speakers in cabinet - boundary issues

[kjgarrison]

Hi all.

I need to put front speakers; LCR inside an existing cabinet. This is an "entertainment center" that appears to have had no coherent thinking in it's design with regards to acoustics. Free standing speakers are not a possibility. Space in front of cabinet is walked through.

I have seen something about "boundary" problems, where the edges and actuall walls, floor, and ceilings of the space inside the cabinet that the speakers sit in create resonance problems. If the actual dimensions are needed to answer these questions, then I'll provide them.

What is the best way to overcome bad acoustical performance in this situation? I've seen two ideas about doing this. Both involve acoustical "treatments" inside the cabinet around and behind the speaker.

One involves removing the doors in front of the (bookshelf) speakers and covering the opening with acoustic fabric.

The other involves making the front of the cabinet equivalent to a wall (by cutting a hole in the existing door and building up all around and behind to solidify the mounting) and using in-wall speakers.

Are these the only two options that still involve using the cabinet? Is one superior to the other?

If bookshelf speakers are an option I assume they need to not be rear ported.

[salvasol]

What about a couple of picture of your entertainment center and make and model of your speakers??? ... that way the experts can see what you have and make suggestions

If you don't care much about the performance/sound of your speakers you can use them inside the entertainment center , better if the back and front is open ... they need to be aligned with the front edge to avoid reflections.

[kjgarrison]

salvasol wrote:

What about a couple of picture of your entertainment center and make and model of your speakers??? ... that way the experts can see what you have and make suggestions

If you don't care much about the performance/sound of your speakers you can use them inside the entertainment center , better if the back and front is open ... they need to be aligned with the front edge to avoid reflections.

Sorry it took so long for the pics. Had upload issues with local telco

Open doors lower left, proposed location of Left speaker. Question remains: beef up "door" and use in-walls OR use bookshelf behind speaker fabric. And for both fill the void up with acoustic treatments (more questions on that later ... lol)

[Currently, BTW, the top left and right black areas are where speakers already are. And the bottom middle open area is where previous owner had center speaker. Ugh!]

[nova]

If you do not yet have speakers,...the best option, to get the best results, is to get speakers that are designed for this type of installation. Two good options for this are;

RBH SI-770
PSB in-cabinet

I'm sure you can get decent results any number of other ways, but,.....

[kjgarrison]

nova wrote:

If you do not yet have speakers,...the best option, to get the best results, is to get speakers that are designed for this type of installation. Two good options for this are;

RBH SI-770
PSB in-cabinet

I'm sure you can get decent results any number of other ways, but,.....

For some reason this reply never got to my email. Either that or I missed it.

In any case, THANK YOU VERY MUCH

[kjgarrison]

nova wrote:

If you do not yet have speakers,...the best option, to get the best results, is to get speakers that are designed for this type of installation. Two good options for this are;

RBH SI-770
PSB in-cabinet

I'm sure you can get decent results any number of other ways, but,.....

Either one of those would seem to be perfect for my needs. Except for the price. Is there anything a little more affordable?