[Pre-construction speaker brackets]

Thanks, @MetropolisLakeOutfitters for responding so rapidly to words you wrote three years ago!

 

Our General Contractor wants to charge a substantial upcharge for installing the in-ceiling Atmos Klipschs. I'm thinking, pre-drywall, running the speaker wire and mounting the IK-650-C pre-construction brackets myself, letting the construction crew put up the ceiling, and then when it's all over personally going into the crawl space above the ceiling and using the speaker brackets as my guide, cut out the drywall from above the ceiling. That way, no fee upcharge and no measuring.

 

That's why I'm thinking of cutting the drywall from above the ceiling. Is there a flaw in my theory?

[Pre-construction speaker brackets]

On ‎10‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 7:09 AM, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said:

At the end of the day, you still just have a speaker in the wall, you can't tell they are there once installed.  The preconstruction brackets are just easier, cleaner, and faster.  The alternative is drawing a rectangle on the wall with the supplied cardboard templates, then taking one of these and cutting holes by hand, which gets old real quick:

 

http://www.lowes.com/pd/Morris-Products-6-in-Aluminum-Wallboard-Hand-Saw/4683177?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA_ONLY-_-ToolsAndHardware-_-SosAtg-PowerTools-_-4683177:Morris_Products&CAWELAID=&kpid=4683177&CAGPSPN=pla&k_clickID=8809aab5-5cef-49b6-ac33-de6eeef8c51f

 

Or you can put the preconstruction brackets up, the drywall crew can note the location just like your electric boxes, then route each one out in about 2 seconds with a clean cut from a drywall router.  Your choice.  

 

Can someone with experience using pre-construction brackets provide clarification on @MetropolisLakeOutfitters "the drywall crew can note the location just like your electric boxes."

1. If the drywall crew secures 4'x8' drywall sheets to the ceiling's joists after the speaker brackets are installed, how does the crew note the location of where the speaker brackets are?
2. If there's crawl space above the ceiling, does it make more sense to cut the drywall from above the ceiling (using the speaker bracket as one's guide) after the drywall is installed?

Since I'm going to use a 100 Hz crossover to these ceiling speakers, I'm thinking of 6 1/2" woofer in-ceiling speakers are the way I'll go, most likely the CDT-5650-C IIs.

[Can a mismatched new center Klipsch work?]

10 hours ago, rebuy said:

FWIW--I ran a mismatched center and had zero issues.

Of course all the speakers were good quality--Take a Shot, Live a Little.

You're right, I do need to live a little. Despite the good points of the naysayers, I'm gonna experiment with some mismatching!

 

6 hours ago, Schu said:

You can EQ out a lot of timbre differences...

Thanks for that. I will rerun Yamaha's YPAO with the B&W/Klipsch mismatch to see if it helps smooth things out.

 

6 hours ago, wvu80 said:

I agree with this.  Get the best center you can afford.  "Timbre matching" is way overrated.  Accurate dialog is accurate, matching to inaccurate L/R does not help and it does not make the center somehow "muddy."

 

Ninety percent of TV/movies is dialog and 90% of dialog comes out of the center.  Dialog does not come out of the L/R and there are no movies I've ever heard of where someone is doing a monologue for five minutes walking back and forth across the screen while the sound follows him.  It's not the scenario you have to worry about when running "mis-matched" speakers.

 

My biggest concern about your post is you seem to want to go small on the Klipsch center.  I have preference for center speakers with 6" to 7" woofers in the MTM style, or MMTMM of something substantial like the RC-64.  The RC-64 has a 1.75" compression driver for the HF/mids, which is where the magic happens IMO.  The RP-504 and RP-404 both have 1" compression drivers.

 

I would suggest the RC-64 III, then the RP-504C, then the RP-404C. 

 

Disclaimer:  I own the RC-64 I, I've heard the RC-64 II, and I have not heard the RP-x lines.  I would also point out that "timbre matching" is the majority opinion.  Mine is the minority opinion based on my experience.  Finding the best QUALITY center speaker is what makes the difference for clear dialog.

 

Don't take my word for it.  Listen to all sides and decide for yourself what is best for your audio setup.

Thanks for this detail and your Disclaimer. Understood. I am thinking about your concern that I'm going small on the Klipsch center. And that 1 3/4" titanium dome tweeter on the  55 pound RC-III does read like a serious upgrade from my current 6 pound satellite center! And what's the point of mismatching if I don't go BIG center? However, please explain why you like your centers to deliver bass down to 57Hz when...

1. male vocals bottom out at about 100Hz.
2. good subwoofers deliver the best low end.
3. I've found that these multi-amp AVRs distribute power best to multiple speakers when I set my passive speakers to "small" and crossover all bass below 80Hz for the powered subwoofers to handle.
4. Last, my flat screen is flush mounted on the wall (along with the left and right satellites) and that RC-64 III is 15" deep and the size of a tank. Yikes!

That is why I was thinking a smallish Klipsch center.

[Can a mismatched new center Klipsch work?]

I have a 5.1 surround system consisting of five B&W VM1 satellite speakers. These are small 8 ohms with one 1" tweeter and one 5" bass in each. Nice sounding, but I find the clarity of TV/Movie dialogue lacking and would like your opinion on replacing just the center VM1 with either a Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-440C or the brand new Reference R-34C. The left, right, and two surround VM1s are all wall mounted, but the center is just sitting there on a shelf under the flat screen.

 

Could this kind of mismatching of the front three speakers improve dialogue or would it just muddy the sound?

 

My AVR is set to send all frequencies below 80Hz to the subwoofer. So the 82Hz to 21kHz frequency response of the Klipsch R-34C would suffice. And since it's only six inches deep, it would fit much better under the flat screen than the 14" deep Klipsch RP-440C which has a frequency response of 59Hz to 25kHz. However, I'd buy the RP-440C if y'all thought it produced clearer dialogue and/or would sonically blend better with the VM1 satellites.