Thread: building in speakers

thanks bazz - think this will be a LOT of fun - told the wife about it and even she sounded impressed. Am meeting up with a bunch of people tonight and it will certainly be a topic of conversation seeing theyre propeller heads.

love the net

This is a timely thread for me - cool.

As part of our renos, I am hoping to check out some of the software systems (I dont know what they are called) which run on linux (there is a microsoft one) which manage all of your entertainment type stuff.

From what I have been told, we can run our Music, TV and DVD's all through the little box and then manage the locations where the sound is output. I am thinking we will have about 5 separate locations for sound output throughout the house. We will also be embedding speakers the way Trav is talking about so I am keen to see the outcome of that.

A lot more research for me yet though!!

Cheers

namtrak you'll also need to be able to switch multiple inputs I believe. I saw a dapper little compnent for doing that last week when I picked up my Set Top Box. hantrex has it and it allows 7 different components to be fed through it....... Also, there are a number of Intelligent Home Automation systems available - all pretty funky. Hae a look for Intelligent House magazine or similar. (American of course) or Home Theatre Magazine. Finally, there is a chap I know from another forum who has created a complete HT who runs it all from a dedicated Home Theatre PC ..... very cool.


have fun!

Originally Posted by namtrak

This is a timely thread for me - cool.

As part of our renos, I am hoping to check out some of the software systems (I dont know what they are called) which run on linux (there is a microsoft one) which manage all of your entertainment type stuff.

From what I have been told, we can run our Music, TV and DVD's all through the little box and then manage the locations where the sound is output. I am thinking we will have about 5 separate locations for sound output throughout the house. We will also be embedding speakers the way Trav is talking about so I am keen to see the outcome of that.

A lot more research for me yet though!!

Cheers

G'Day namtrak,
probably not what your looking for but just something else that's out their, an intercom system, when we bought this house it was already installed but carcked it recently, so we had a newer version of the same brand installed. If we wanted, we can run auto gate openers, CTV and a few other security gizmos, but the "piped" music and the ability to talk main-to-room or room-to-room is great as the wife and I have disabilities, and a 2 story home we don't have to run up and down stairs or yell at the top of our lungs to be heard over the music of the young ones (teens). The units are small and hardly noticable, the main unit, 5 room stations (we have 6) and a door station + choice of 9 chimes for $3,200. The best thing is you can answer the door from any station, great for nusiance callers, chops 'em on the spot!..
savage(Eric).

Trav if your speakers are front ported the distance to rear wall behind the speaker will not be as critical if your going to run a sub with them, the lower bass response of the front speakers isnt needed with a sub... but it'll pay to run the sub in the same plane as the fronts, and a real sub at that... great woodwork project grab a 12" adire shiva and a Jaycar 350w plate amp build a 100lt+ box and port it accordingly(low tuning). It'll cost you $3K+ to buy the equivelent at a hifi shop...

Trav as someone who has been designing loudspeakers for several years, I don't see any problems with your original plan. You say the speakers are front ported so that pretty much eliminates my biggest concern. A correctly designed speaker cabinet should be entirely self contained and any additional pannelling or walls should be irrelevent providing no sound or porting is being obstructed.

Another thing to consider is speaker position in relation to the characteristics of the way sound travels. In other words, make sure the speakers are firing towards the listener. Where possible, try to put the listener "on- axis". This can sometimes involve angling the side speakers inwards a little, something which could prove difficult with the "snug" fitting wall cavity you mentioned.

To explain, Frequencies below 100Hz radiate in a 180 degree pattern, but with a foreward bias when the speaker is placed in an enclosure. They happily roll along floors and walls and should be audible everywhere in the room (provided the room is not acoustically bad enough to cancel them out, but that's another discussion). However, mid and high frequencies tend to shoot in a beam not unlike a laser. The higher the frequency, the narrower the beam.

So a side speaker in a corner of a room with the speakers shooting perpendicular to the side wall will essentially deliver these frequencies to the back corner of the room instead of to the couch.

Personally I build all my speakers to look like furniture. That way there's no need to hide them. I find it's the best option because you can place them wherever you like, and angle them anywhere you like, without detracting from the appearance of the room. And because I built them myself, they's a great conversation piece.

Originally Posted by namtrak

This is a timely thread for me - cool.

As part of our renos, I am hoping to check out some of the software systems (I dont know what they are called) which run on linux (there is a microsoft one) which manage all of your entertainment type stuff.

Cheers

Don't know about the linux one, but XP Media Centre is OK if pretty much a PITA to configure. Once you've got it set up, though, it runs pretty seamlessly.