mustang guy Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 We all know this is the big pain about using heritage speakers for home theaters. The only center that is actually a center is the Academy, and frankly it's hard to find, and overpriced when you do find one. My idea is to work together to create a great center and share the plans in the public domain. Here is my idea for a speaker: The speaker would be 42" wide, 8" tall, 20" deep, made of 1/2 Baltic birch, be 3 way (or 2 way depending on horn usage) The TV would sit right on top of the speaker. The speaker would be extremely strong due to the horn path structures. This would easily hold up the heaviest of TV's. The bass horns would come out in the front on the far left and right. The whole speaker would be nice to be tuned to something like 65hz-20KHz. I figure a 6" woofer would be about all you could fit. The woofer would be accessible from a rear panel, as would the Xover network. Here is a very rough NOT TO SCALE of my idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 you almost reversed engineered a world class backloaded horn with direct radiator approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 you almost reversed engineered a world class backloaded horn with direct radiator approach. It is similar for sure. My idea is to mount the woofer in the back, and leave the front box for tweeter, midrange, and crossover... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAMCRO Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 What mid horn? xover point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 That one would probably match the parts portfolio most would have pretty well. Only thought would be to Belle style it instead of LaScala styling it. Since you have plenty of woofer clearance....you wouldn't need the straight sections after the first turn. The straight sections in the LaScalas are only there so that 15" woofers can fit in the dog house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 This has come up a few dozen times in the last 10 years or so....Wow, has it really been that long? Pretty much what everyone ends up doing is buying a speaker identical to their mains, and then just mounting the woofer/woofers to the side of the MF/HF unit. However, at the end of the day it is always better for the center to be identical to the L/R speakers - so it's really a small niche that needs something shorter than a Heresy or Lascala for the center channel. Keeping the speaker drivers aligned vertically is also better for a center channel application anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I know you guys mean well, but a 'bass horn' with that small of a mouth will have no bass, zip, nadda, none. Then there is the issue of timbre match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I don't have any problem with the powered Cornwall and the RSW-12 6ft away. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 What would be wrong with using a Lascala top hat as a center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brac Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I hope this idea grows legs this time. It could have an 8" driver and still come in at around 10" tall (which is still less than 1/2 the height of a Heresy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 PM sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRFL Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Call me old fashioned but I keep coming back to a Belle. Fitting a 409 into the top hat for up to date specs and the screen is a nice height above the floor. The associated gear could be split into a pair of matching custom cabinets on either side of the Belle. This would give that heritage smack in the face and be horizontally matched with flanking Khorn or Lascala. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 In my original thought process I was considering the difficulty of having such large speakers used as centers. Most people do not have an entertainment center which can fit any of the possible centers including the Academy or even the top hat of a LaScala. This design would allow just about anybody to use the speaker. I would rather not give up on this so soon. I thought about using a cheap paper cone woofer like this for $11.50 each: Aura NS6-255-8A 6" Paper Cone Neodymium Magnet Woofer The voice would be from a paper cone, which I believe would be a necessity. This is not a fools mission. Will it be a perfect timbre match, no. The heresy is not a match for a KHorn either. Maybe we should call this thing the Heretic. It's not a w-horn, it's too darnn small, and yet it makes a great center to LaScalas, Belles, and Klipschorns. <-- my attempt at sarcasm... The surface area of this 42" X 8" center is 336 Sq in. The surface area of a Heresy is 372 sq in. That's not a lot of difference. The volume of this speaker would be 6720 cu in, compared to the Heresy's 4890 cu in. With a 42" wide face, this speaker would have room for as much as 140 sq of mouth area for the woofer horns. The surface area of a Heresy cone is about 50 sq in. I am an acoustical idiot, so I would like to know why this speaker couldn't be made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 I know you guys mean well, but a 'bass horn' with that small of a mouth will have no bass, zip, nadda, none. Then there is the issue of timbre match. Ouch! [] See, I told you I was an idiot! Why would a horn with 7.5 sq in entrance and 140 sq in exit, not have any bass? Also, I am talking about 65 or 70 hz at best. Is there some calculation on minimum mouth size for given frequencies? As for timbre match, well... How can we overcome that issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I could not agree more with DRWho, in HT it is all about the centre and matching to that not the other way around. There have been a number of members who have turned a KLF (or other speaker) sideways to fit it under a screen if space is a real issue. I dont want an audio rack with all the led's lit up under the centre of my screen any way this is HT not stereo. Use a matching speaker and you are done and everything matches up perfectly. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 I could not agree more with DRWho, in HT it is all about the centre and matching to that not the other way around. There have been a number of members who have turned a KLF (or other speaker) sideways to fit it under a screen if space is a real issue. I dont want an audio rack with all the led's lit up under the centre of my screen any way this is HT not stereo. Use a matching speaker and you are done and everything matches up perfectly. Best regards Moray James. Argh... Yes a perfect timbre match is ideal. I could not agree more with that. I would still like to see a slim center horn loaded that the TV sits on. On to my next idea for a truly timbre matching center... What if we were to create plans for a a timbre matching entertainment center? Something that looks like a squated down Belle Klipsch with the tweeter mounted next to the squaker, and to the right and left of it area for dvd/blu-ray storage and HT components? The whole thing would be about 2' high or so, and it would be a great timbre match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKing Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Here is my center Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 So what kind of spekers are you using for your front right and left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panacea Engineering Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Think they have already done it with a few extra Bells and Whistles................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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