jhawk92 Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hi all. It's been a while since I've been on the boards, but life has been very busy and very good as of late. Long story short, we (wife and I) quit our jobs in CT, packed up the house and moved to CO. I started a job with Lockheed Martin, we bought a house, and had a baby, so things have been pretty hectic around. The new house has an unfinished basement, which I hope to finish over the summer. One part will become a dedicated HT room, which I am very excited about. Right now I have Chorus IIs/Academy across the front, which is great, can't complain. But I have this extra pair of Chorus IIs so I'm thinking about using one as a center. I'm thinking of hanging it from the ceiling, but it would have to be horizontal, as I don't have room for a vertical (upside down) configuration. Has anyone tried listening to a Chorus on its side? I guess it would be kinda like the old vertical horn Cornwall, which everyone seems to love. I know there are a few folks who have modified centers to have the horns horizontal (HornEd with his KLF-30(?) and jehrom with a modified Quartet), but does anyone have experience with a Quartet/Forte/Chorus unmodified on its side? This is not a big rush to figure something out as I am trying to gather all my ideas for the HT together. I'm not opposed to modifying the Chorus but I know that would take some effort, so maybe just laying it sideways wouldn't be too bad. Thanks for the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 What's up JHawk! I think a Chorus II would work fine laying on its side. Just allow room in the back for the passive radiator to function correctly. I use a La Scala on its side and I love it (Under the TV). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted January 22, 2004 Author Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hey Frzin! All in all, things are good. Been a while since I have been on the boards. Here is my 2-step plan. I want to stick with the Academy for now, since the basement is unfinished, and I want to really play around with placements. I currently have the Academy on a "VCR" shelf on top of my TV, angled to direct the dialog to the listening position. It works fine, but the weight of the Academy has already cracked one shelf (actually the threaded feet that support the shelf on the TV) and I don't know how much longer this one will last. I'm thinking of rigging a shelf from the ceiling. I have the "quiet floor" remanufactured "I-beams" as joists and they are pretty sturdy. The fireplace in the FR is directly above the TV/Center location, so there are lots of places to attach wire/chain/rope, etc to. I'm thinking of hanging the Academy for a while, see how it does, then maybe graduate to the Chorus II (with the base removed) once the basement is finished. I'd rather not drill into either speaker to mount hardware, so I'm thinking get a good MDF shelf to support the speaker, with a small "lip" to keep the speaker from sliding off, since I'll want to tilt the speaker to the listening area. Any ideas what would be the best material for hanging the system? Chain, wire, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hey Rob - Good to see our Forum rocket scientist posting again. The key to any good center is the midrange. The biggest problem with the extended Heritage family is the rear pasive woofer. Unless you can floor stand the speaker, it is very difficult to mount over your TV to perform properly. What I would do is keep the horn squawker and tweeter of the Chorus and replace the woofers with a pair of 12" woofer and port the cabinet. Since the Chorus is out of production, I bet Trey would give you a hand designing this. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hey Robb - I hung a shelf for my Forte on wire rope from Home Depot, using wire clamps to secure it looped through threaded eye-bolts. I forget what strength it is, but it was something like 100 lbs and I have one on each of 4 corners so I figured I'd be safe. With a Chorus, though, I might consider bigger rope or even small chain (you can spray paint it black!). I installed turnbuckles in the rear suspension to allow me to tilt the shelf forward. It has a small lip all the way around it to keep the speaker on the shelf. Since my Forte is vertical (and inverted), I also attached short pieces of wire rope to the rear screws from the removed base (which are now on the top of the speaker in its inverted state) and then fastened them to the back wall to keep the Forte from tumbling off the shelf. The shelf is 3/4" MDF. All this will go away when I go "front projector" when I'll just sit the Forte on the floor beneath the screen. Enjoy your new home in the Rockies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted January 22, 2004 Author Share Posted January 22, 2004 JM- An interesting idea, but that would make a huge center channel...2x12" woofers?? Yikes. I'll have to contemplate that idea though. Can you fill me in a bit more on what I'd lose with a stock Chorus II by just hanging it and not having it coupled to the floor? DD- Yeah, I'd rather go with a front projector too, but I don't know if that would work in the room I have. I need to wander around to the local HT installers and see what they recommend for the video portion. While I don't want to pit two great forum members against each other, do you have any "lost sound" with your upside down Forte? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Since you seem intent on retiring the Academy, how about a Modified Malotky -- take the center, tweeter, and x-overs from the extra Chorus, take the woofers from the Academy, and whip out an MDF box of the same volume as the Academy but proportioned to fit all the Chorusy bits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I have hung speakers a couple of times. While I can't address the effectiveness of the passive without the usual proximity of the floor, I will suggest my favorite: I used Eyebolts (recess the bottom to hide the nut)through a good quality veneered plywood (this was so the bottom could be finished - something you may not need) and hung with sturdy chain (again in my applications it was a decent speaker wire hiding scheme). To hold the speaker in place, hide the eyebolts, and simply for looks, I then trimmed the platform in solid wood that matched the veneer. I stain to my liking. I finish to match. After finish is cured I suggest attaching many pieces of felt to the platform to both save the speaker finish and reduce vibration. If you carefully make sure your ceiling mounts are about two inches outside of each corner of the platform it should be stable without resorting to higher level geometry. This platform tact also works darn well for a turntable (especially if you lived in the same poorly constructed or aging places I did that made walking and turntables not get along). Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hello Rob and welcome back! Two words: threaded rod. Get them at the Depot along with some MDF. Double thickness on the MDF shelves (glued/screwed). Got a drill guide? Drill the holes at 90 degrees and also about a 30 degree angle in the MDF. Built in angle adjustment. Drill thru the 'I' joist lip, using flatwashers and nuts. Spray paint black. Cheap temporary fix. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Rob - Gosh, I never noticed any major dropout, but I suppose there might be some loss of the 80-700hz region (as that is what is handled by the Forte's woofer - I have mine set to small) with it being up in the air. Sometime when I have nothing better to do (read "never") I'll run a frequency sweep on the center channel and see if there is a noticeable fallout. DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted January 23, 2004 Author Share Posted January 23, 2004 Heretic- I'm not totally sold on retiring the Academy, as it's a great center channel. I think it will all depend on how I finish the basement and what sort of big screen I can use there. If I go front projection, then I'll probably just stand a Chorus II in the center and call it good. Otherwise, I may be needing to hang things from the ceiling. But your idea of a really modified Academy is very intriguing! I guess I'm thinking a bit ahead to when I get a DVD-A/SACD player. The Academy does great for movies, but it has limitations in 5-ch stereo. GaryMD and I played around a bit with his Cornwall/Academy and we made that assessment. I guess the Chorus IIs, when adjusted correctly, almost make their own phantom center, which helps the Academy. hwatkins/T2K Thanks for some good ideas. I'll certainly play around with these ideas some. Not sure what will be best, but I have some time to work on ideas. Doug- Yeah, I know what you mean. But it would be interesting to see if that sweep shows anything. Are your L/R main Chorus set to large? By setting the center to small, I guess you pretty much relieve the speaker of the heavy bass requirements. That's how the Academy is now, so maybe I'm getting too worked up over this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Hi Rob, I'm glad to hear the Academy mates up well with the Chorus II's since I have a set due to arrive Monday. eBay can be a great place. I'd love to see you post some pics of whatever you finally land on for this -- it sounds like a hugely fun project. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Rob - My Chorus are set to large, but the signal passes through the crossover of my SVS sub on its way to the Chorus, where I have the crossover set at around 70-80hz. I haven't had time to play with that crossover setting with a meter to see where the best fit is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted January 23, 2004 Author Share Posted January 23, 2004 Ed- Can do. Want to get my K-horns up and running first, then spend some quality time working on the HT. The basement is unfinished, with concrete walls, so I'm sure I won't be getting great response down there, but at least I'll be able to play with ideas before finishing it. I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions when the construction gets going. Congrats on your Chorus II purchase. They are quite spectacular speakers, you'll be pleased. Doug- So you have line outs going from your SVS to the Chorus? I have all speakers/SVS hooked direct to the AVR, so I'm using the internal x-over for that. So many choices to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Yes, Rob. For 2 reasons. 1) I am sharing my SVS/mains between 2 different amps, and one does not have a sub out on it (I guess they hadn't thought of that in 1959). 2) I don't have variable crossover settings in my Denon AVR, so the SVS crossover lets me dial in whatever I want (which I haven't played with yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted January 24, 2004 Author Share Posted January 24, 2004 Ah, guess that makes sense now. I didn't realize how things were running on your rig. I take it the 1959 piece is the Fisher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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