Low budget, high WAF IB, in-wall system report

[lcaillo]

This departs from the high SPL, flat to DC approach that many of you guys are into, but the priorities were different. The point here is that without spending too much, and with concealing the speakers as completely as possible, one can get great results.

This started with remodelling a great room that contains our HT system. I had a pair of Thiels and an old ADS PB1500 sub. Not bad stuff but aging. (Loved the Thiels for years). I work as a tech in a custom HT dealer and passed the stage of wanting to tweak with things at home a couple of decades ago. I have run the gamut from esoteric audiophile grade audio to wanting to make the wife happy and getting the room cleaned up. We decided to get rid of the speakers, go with in wall speakers all around, and install IB subs to get rid of the box. Initially, I wanted to put the subs in a spot where I could only fit a couple of 12" drivers. After further analysis, I found that the distance to the mains was nearly identical to an area in the ceiling that sould accomodate 15". My research had found the incredibly cheap Mark5 drivers, however, and the 12" was so cheap that I could not resist trying them. After all, I was going from the PB1500 with 2 10" drivers in a box and SPL is not a high priority.

So I ended up with the Mark5 12" x 2 installed in the ceiling direct firing into the room. Front L&R and rear L&R are MTX HT625W, center channel is the MTX HT2625W. Using a Yamaha RXV620 for the main amplification, a Yamaha RXV900 driving the two subs, with a BFD on the sub channels. The room has a drop in response at 95 Hz that is rather sharp and severe and a peak at 50Hz that is much wider and less severe. Preliminary tweaks on those two points only have yeilded a surprisingly nice sounding system for modest levels. The MTX have a slight tendency to be bright above 10K and a bit of a suck out in the 2.5K region, but overall, they sound surprisingly good for in-wall speakers. Still some tweaking to do on the room and the back wave on the speakers, but for a budget custom, visually appealing, high WAF system, it is rather impressive. The surround effects are seamless, bass is quite nice, even for a former audiophile/Thiel lover who is sensitive to mid bass detail. One could do better than the Mach5 woofers for sure, but they are well made and perform quite adequately, particularly for the cost, which ended up at about $70 including shipping from CA to FL.

I'll post some response data once I get the furniture in, get the wall behind the mains finished, and tweak the room a bit.

[Sonnie]

Sounds interesting Leonard. One reason I built our dedicated HT room was to get all the speakers and equipment out of the great room and no longer have to meet the WAF. This could have been the answer for me had I not convinced the wife to let me have my way with half of our garage. It is definitely a viable option for those needing that WAF. I look forward to seeing some response graphs on that sub too... just out of curiosity.

[lcaillo]

I uploaded two pix to the picture area. The dogs provide dynamic acoustical damping and occasional surround sound enhancements when visitors arive. I also noted in the pix how the a.c. register is quite visible. Why is it that installing speakers that are painted to match the wall get responses like "do we really need all those speakers in the wall?", yet no notice of the ugly vents...also, they are delivering the couch today. Now that costs more than all of the speakers, EQ, and amp put together. Funny how things get prioritized.

After hearing the system, btw, Juli came back and said, OK, it sounds very good, I get it, now. That made the project worthwhile.

Still have not done the rear side of the wall for the fronts, so the front and center speakers are not loaded and acting like IBs also. I am curious to see how that affects the sound when I close it in.

[Sonnie]

Link those pics to this thread...

[lcaillo]

Link to pix
http://www.hometheatershack.com/phot...t=1&ppuser=328

[akitaboy]

I like the looks of your system. It would definitely score WAF points here too.
Great use of your available resources for your dynamic acoustical damping also.
Hope you both get great enjoyment as you listen.

akitaboy

[Exocer]

Nice pics!

[Sonnie]

You have a link in there so you can post the pics in the thread:

[Sonnie]

I bet some folks might think that's nothing more than a pic on the wall if the sound was turned down. Nice work!

[lcaillo]

Sonnie wrote:

You have a link in there so you can post the pics in the thread:

It just annoys me when I am reading a thread and have to scroll past the pix. In this case there won't be much discussion so it doesn't matter much, but I habitually avoid inserting pix in a thread.

[lcaillo]

Sonnie wrote:

I bet some folks might think that's nothing more than a pic on the wall if the sound was turned down. Nice work!

Thanks. Still some tweaking to do and paint touch ups. I'll take some higher res pix after it is done.

[mrogowski]

I agree, very nice work! I really like the way you've laid things out... or in...

Best,
Mark