Will wrapping B&W 683's in a walnut covering affect the overall sound of the speakers

[thesynapse]

Hello all!

I've recently purchase a new home theater system (getting back into audio after a 20 year lapse. Kids are older now)

Here's what I bought

Oppo BDP-105 (using directly as a preamp now)
Emotiva XPA-100's (x 3 for each of the front channels)
Emotiva XPA-200 (rear channels)
B&W 683's for fronts
B&W HTM-61 Center
Polk TSI-300's for the rears (I know- no comments necessary)
SVS PB12+ subwoofer

So here's my dilema. Due to space constraints I would like to have an XPA 100 under each of the front L & R speakers. Rather than have a huge rack of audio equipment (my wife's objections). They will be connected directly to the Oppo via XLR cables on the dedicated analog outs. I make higher end furniture as a hobby and would like to wrap the B&W's in a 3/4" thick walnut surround. It would be glued directly to the existing cabinet and I would replace the existing base with one that would encapsulate the amp underneath with about 2" clearance between it and the speaker. Will this effect the acoustics of the speakers? Any help would be appreciated. I will not do anything to the rear of the speaker.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

PS The front or rear of the speaker will NOT be altered.

 

[Swerd]

… I make higher end furniture as a hobby and would like to wrap the B&W's in a 3/4" thick walnut surround. It would be glued directly to the existing cabinet and I would replace the existing base with one that would encapsulate the amp underneath with about 2" clearance between it and the speaker. Will this effect the acoustics of the speakers? Any help would be appreciated. I will not do anything to the rear of the speaker.

PS The front or rear of the speaker will NOT be altered.

If I understand correctly, you intend to add ¾" walnut to the sides and top of the speakers.

This will effectively make the front of the speaker 1½" wider. This will affect the relative balance between bass and midrange sounds. You would also be changing the relative distance of the tweeter and the side and top edges, and that will have changes in higher frequencies. I can't say for certain how much all this will be affected, but I would avoid doing that, as the original design was based on the original front width and driver locations relative to the cabinet edges.

Instead of ¾" thick panels on the sides and top, how about walnut veneer?

 

[thesynapse]

Thanks for the information!


I would not consider using a veneer because the "black ash" veneer is textured and this texture will eventually bleed through the new finish. I was considering a 3/4" facade because the edge treatment to the front would have matched a set of side tables and cocktail table in the room. I could probably accomplish the same task using 1/4" material though.

 

[slipperybidness]

The amps will be completely enclosed, or mostly enclosed? Be careful, amps need good airflow to avoid over heating.

 

[thesynapse]

The amp will have a 2" head clearance

 

[slipperybidness]

The amp will have a 2" head clearance

That's pushing it. It will probably be OK, but I think I would personally try to give it a little more breathing room.

 

[thesynapse]

Thanks. According to what I've read the Emotiva amps run pretty cool. But you're probably right.

 

[thesynapse]

FYI

The amps will have open air flow from front to back and have a 1" clearance on the sides. Basically a tunnel under the speaker for lack of a better term. In other words, the attachable base that comes with the speaker will be replaced with a solid walnut piece and two sides and another base will be added. I will also affix the original pointed feet to the new bottom. It should turn out pretty nice.

 

[j_garcia]

I really don't see this working without a preamp and I'd discuss with Oppo before trying to use the 105 this way. While it may allow volume control, it is a digital volume control.

As for adding a "secondary" cabinet around the speakers, I would not do it, but that is your call. I'd round the leading edge to the front to minimize the effect of the new panels.

If you want the electronics hidden, then HIDE them in a closet or the back of the room and use IR repeaters or RF. It honestly sounds like fixing something that isn't broken to me.

 

[cpp]

The amps will be completely enclosed, or mostly enclosed? Be careful, amps need good airflow to avoid over heating.

Agree these amps needs room to breath, if there totally encased your going to need fans to move air.


So your going to place a 57 lb speaker ( 8"w x 13" D) dead center on top of a 17" x 19" amp ? your amp only weighs 27 lb. Sure you could stack another amp on top but the feet of the other amp distributes the weight around the supporting edges of the amp, but to place a 57lb speaker dead center even with 2" is going to stress out the amps top cover and that load is going to be on the component boards of the amp. .. rethink ! how about putting the amp behind each speaker

Regarding putting 3/4" wood, well if your a good higher end furniture maker, you should have no problem putting some attractive veneer or maybe build your own speaker cabinet.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Polk TSI-300's for the rears (I know- no comments necessary)

Chris Farley: For the love of god, man!

