Myhamish Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Hi. I'm thinking of a do it yourself centre channel to sonically match up the LaScalas on the front left and right. Has anybody any info on diy parts, suppliers, plans or has anyone done such a project. Thanks. Hamish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Yes Quite a few of us here have built there own centers with great success. In my case, I did not have enough room over or under my screen to do a LAS or Belle for a center. My center is a K77 and K400 including ALK network over the screen and a pair of K22 woofers in Heresy cabinets under the screen. It works great. Got the K77 and K22s from the Heritage vampires on Ebay. The Heresy cabs I got from a vampire, only he did not post them becasue they were damaged. After seening all his Heresy parts, I emailed him asking about cabinets. He sent pics and we negociated a price. The K400 and K55 were the hardest to find, so I posted here to see if anybody had any. Within days, I had my K400 from a fellow member here. I had ALK build me a matching set of 3 crossovers for my entire front. Lots of helpfull people here to make your project an enjoyable success. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 I just posted parts under Odds & Mods, Half price sale. Also do a search, there are many post on matching center channel speaker mods and ideas. Nothing sounds better then a timbre matched system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 I'm also planning a centre... and just bought another set of Heresy for that purpose. I still haven't decided if i'll just use a complete Heresy simply inverted, or if i'll DIY a more horizontal box. I found that it is often cheaper to buy a complete set instead of the "vampire ebay" parts. I will use one for a front centre and the other for a rear centre. Unfortunately my inexpensive set also had a blown woofer... ... but i guess there are no free rides... Apart from the efficiency, I think the heresy would be a great match to the Lascalas as they both roll off pretty early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diggs Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Didn't STL make a 4.2 or 5.2 custom center? Do a search for his name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 I haven't made it yet but will bump up my priority to do that if someone shows some interest in buying it! I bought the lone KG4.2 on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 The attached photo is a custom built Heresy based center to match my LaScala mains. The cabinet size is an exact match for the LaScala tweeter and mid section. It is built to provide an F3 of 53 Hz using Focal woofers. I built the crossover to match the modified type A's in my LaScalas using Solen inductors and Hovland caps. The sound matches the LaScala's seamlessly. The rotated mid and tweeter work very well in my HT room configuration, but would need to be evaluated for each specific case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 A second photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOOTERDOG Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 See my thread" Questions for Trey Cannon in the Technical Question portion. I am in the middle of building a custom center for my HT. I have a pair of La Scala's I am timbre matching. I have already bought my drivers and now I'm in the cabinet construction phase. I am using 2-Klipsch KV1089 10" woofers out of an RF7, the midrange horn aout of a KLF30 and a EV T35 (k77)horn tweeter. I have learned so much about speaker building since I started this project. Also do a search on the forum for center channels and you will find more threads on this. Also look in the home theater section on Pics Of my Center Cabinet Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 I got lucky I was able to lay a La Scala on its side and place my 43" Sony TV on top of it. Works very well, better than the KV-4 I was using previously. I bought the single La Scala for $300, I just rewired all the drivers and crossover leads with 10 GA and 12 GA wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 I have done the same as several, with my setup as a K77 tweeter, K55 w/700 horn, E network and 2 fostex woofers - all to match my all around Heresy. Works very nicely. Pics can be found in several places (I am not on my primary puter at the moment)in forum. I think the Scooterdog thread has some, other wise just search my handle and look for titles like 'modified center xxx' and you should find some. I cannot say enough about the overall improvement. I got my stuff off Ebay and private transactions. I always bought stuff in pairs, but every spare item is now in the hands of some other fellow Klipscher. I simply suggest you go for it. The low freqs are the hardest to match exactly, but are the less noticable to the ear. matching high and mid freqs from the center to your heritage config is extraordinarily pleasing and will impress your friends. Using a good sub will really make the LF compromises seem trivial... