Building a decent center speaker? (1 Viewer)

[BrandonL]

Ok from your recomendations and help I was able to build a sub using a swan driver and apex jr. amp. That stupid thing shakes the house more than I could have ever expected. So now I am on to building center speaker, since the one I am using is really cheap. My receiver is a Onkyo 575x if that helps. Do you guys know of any websites or such that has a decent plan for building a center speaker. I am hoping to stay closer to $100, but I guess would go up to $200 if it makes that much difference. Seeing how I was able to make the sub for $230 total I am thinking this is a reasonable estimate for a center. Thanks for any help.

 

[ikiru]

Did you try www.madisound.com ?
I think they have a few kits and stuff there you might try.
-ikiru
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*Enjoy the Sauce*

 

[Robert Silge]

I would recommend ACI. I will be building three of these soon.
http://www.audioc.com/diy/Kits/emerald/emerald.htm
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-Rob
"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."
--Soren Kierkegaard

 

[BrandonL]

So that ACI one would be ok to use as a center speaker? I guess I am use to seeing store center speakers as having 3 speakers in the cabinet.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Brandon,
The Emerald is an awesome center channel! When setup vertically just like any other speaker it will absolutely disappear into your front stage! Pans from one side to another are seemless! I used one for about 6 months lying on it's side and thought it was better than many centers I'd heard upwards of $500. Then I got rid of the entertainment center and set it upright! The sound got even better. I am also building a pair for my L/R speakers that will sit on top of SV12 bass cabinets! It should make an awesome front stage for both music and HT! My ACI Opals will be moving to a spare bedroom! I'll try to post some pics when I'm finished. Unfortunately I don't have a website so I'll have to build that as well.
Really consider the Emerald. A pair should outperform most retail minimonitors in the $1000+ range!
Brian

 

[Greg Monfort]

Hmm, I'm sure these are all good recommendations, but since BL hasn't told us what his mains are, how can an informed one be made?
BL, what are your mains, or is the goal of a ~seamless blend with them not a priority?
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[Patrick Sun]

Okay, here's a mini-challenge:
I have college-made speakers, and it is your basic 3-way speaker:
Philips AD 11600/T8 1" Dome tweeter
Peerless 1358 4" enclosed midrange
Eminence 10290 10" accordion edge woofer
I've been toying with the idea of making a matched center channel speaker with the Philips tweeter and Peerless midrange. Is it possible to make a decent sounding center channel speaker with a MTM configuration for these drivers and still have a frequency response from 100Hz - 20KHz (roughly)?
Where would I start in modelling and producing a crossover?
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PatCave ; HT Pix ; Gear ; Sunosub I + III ; DVDs ; Link Removed

 

[Greg Monfort]

I'm not familiar with the components, but a 4" mid, and 10" LF implies an XO point well above 100Hz. And of course adding a second mid won't lower it. Then there's the problem of blending to the sub, or to the L/R speakers, if none is used.
If it were mine, I would use the 10" too, and mount the HF/mid oriented/spaced the same as the mains, with the 10" to one side, and copy the XO's.
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[BrandonL]

Ok good question. Well I am running my brothers older Infinity big kind of speakers in the front. A KLH cheezy center speaker. And 2 Polk rear speakers. i dont know the model numbers to this stuff since it was given to me by my brother and they're kind of old. But my goal was to build the audioreview.com bookshelf speakers, keep my polk rear speakers, and somehow find a way to make a nice center speaker to match those audioreview bookshelfs. I just bought a Sony Vega 27inch and have an Onkyo 575x. So that gives a better idea of what I am dealing with. And since I was able to make my sub, which sounds awesome, for cheap I figure home built stuff is the way to go.

 

[Greg Monfort]

Without more info on the Infinitys, there's no way to give you any decent advice on a center. I went to the website, but didn't see any DIY speakers listed. Bookshelf size implies they're small. Why not build a third one for the center?
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[BrandonL]

Oh on audioreview.com site, go to tech talk, then to speaker, then at the top of that forum it has a link to the DIY bookshelf speakers.

 

[Greg Monfort]

I assume you mean this one:
http://www.audioreview.com/audio101/diyspeaker/ With my old n' slo 'puter, it took way too long to get there with all the graphics.

These are small enough to use as a CC. Once they're done, experiment with placing the L-R on the same plane as the center, and tilt them all down to the listening position, as well as like you see in most installs where the L-R is down beside the screen, with only the CC tilted down.
My experience has been that having them on the same plane gives a smoother blend.
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[BrandonL]

Sorry about that. I totally didnt even think about posting the link. Is there anywhere else to look around for DIY bookshelf and center speakers?

 

[Greg Monfort]

There's bunches, but I don't bookmark them. Here's two that should get you started browsing: http://www.cross-spectrum.com/ http://www.snippets.org/ldsg/
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean