Custom Cabinet

[tiggere]

So I am having a custom cabinet built and before the plans are finalized I would like some input.

My one concern is the opening for the subs in the picture below. Do they need to sit all the way down on the floor or will they be OK sitting inside the cabinet space? I am not sure how the bass will affect the objects differently on the shelves above if it was in the cabinet or isolated from the cabinet. Either way will not make much difference in the build but needs to be accounted for. Thoughts?

 

[ski2xblack]

The thing I see that is of greater concern are the enclosed shelves the speakers will be in. (I could be wrong, that is a 2d rendering after all. If the surface the speakers are on protrudes enough to get them out of the recessed space, you can probably disregard what I said.) Enclosed shelves or recesses are a recipe for diffraction, and you will hear it. The subs, while their placement may not be optimal, will probably be ok.

 

[TLS Guy]

Unless you can DIY, those solutions are a terrible idea.

The center speaker in that resonant space will have very poor speech clarity.

The big problem is that speakers are designed to be in free space. There is a drop off in response when the speaker transitions from half space to full space radiator. When the speaker is not in free space it is over corrected. This is called baffle step compensation.

So if you are going to do that, then you really need to be able to design and build your speaker and voice it the space and location.

I do have a small system downstairs that is a cabinet type situation.

Notice there is no center channel. The left and right speakers fill almost the entire space in which they reside. There are books to the inside of each speaker. The case is set into the wall under a stair case. I designed and built the speakers and voice them to space and location.

The usual outcome of these type of situations is not good.

The sub is the least of your problems.

My subs are not in the cabinet.

Even though this is a very pleasant system, I would only do this for a secondary system.

You are much better off just having the electronics in a cabinet with enough ventilation, and having good looking free standing speakers.

And that is another issue, cabinets can be real destroyers of electronics due to inadequate ventilation.

 

[tiggere]

*Note-
speakers actually sit in front of the shelves and there is 15" of space behind them...they do sit in open space...the electronics are all on a wide open shelf with plenty of ventilation...the tv "compartment" is only about 4" deep with a 20" shelf for where the tv/center channel sits...and the box over the center is just a three sided structure to give it clearance over the speaker and is only about 8" deep...plenty of room behind the center (which will be more towards the front of the shelf) just hate the look of the tv sitting on the center...

 

[TLS Guy]

*Note-
speakers actually sit in front of the shelves and there is 15" of space behind them...they do sit in open space...the electronics are all on a wide open shelf with plenty of ventilation...the tv "compartment" is only about 4" deep with a 20" shelf for where the tv/center channel sits...and the box over the center is just a three sided structure to give it clearance over the speaker and is only about 8" deep...plenty of room behind the center (which will be more towards the front of the shelf) just hate the look of the tv sitting on the center...

The speakers will still be sitting in resonant cavities unless you fill them tightly with books.

 

[tiggere]

This is a cut section...and the shelves will be full of books...still a bad idea?

 

[TLS Guy]

This is a cut section...and the shelves will be full of books

View attachment 22348

You have to understand that a speaker radiates as much sound rear as forward at the frequencies that cabinet will resonate. The shelves will need filling with books to obliterate the spaces behind.

I don't understand the "Face of Fireplace" notation. What is that about? Fireplaces anywhere near electronics are really bad news.

 

[tiggere]

these are built-in bookshelves beside an existing fireplace...the fireplace is being closed off and will not be in use...here is a pic of what is there now...the new built-ins will be 4" past the face of the fireplace where the existing picture shows it almost flush...and the center cabinet that has the tv on it will go in front of where the fireplace used to be...

 

[TLS Guy]

these are built-in bookshelves beside an existing fireplace...the fireplace is being closed off and will not be in use...here is a pic of what is there now...the new built-ins will be 4" past the face of the fireplace where the existing picture shows it almost flush...and the center cabinet that has the tv on it will go in front of where the fireplace used to be...


View attachment 22349

I guess you are all set.

That is nice brick on that fireplace and a pity to loose it. That brick is very reminiscent of bricks made from clay in the Medway river area of Kent in the SE of England.

Here is an old farmstead fireplace from a Kent farmhouse.

This is as close as I could get in Minnesota.

 

[tiggere]

That is a beautiful wood stove in the farmstead photo...is that a blower motor in the bottom pic above the fireplace?...have you looked at the old school Elm stoves?...if not a google search is in order...ours is an old Buck stove from the 70's that was installed as a slammer...the chimney is not parged and to make into a working fireplace was going to cost a lot of money as well...our winters are super mild compared to yours so it is really a fluff item to have a fireplace in a house down here...we do like the brick and can always keep it as the backsplash to the tv area...

 

[DigitalDawn]

What you want to do is the following. Purchase inwall speakers that are designed to be flush-mounted. Because in-wall's are shallow, you will need to fill the space behind the speakers with batting or foam to deaden the space. If possible, redesign the cabinet to place the center channel in a vertical position. Even though all MTM speakers can be placed horizontally, they always sound better vertically. https://www.triadspeakers.com/products/home-cinema/iw-bronze4-lcr/

As far as the subs go, cut out the bottom of the cabinet and place them on the floor.

 

[TLS Guy]

That is a beautiful wood stove in the farmstead photo...is that a blower motor in the bottom pic above the fireplace?...have you looked at the old school Elm stoves?...if not a google search is in order...ours is an old Buck stove from the 70's that was installed as a slammer...the chimney is not parged and to make into a working fireplace was going to cost a lot of money as well...our winters are super mild compared to yours so it is really a fluff item to have a fireplace in a house down here...we do like the brick and can always keep it as the backsplash to the tv area...

There are lots of fireplaces in Kent like the one in the top photo, that I grabbed off the net.

The lower picture is my fireplace here at Benedict. There is no blower motor. I think what you are looking at is an antique spring wound clock!

The fireplace is a Wilkening made a about 4 to 5 miles from here. These are fantastic fireplaces. They are economical on wood and give a prodigious heat. That one is 70% efficient. We keep it in 24/7 once the temperature stays below the freezing point. Unless it is below freezing it over heats the house. The heat percolates up through the house. It almost always stays on all night. We burn 4.5 to 5 cords of wood a winter.

Gary Wilkening's fireplaces are just what is required for the Minnesota North country. His latest models are over 80% efficient.

The other fireplace on the main level is propane.

The rest of the heat is 100,000 BTU propane furnace and the propane 33,000 BTU fireplace you can see to the left of the wood burning fireplace there is 100 ft of baseboard heat on off peak electric heat. That is 25 KW, with individual close tolerance thermostats in each room.
When electricity is cheaper I use that as the main source, but it need back up from gas. Since propane is cheapest at the moment I use that mostly.

 

[tiggere]

Well it took long enough but I finally got the cabinet built...had to do it myself as the cost to have someone else do it was stupid expensive...this was the test fit...it will be painted tomorrow and then get the final base trim...the TV will be wall mounted and will cover the pink foam board...