Oppo BDP-105 (using directly as a preamp now)

Yeah, I don't see this working out. You will need an AVR or pre-pro anyway. The Oppo may be able to adjust the levels by +/-12dB, but that may not be enough and may still be loud and very bad for your speakers.

I say build a high-end cabinet w/ rear ventilation and hide the preamp/amps inside. You can place the cabinet anywhere in the room & run wires to the speakers & sub (wires hidden behind sofas, cabinets, decoys, etc).

 

[fuzz092888]

At least as far as oppo is concerned, I think the digital volume thing is overstated IMHO. I've tried it with my 95 directly driving an amp and it works fine. No harm in contacting oppo though and finding out for sure.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

At least as far as oppo is concerned, I think the digital volume thing is overstated IMHO. I've tried it with my 95 directly driving an amp and it works fine. No harm in contacting oppo though and finding out for sure.

I've never tried w/ my Oppo, but I've tried w/ Sony & it did not work out. So I assumed it would not work w/ the Oppo as well. But it seems the Oppo has enough volume control.

I know my Crown amps have complete volume control as well.

 

[cpp]

At least as far as oppo is concerned, I think the digital volume thing is overstated IMHO. I've tried it with my 95 directly driving an amp and it works fine. No harm in contacting oppo though and finding out for sure.

I tried it, it worked ok, but preferred my pre-amp or a AVR.. I always had this uneasy feeling of the where the OPPO would default to full volume, sending a full output to my speakers. From what I see, whatever the volume setting you last used on the OPPO , when the unit is turned off, that volume setting will be present when the unit is turned back on.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I tried it, it worked ok, but preferred my pre-amp or a AVR.. I always had this uneasy feeling of the where the OPPO would default to full volume, sending a full output to my speakers. From what I see, whatever the volume setting you last used on the OPPO , when the unit is turned off, that volume setting will be present when the unit is turned back on.

What happens if you are at work and your house has a power outage for 8 hrs while you are at work? Will the Oppo reset to 100% volume?

I know that on my Denon, I can unplug it for a week and the volume setting does not change.

 

[cpp]

What happens if you are at work and your house has a power outage for 8 hrs while you are at work? Will the Oppo reset to 100% volume?

.

don't have a clue, but anything that's digital makes me worry., that's why I guess I like old school stuff.

 

[j_garcia]

don't have a clue, but anything that's digital makes me worry., that's why I guess I like old school stuff.

I posted an article not too long ago regarding digital volume control when someone else asked the same question. What I located said that digital volume controls also alter the signal because that is the only way for it to be done in the digital domain. So you as you adjust, you also lose sound quality. Within a few dB of adjustment it probably isn't audible, but when you move to +/-12dB, it will most likely be a problem and sort of defeating the purpose of having a high end player.

 

[fuzz092888]

I read somewhere in either an oppo forum or something like that, that oppo claimed to use a certain algorithm that kept any losses out of the audible range.


Just to be clear I'm not necessarily advocating for doing this, just saying it is possible and when I tried it did not notice any quality loss to my ears. YMMV.

 

[j_garcia]

My Sony players also both had this capability and I've used it previously also when listening with headphones since the amp was off. If I adjusted it all the way (which I think was -10), I did notice what almost sounded like compression sort of like a lesser bitrate MP3. Not as bad as a really bad MP3, though it was there; but that was only on the phones. In the system itself with the amp on, I didn't notice it, but I also wasn't using it to adjust -10dB either. I did this for a while because my Amp One/A did not have a remote. I got tired of that and bought the PM7000 and then the PM7200

 

[slipperybidness]

I read somewhere in either an oppo forum or something like that, that oppo claimed to use a certain algorithm that kept any losses out of the audible range.


Just to be clear I'm not necessarily advocating for doing this, just saying it is possible and when I tried it did not notice any quality loss to my ears. YMMV.

Yup. I have also seen that it can be done in the digi domain without resolution loss. I will try to dig that up, but it might take a while to find it.

However, in general, it does seem that volume control is best left to the analog domain.