other person's designs) knock the wee out of retail stuff like the Polks and their ilk. I'm not a XO expert, but I worked in a high-end audio emporium for 20 years, so there's a big message there about why I'm such a proponent of DIY designs vs over-hyped & over-priced easily recognized name-brands. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions, even if they seem redundant or dumb.

John A.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

just food for thought. start with two tritrix mt and a cc mtm. then build the tritrix mtm tl for mains and move the mt to the rear. although you could use mtm in all positions. three sealed two tl. you, of course, will need a sub or two. two rs 10" would be nice.

[JimHRB]

Two designs that are only slighty more expensive than the Tritrix are Curt's new Aviatrix and Zaphs Budget Aluminum MTM. Both available as sealed or towers and should be a step up in sound quality.

[mzisserson]

Shameless plug: These were running at the top of the pack at DIYNE.

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/blog.php?b=136

[curt_c]

Realistically, you can expect a well turned out DIY design to perform equivalent to or outperform commercial designs between 5 and 10 times the DIY material cost. Also keep in mind that as DIYer’s, we aren’t in the habit of purchasing Polks, or most other commercial designs, so we may be just ever so slightly slanted in our views.

2000ft^2 is a rather large space, so unless you are partitioning off a dedicated HT room I’d look to something like the Khanspires or the Statements, along with additional outboard amplification for the mains and center.

C

[blue934]

i haven't heard that model of Polk but the tower models that i have heard tend to have a warm bass tone that most rockers like. i built the VHT's several yrs ago for a friend and while they where a decent sounding audio speaker, they where to date the most articulate HT speaker i have heard. i don't have an answer for why that is. i am not a fan of the mids in this design having heard them in several applications. i do however like the tight bass that the DA175's produce (very unlike the polks). i think a step up from this design but using the same woofers would be the schumakubins by Pete S.

the Khans and Statement series will be a huge step up from the VHT's in both sound and $ but will fill a very large room.

if you like the warmth of polk, you might be better off going for the Dayton 8MTM but i haven't heard it in an HT setting. it's supposed to be a real rocker!
________
FERRARI 330 SPECIFICATIONS

[blue934]

here's a comparison on the mini statements to help give you a reference.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=33087

David
________
Deposit Insurance Dicussion

[Hosejockey61]

Guys,

Thanks for all of the input so far. My budget is kind of open but I'm not looking to break the bank just yet. I would like to start off modest and build it up over time. I did notice a picture on a different post that shows exactly what I'd like to do (the first picture).

As you can see from my other pictures of my basement, it is pretty wide open. Behind my screen wall is about a four foot void that I do have access to. My goal would be to mount the speakers like in the first picture as not to cover up the columns on either side. I can't accomplish that with a floor standing tower but would do it if it was the best option for my layout.

How much will it affect a speakers performance if placed in the wall like that?

And don't anyone laugh at my B+W center channel as it was set up temporarily for my wife's 40th party. :-)

Anyway, here are the pics and I'll update again soon.

Thanks again!

[Hosejockey61]

Lil' help? :-)

[Face]

The Polk Monitor 70 is good for a commercial $200 speaker, it won't hold a candle to DIY speakers costing $500-1000+.

Mounting them in the wall like that will negatively affect SQ. Why would you want to do such a thing? You'll have to search out designs made for in wall use or you'll most likely be disappointed with the results.

[curt_c]

How much will it affect a speakers performance if placed in the wall like that?

Nicely done basement!

Any speaker design not specifically for in wall use will not be acceptable. Most of the designs will 'want' the speaker position to be out from the wall about 3 feet to the front baffle. Some may be modified to compensate, but the design would require new in situ response measurements, and a complete revision of the crossover.

From the pictures, it looks like the space between the columns and the screen is fairly narrow. I'd suggest considering something like a line array for a narrow footprint in-wall application. Commercial line array's can be very pricey, but quite cost effective for the DIY'er and the right choice of drivers.
Since your seating is so far back in the room, a tall, floor to ceiling array would be best, as well as some wall treatments (absorption panels or heavy floor to ceiling drapes) on the side walls near the columns, or about where the window is. IMO, as cool as your columns look, their present positions are where the main speakers should reside...

One possible design to consider would be John Murphy's line array:

http://www.trueaudio.com/array/index.htm

C

[Hosejockey61]

Oy it's never easy is it. First, thanks for getting back to me. So in the first picture I posted, those were mounted in the wall so I thought it would be that easy to do the same. That is one hell of a write up on those linearrays, most of it way over my head but I am still able to follow along with the reasoning.

So my choice then narrows to linearrays or soemthing like the statements or Khans but only if I keep them out in front of the screen.

It's a good thing I am not in a huge hurry to get these donemas I can surely study some more before making a commitment to a design.

Thanks!

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

just fyi. that long box that looks like a bench in the forground of the first pic is a multi-driver sub.

[Hosejockey61]

Yes I understand that, I was talking about the speakers mounted into the wall next to the screen.

[Hosejockey61]

Been awhile since last post, but I decided to keep it simple for my first build. I really want to thank Curt C. for being accessible and providing additional help in understanding what I need.

I REALLLLY wanted to build the statements but have decided to start off with the AviaTrix design first. I can play around with placement and check SQ before committing. It'll be a nice project to get my feet wet...when I move on to the next project then the kids can fight over this one.

I will try to document everything in a build thread somewhere so those interested can put in their two cents.

For the price (right around $900), I was able to get what I need for a 7.1 setup which included two extra drivers and X-over parts (which will be nice if needing replacement). Buying in the kit form sure saves a LOT of money.

Thanks for all of the input!

[Pete Schumacher ®]

Been awhile since last post, but I decided to keep it simple for my first build. I really want to thank Curt C. for being accessible and providing additional help in understanding what I need.

I REALLLLY wanted to build the statements but have decided to start off with the AviaTrix design first. I can play around with placement and check SQ before committing. It'll be a nice project to get my feet wet...when I move on to the next project then the kids can fight over this one.

I will try to document everything in a build thread somewhere so those interested can put in their two cents.

For the price (right around $900), I was able to get what I need for a 7.1 setup which included two extra drivers and X-over parts (which will be nice if needing replacement). Buying in the kit form sure saves a LOT of money.

Thanks for all of the input!

That first pic is my friend's basement HT. Those three ways were designed for on-wall application specifically. The wall itself is over 1" thick, double layer of drywall and durock, bonded with liquid nail, with the whole wall hanging on resilent channel mounts. Plenty of fiberglass insulation in the wall gap behind the speakers and throughout the entire wall. It's an extraordinary dedicated room. Dave put a lot of time designing and constructing it. I was just thrilled to help him get the custom speakers he was after.

Because your setup is basically a tunnel opening up into a (beautiful) larger room, you'll probably want to heavily treat the side walls in the screen area to reduce early reflections from the front, L, C, and R, speakers.