Finally going to get serious(ish) about HT, questions

[mr tibbs]

Well, I am thinking about taking the dive into the oversensitive world of home theater! Because of my work schedule lately I was unable to go see the new Batman movie in the theater soooooo, I have to bring the theater experience to my living room!!

I currently have a HT system with older (see cheaper) Onkyo speakers that have to go. The TV and receiver are newer and in great shape, they will stay but the speakers have to go!

So, in my search for new speakers I discovered that Parts Express has a few DIY kits for sale. I think this is the route for me!! So far I have decided on the TriTrix Towers as an easy beginning point. These get rave reviews and should give me a good starting point on building cross overs. Everything except the cross overs I am more than comfortable with. My question is has anyone built this set or one like it? I do believe that my receiver has more than enough power for these towers, I just hope they are enough. Is there another beginner set out there that I should be looking at??

Now on to the meat of the project, the subwoofer!! I was thinking of buying another DIY subwoofer kit like the Dayton 12 inch Titanic Mk III kit and using my PG RSDC 12 in place of the Dayton sub but I don't know if that will work out right. And just now as I went to find out if my sub is dual 2 or dual 4 ohm it dawned on me that I could get a separate stand alone amp and use the sub in the box it is in right now. Would that work? Has anyone used the RSDC sub for HT use before? So many options!!!

So, any help would be appreciated. I don't plan on going too overboard with the HT stuff because I know it can be easy to get sucked in. Then again, I bet I said that about car audio at one point!! I'm really liking the DIY stuff because I feel like I can get more for my money because I do all the work. That and I like building stuff. I'll take all the help I can get here guys, keep the options rolling!

Thanks!!

[joyride]

I cant speakfor the RSDC, butI used a Xenon 12" in a custom box andit worked great. Granted, the box will play a big role in the sound,so you may want to look into playing with winISD to find a box size abit more suitable. I went with a ported and tuned it very low, considering the LFE details it was going to cover. Since you arent constrained by a trunk size, you can go with pretty much any box size that will work.

Also, if you are interested Ive got a bash 500 plate amp that I only used on the xenon for a couple of movies (roughly 15 hrs of use). I can sell that to you for $150 (I believe I paid 250 for it on PE a few years back. Its just sitting on a shelf now that I have an SVS.

[mr tibbs]

I have the sub in a sealed box just sitting in my closet. The box was built to specs for a sealed box. I guess I'm wondering if I can just throw some power to it and use it as a HT sub as is??

Also, you guys are wayyyyyy to slow. I ordered the speakers last night and they will be here on Friday. I know what I am doing this weekend!!

[mr tibbs]

Well, after months of sitting in the other room I finally got off my ass this weekend and built the TriTrix speakers! The build was easy as could be minus the x-overs. This was my first attempt at building x-overs and not just buying them from somewhere. I gotta say, it was kind of fun! I'm sure they are the ugliest things some of you guys have ever seen, but they won't be in sight so I don't care!

Here are a few pics of the build.


Here is the cabinet just before placing the final piece on and closing it up. Not too bad!


Here you can see my awesome x-over building skills.


Finally assembly sitting in my living room.

As far as finishing the outside of the cabinet I think the wife and I are going to get wild and attempt to glue on some veneer. This could get a little ugly!

So far they sound about 100 times better than the old Onkyo's I have had for the last 13 years or so. They sound much more clear, but with less bass. I can actually hear fine details in songs and people talking during a movie! Lol Next is a sub, then I need to find a center channel to build. I'm thinking the same set up as the towers, but in a sealed box. For surround speakers I'm thinking about building another kit from Parts Express called the Overnight Sensations. I'm liking this DIY stuff!

[ttocs]

veneers are not all that hard. The last one I used had a heat activated glue already applied on the back. Just needed to run a hot clothes-iron down them too activate it and get it too stick.

[stipud]

I wouldn't recommend Overnight Sensations for your rear speakers. First of all they are designed to be nearfield monitors, so they won't sound right in a big room. Second, you want to match the "timbre" or general sound profile of all of your speakers. Because of this, I would personally recommend the BR-1 kit instead, which uses the same tweeter and a slightly larger midrange. Either get a third BR-1 for the center, or build a small sealed MTM with the Tritrix speakers.

[mr tibbs]

I wouldn't recommend Overnight Sensations for your rear speakers. First of all they are designed to be nearfield monitors, so they won't sound right in a big room. Second, you want to match the "timbre" or general sound profile of all of your speakers. Because of this, I would personally recommend the BR-1 kit instead, which uses the same tweeter and a slightly larger midrange. Either get a third BR-1 for the center, or build a small sealed MTM with the Tritrix speakers.

Great find on the BR-1's!! I don't know how I missed those in my search for surrounds. And for the center I am already planning on a sealed MTM with the same drivers used in the TriTrix set. It took a little while, but I finally found some drawings for a box for the center channel. Now all I have to do is save up some cash and I'm set! Thanks for the tips!

[stipud]

I've read several articles that pooh-pooh MTM centers (at least mounted horizontally):
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=89614

My current Paradigm center channel is an "W(T/M)W", and I haven't noticed any interference issues with it:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/lo ... -designs-1