My Surround Project

westmassguy

On the heels of my Center Channel Project, I wanted to address another issue I was having with my 7.1 system, the side surrounds. I had recently acquired a pair of Monitor 4.6s, and in conjunction with my 5jrs, I thought things were pretty well rounded as far as timber matching with my 2As and my new center. On 50-75% of movie soundtracks, the 4.6s did a good job, and didn't make themselves noticeable. Unfortunately, on some sound tracks their location was very noticeable. All surrounds are mounted 6' above the floor to the centerline of the woofer.
I had been tossing around the idea of using two smaller Vintage Monitors, back to back, for a Bi-pole or Di-pole arrangement. Since I now had 2 pairs of smaller Monitors, and still have my 5Bs doing nothing, I had everything I needed to do the project.
Before I proceed further, understand that no Polk products were harmed or injured during the project. If anyone feels the need to scream "Franken-Polk", light torches, gather the town-folk, and march on my Castle, rest assured, that the only changes made to the speakers, were the usual crossover and tweeter upgrades. The 4.6's crossovers were modified to match the 5jrs and RDO-194s were installed in both pairs.
The method for mounting them was rather simple, and I used scrap dimensional lumber I had on hand. 1X10 was used for the back plate, and 1X6 was used as a center guide and mounting point. I picked up eight 4" L-angles from the hardware store. The speakers are 17" tall, so the back plate was cut to 16" so it wouldn't show. The 1X6 was cut to just a hair over 17", centered, and glued and screwed to the back plate. The L-Angles were mounted at the top and bottom of the 1X6s. The speakers were dry fit, holes marked and drilled, then screwed in place. I wanted them angled out slightly from the wall, so while still attached to the back plate, I gently bent the speakers and L-Angles out, about 6-8 degrees. Just enough so the wouldn't be firing directly parallel with the wall. I removed the speakers, and installed 3/8" rubber bumpers at each corner on the front of the back plate, so that when the speakers were re-attached, the angle would be maintained, and the speakers wouldn't wobble. I drilled an 1 1/2" hole for the wires, and installed Bose WB-3 wall brackets on the back. I like them because the are made from heavy steel, and interlock securely. The brackets come with a small rubber bumper for the bottom to maintain the spacing off the wall. Final assembly went smoothly, and they were mounted on the walls. Since both pairs are 4 ohm nominal, I wired them in Series. At the moment they are Bi-Pole and sound awesome. I cannot localize them at all now, on those movie tracks that I could before. I plan on experimenting with switching the polarity of the front firing tweeters for a Di-Pole configuration, after some extensive listening is done. You'll note the gap between the two speakers. This will be covered with a U shaped trim piece made from 1X6, with walnut veneer applied. The back of the trim piece will have Armaflex applied near the edge to cushion the speakers and provide a tight fit. The trim piece will attach at the top and bottom, to the 1X6 that's mounted to the back plate (that's the reason I made it longer than the back plate).

westmassguy

After a week of listening tests, these are definitely keepers. They sound amazing on everything I throw at them, and blend perfectly with My SDA-2ATLs, Center, and the Monitor 5s in the rear. I fabricated and installed the U shaped trim pieces out of 1X6, and Veneered them, and replaced the original grill cloth with the premium Architectural Grill Cloth I used on all my other Polks. They're kind of funky looking, but I like them. They remind me of something out of the 50s, or those "World of Tomorrow" short films I remember seeing as a child.

sk88

I must say that I couldn't tell what you were trying to do from the 1st set of pics, then the 2nd set of pics made everything clear to me. Very nice work and good looking veneer.

westmassguy

Thanks sk88. I think quite a few thought as you did, like I was doing some kind of hack job. Truth is, I didn't want to invest the time and materials to finish them properly, until I was sure they performed they way I hoped they would. They perform better than I had expected by a wide margin.

Nightfall

Any chance of getting you to take a pic of your entire setup all in one or two shots?

westmassguy

Nightfall wrote: »

Any chance of getting you to take a pic of your entire setup all in one or two shots?

At some point when the room is entirely finished

westmassguy

I've been playing around with the bipole vs dipole configuration. Seems dipole is the most recommended, but didn't quite sound right in my living room. I have 5Bs in the rear, so I reversed polarity on the front firing speakers. Didn't particularly care for it. I also snagged another pair of 4.6s for $50.00, that are in excellent condition. Those will be recapped and mounted in place of the 5Bs, which are a little too big for the back wall.

westmassguy

I thought I'd update this thread, since my home theater is essentially complete. I now have a total of three pairs of Monitor 4.6s, and one pair of Monitor 5jrs. All are in bi-pole configuration, which works best with my 20 X 17 living room. I did experiment with di-pole/bi-pole, but didn't like the results. All the monitors were recapped and modified for use with RDO-194-1s. I also modified the mounting plates. They're still 1 X 10s, but the center mounting strip is 1 X 4, and the speakers are flush and parallel to the walls. The decorative trim piece is 1 X 6 with walnut veneer. The front consists of my SDA-2ATLs flanked by two mid-fi Sony 12" subs, my Custom Center. There's also an additional older 10" Velodyne sub tucked behind the couch for some added rumble in the rear. All the subs were level matched before calibration was done, and never approach their maximum outputs, so distortion is very low. The WAF is probably zero on a scale of 1-10, but since I don't have one of those anymore, I can put whatever I want on the walls. So how does it sound? Every one who has heard it, is floored. The clarity of my center, and the seamless wrap-around surrounds are always noted, in addition to the low bass impact of the subs. For me, it's heaven every night. I'd rather watch one of 500+ movies I have stored on my HTPC, than regular satellite.

sk88

Thanks for the update. They look very nicely integrated to the room. Congrates that you got it all done before the holidays. Enjoy!

westmassguy

Thanks. The whole system sounds exceptional

westmassguy

Wonder why the thumbnails aren't showing up?

westmassguy

Try Again. Still weird, no thumbnails

drumminman

Very nice, WMG. I appreciate the thought and craftsmanship that went into those surrounds and center channel.

westmassguy

drumminman wrote: »

Very nice, WMG. I appreciate the thought and craftsmanship that went into those surrounds and center channel.

Thanks drumminman.They do sound awesome compared to your typical surrounds, plus they match the timbre of my fronts perfectly. They are rather large, but worth it. If you have a dedicated media room or man-cave, size isn't an issue.