Home theater speaker upgrades
I'm in the process of a basement home theater remodel. Room is about 14x23. I thought I would save a few $$ by using my existing speakers for the fronts but I am now having second thoughts. I have a pair of old Monitor 10 for left and right. I pick up a set of 23" high stands to get them off of the floor. I have a CS2 center and an old VMPS original subwoofer. I added four 70-RT ceiling speakers for center and rear surrounds. The front speakers are behind a 125" acoustically transparent screen.
Here are the issues: due to the depth of the 10's and the wall mounted CS2 the screen needs to be about 14" out from the wall. If it could be moved against the wall I would gain about a foot of viewing distance and reduce the light spill through I am getting now.
If I leave the screen as it is the light spill issue can be fixed by purchasing a much more expensive screen the has an integrated black backing. A better fix for now may be to go with new in-wall speakers, move the screen closer to the wall and paint the wall black.
So .... I'm thinking about three 265-RT speakers to replace the 10s and the CS2. The front wall studs are not tight against the basement wall to accommodate a heat pipe so I feel an enclosure would need to be installed. Look like Polk has discontinued the Performance enclosures but I can still find them for sale at about $250 each OR a comparable enclosure could be fabricated using MDF board (tempted just to buy the enclosures so I have something the was properly engineered). With speakers and enclosures I'm at about $1400.
Does this make sense? I went with the acoustically transparent screen because I want the speakers behind the screen. The added viewing distance of moving the screen would be nice but the in-wall Rt upgrade is 75% the cost of the better screen which would fix the light spill (and I may upgrade to it anyway in the future).
As for the subwoofer ... Not sure about that.
Here are the issues: due to the depth of the 10's and the wall mounted CS2 the screen needs to be about 14" out from the wall. If it could be moved against the wall I would gain about a foot of viewing distance and reduce the light spill through I am getting now.
If I leave the screen as it is the light spill issue can be fixed by purchasing a much more expensive screen the has an integrated black backing. A better fix for now may be to go with new in-wall speakers, move the screen closer to the wall and paint the wall black.
So .... I'm thinking about three 265-RT speakers to replace the 10s and the CS2. The front wall studs are not tight against the basement wall to accommodate a heat pipe so I feel an enclosure would need to be installed. Look like Polk has discontinued the Performance enclosures but I can still find them for sale at about $250 each OR a comparable enclosure could be fabricated using MDF board (tempted just to buy the enclosures so I have something the was properly engineered). With speakers and enclosures I'm at about $1400.
Does this make sense? I went with the acoustically transparent screen because I want the speakers behind the screen. The added viewing distance of moving the screen would be nice but the in-wall Rt upgrade is 75% the cost of the better screen which would fix the light spill (and I may upgrade to it anyway in the future).
As for the subwoofer ... Not sure about that.
Post edited by rjmaurer on
Comments
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In walls are the way to go in a Theater room. I strongly suggest going that route. Use them all the way around. Also run dual in wall subs , this will yield a very clean and beautiful system IF all speakers are placed properly.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Thanks for the input. Any thoughts about the Performance enclosures? I feel that would insure they perform to spec. Not so concerned with the ceiling speakers. I've mounted 1/4" plywood between ceiling joists that are about 10" wide for the speakers to mount into. This will be covered with 3/8" drywall. I had the 70-Rt units mounted for a short while so I could test them and confirm placement and with a little insulation around them they sounded great. They are back in their shipping cartons now as I've started dry walling.
Also any input on sub woofers would be appreciated. I like the Polk in-walls but both are quite pricey. The amp I am using for the current sub is too small for the Polk solution so I would be looking at about $500!to $800 for one polk sub and another $500 for the amp. -
Not that the 10's on 23in stands wouldn't work. But it will bring the top up to 51in or so,which may bring the tweeter up beyond the sweet spot. Not sure what your arrangement is...
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I checked the measurements - the tweeters in the 10s are at 46" on the stands. My ear while seated is around 41" so I don't think the stand height is much of an issue. Speaking to a consultant at the company I purchased my new Denon 3313 receiver from the point was made that the original Monitor 10 stands where angled upward and this was necessarily for the proper sound field. So if I had the original stands the angle would be such that the sweet spot would be over my head anyway at my 12' back from the screen seating position. Thanks to this I didn't think the new stand's height would have been an issue. This will all be a moot issue if I replace the 10s with in wall speakers.