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclonecj Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 I guess its my turn. I also used Heresy parts, including the original crossover. The 2 woofers are infinity 8". It timber matches my Belle fronts & Heresy rears perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 brother: that is a nice "factory" looking centre... which focal drivers did you end up using in it? I your x-over a fully custom design, or just uses a standard (modified Lascala?) layout? hwatkins: I like the fact that you used the heresy x-over (yeah, i'm lazy ) but which Fostex woofers did you choose? parallel or series? I saw djk posted some T/S parameters for the K-22 in another forum... are these the values you aimed for? thanks guys... Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digjr Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Just another idea of a center setup (don't pay any attention to the subs, I am now using an Eminence lab II 12" in a 3.02 ft box-works great! and it's in the knee wall behind the TV) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhornKerry Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Magnetically shielded my Cornwall, has a Sony WEGA 32" on top of it. See my post titled "Magnet shield for Cornwall speaker", under Home Theater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Here is a dumb question for you guys... but is shielding required for a RPTV or just a CRT? I realise that a the projector for the RPTV is near the bottom but i'm really not sure on how it is affected by strong magnetic fields such as: will it be affected by the left and right mains speakers or a centre sub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclonecj Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 ---------------- On 5/15/2003 3:54:17 PM formica wrote: is shielding required for a RPTV or just a CRT? ---------------- Not if you put the speaker on top. My custom was warping the picture when I set it down on the floor in front, near the CRT's. On top, it is too far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Rob, The woofers are VB 4212 (7") by Focal. The crossover is a Type "E" that came with the Heresy I bought; I just gutted the components and replaced the motor caps and iron core inductor with Solen and Hovland (for the tweeter) caps and an air core Solen inductor for the low pass. This modification parallels what I had previously done for the LaScala crossovers and provided an amazing similarity to the LaScala mid and tweeter, though that was expected since the drivers are all the same vintage. I kept the same crossover points as the Heresy, but (obviously) had to change the component values as required to match the new woofer characteristics. I am quite pleased with the results. My center is on top of my RPTV and does not cause any distortion. It is too far away from the projectors to have any effect. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolygums Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Great stuff abdout the centers in this post. I am in contact with Chris Brunhaver at Adire Audio about building subwoofers and also a "Large Center Channel" for my Klipsch MCM 1900s. They have some good plans and kits. I find him very knowledgeable and hope to arrive at some conclusions soon. He seems to understand the Klipsch speakers and has some good ideas about compatible new drivers and horns. I have been bitten by the DIY bug and am eager to start building. I already have three sheets of Baltic Birch. . . . . I wonder if I can build a subwoofer out of an old refrigerator, guess I could have some cool tunes. :>) Hmmmm Bill ATlanta GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Hello Formica - Yes, I used an unmodified Type E Xover. Klipsch kindly provided the T/S (I believe it is what djk posted)of the K22 and I went on a little bit of search for a near match. I used a couple of programs to measure various speakers and then used my box size as a comparative with the standard Heresy woofer and Heresy box size. There were a couple of mid woofers that got close enough, so I started monitoring the used market. I ended up with the Fostex 168 Sigma. They are in parallel and are very close to the original efficiency (my target) of the K22. All is good except, with my self imposed box size, I get a bit of a hump at 120hz that is obviously different than the Heresy. Otherwise, the box is tuned to support the rolloff to the sub at about 80hz (this is to say I tuned the box to 60hz). The hump is probably due to the woofers being spaced for an 87hz tuned box, but you have to make some compromises somewhere along the way... BTW - I paid extra for full range speakers, but it pays off in the lack of struggle at the Freqs I need - very smooth roll to the mid freqs. The fostex woofers are very pleasing. The specific speaker also had a high enough QTS to keep me from having to worry too much about the need for horn loading (that may not be the case with the newer 168E Sigma). My newest speakers downstairs I built with Eminence 12 inchers and if I had the space I would have loved to use them - really nice woofers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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