2. speakers
  3. 151498-134953

Need Perfect Speakers for Acoustically Hostile Placement

Seeking speaker recommendation. Here is the situation:

 

Cabinetry in our kitchen has two cabinets for speakers. (See photo.) This is next to the ceiling,...about 7-8' off the ground. For the last 8 years, these have had a pair of B&W 705 speakers, wired to a multi-channel amp pushing about 60w. And it has sounded terrible.

 

There are several issues which, I believe, make this an especially "hostile" environment for speakers:

  • No fixed listening position. It is a kitchen. We are all over the place.
  • Next to ceiling...I imagine this creates unhealthy reflections
  • Inside a box. Ugh. It is what it is. Should this disqualify any rear-ported designs?

 

New system:

  • New amp will deliver 140wpc of class A/B power
  • Rebuilt "grills" to allow much more open space
  • I may treat the inside of the cabinetry with absorptive material (should I?)
  • Bookshelf speakers will lay on their side, likely on dampening foam like Auralex Mopads that will reduce vibration and allow some downward tilt

 

Now I need to choose speakers. Any suggestions...?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance.  


128x128temporal_dissident
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,787 posts
 
Most centers are diapolito designs which will not work.

Most inwalls are designed for free air space of a stud wall.

A box speaker therfore is better.

Also Kef Ref 1 has spectacular bass obviating need for a sub.

Trudat we sell over 60 lines of product we know what to recomend. Would not use a center channel for this app.
mrdecibel
3,063 posts
 
Klipsch RP 600 M would work well, even with the rear port. No need to spend thousands...ridiculous, if you ask me, considering the location and acoustics. I did design and install for years, and found better ways to spend my clients monies.
tomaswv
221 posts
 
Here’s what I did in my hostile environment (not my main system but to provide sound for a tv). In this case putting two speakers inside a Salamander cabinet with a shelf designed for a sound bar. I have a 2.1 system for television sound, driven by a Marantz receiver SR5010. I put in two Def Tech Monitors—sounded boxy. I lined the shelf with sound absorbing foam and added speaker fluff behind that—improved a bit. I had these monitors on their sides so the dispersion pattern was all screwed up. Then it hit me—center speakers are designed for horizontal placement. I took out the monitors.  I had a def tech center, added another and put them in as L and R. Big improvement in sound. 
andy2
1,551 posts
 
Then it hit me—center speakers are designed for horizontal placement.
Actually center speakers are often designed with horizontal orientation is purely for cosmetic reason NOT for acoustic reason.
audiokinesis
2,737 posts
 
Audiotroy wrote: " The Uni Q driver allows for a very wide soundstage and is also a very coherent sounding driver, we would recommend that you install a small wooden lip made by using a 1 * 2 on the front bottom of the cabinet which will keep the speakers from sliding out and then use one of two sets of isoacoustics footers on the back of the speakers or use another 2 * 4 with a set of isoacoustics footers on the rear to raise up the back of the cabinet and angle it down, the front lip 1 * 2 is being used to secure the speaker even with the angle and you would be good to go. "

This all makes sense to me. A coaxial driver has far more uniform horizontal off-axis response than a sideways MTM center channel speaker (which is actually rather poor in that respect), plus it is fairly uniform in the vertical plane. And I like your idea of angling the speakers downwards a bit while keeping them stable.

Duke
More to discover