Shivas, Room layout & Audio upgrades (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Wright]

I'm intrigued by the thread below on the Shiva vs Tempest. I've been wanting to upgrade the audio in my theater for some time now. Could a person build two Shiva boxes ~3' high and use them as end tables on the left & right sides of a couch? This would easily pass SAF, and I'd love a place to set popcorn, drinks, home automation controllers, etc. Would things fall off of them during a nice loud movie? Would they sound OK being next to the couch, nowhere near the corners of the room? Laid out something like:
______________
|SP[TV]SP|
| |
| |
|o[C]S[COUCH]S[C]o|
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SP = Main speakers, angled in towards couch
o = surround speakers
[C] = chairs, one recliner, one Papizon (funny round chair)
S = Shiva subs
This is exactly how my room is laid out now, with the exception of the Shivas. I currently do not have a sub at all in my home theater but would like to add one. Some questions:
1. What are your thoughts on the current layout of the room? Could it be optimized any better as-is? My screen is a 65" Toshiba 16:9 RP. Couch is up against the rear wall, just as pictured. Room is ~15' by ~20' (I'm guessing here, actually I think it's slightly larger) Main speakers are fairly large floor standing towers, angled in towards the couch. Surrounds are ~7.5 feet high in the far left & right corners of the room, angled in towards the center of the room. Note that there are fairly large exits on the left & right sides of the screen, and the ceilings are vaulted (~8 feet above the couch, increasing to ~12 feet above the TV)
2. Would the Shivas work well in the proposed locations?
3. My speakers are 12" KLH, with 5 1/4" midrange & small tweeter purchased from Costco around 1991. They are identical to the KLH towers Costco now sells with the exception of a second (false) 12" "speaker" at the bottom of each. These are used as a port as far as I can tell. My surrounds are also small KLH speakers from Costco, and my receiver is a Teac system (from: guess where?) with only basic Dolby pro-logic. Would I be better to spend my audio upgrade money on a couple of Shiva subs, a new receiver that supports Dolby Digital and/or DTS, or new speakers? My current speakers sound great to me, but I know there is a world of difference out there as far as higher quality goes.
4. Finally: what type of costs are involved in building a single Shiva sub, roughly? The sonosubs look really neat, but wouldn't fit too well with the room. My wife is very understanding and would probably let me get away with it, but not without some protest - and I don't want to overwhelm the room with a giant eyesore. (though others would claim I've already done it with that huge TV)
I was thinking about spending $1000 or less on my next audio upgrade opportunity, so whatever you come up with that fits that price range works for me. The only catch I have is I want something that's many times better than what your average Joe would buy. I'd rather have a high end receiver and wait awhile before upgrading the speakers than buy a so-so receiver and so-so speakers "right now".
Thank you for your input!
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )

 

[Greg Monfort]

Yes, you could make them as end tables, though they would have to be massive not to vibrate, or combine them into a coffee table, which with opposing drivers would be ~vibration free.
1. You imply that the double doorways are on the long side. Do they have doors? If so, have you tried the layout rotated with the TV on the short wall with the listening position moved away from the back wall?
2. They could assuming the XO is

 

[Ryan Wright]

Yes, you could make them as end tables, though they would have to be massive not to vibrate, or combine them into a coffee table, which with opposing drivers would be ~vibration free.

This is an intriguing idea. I need a new coffee table as well, so it would work great. Has anyone here done something like this and posted pictures and/or construction tips?
The exits on the left & right sides of the room do not have doors, and it would be impractical (if not impossible) to add them.
Thank you for your input!
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )

 

[Fred Seger]

Ryan, if I was in your position with $1000 to spend, I would
1) build one or two subs. IMO, no other addition has as much of an impact on Movies. Just makes then a lot more fun.
2) buy an inexpensive DD/DTS reciever for 200-300 dollars. Buy used or refurbished if it doesn't bother you.
3) Buy a quailty Center channel speaker. Some will say it won't match the rest of your equipment but it will give you a base to start upgrading around. i.e. in a year or so you can upgrade your mains and so on..
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Blake Middleton]

Here is someone who built a coffe table sub.
http://www.toshistation.com/thunder/default.htm

 

[Ryan Wright]

Thank you for the tips.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )