Audiophile Challenge

[zepper]

Hi All,
I am new here, and admittedly not an audiophile. So I appreciate any suggestions you have.

Here is the situation:
-Complete Remodel of a 100 yr old house with good bones.
-5 or 5.1 Home theater system (60% movies, 40% music, 0% TV) in the living room of the floor plan attached.
-Walls are open down to the studs, install should be a breeze.

Here is the challenge:
-Speaker only budget of $650 (i am looking at the inwall 6.5" or 8" Polks with 1" tweets on newegg.com and the 6.5" or 8" in ceilings for rear surround, a $170 infinity center channel with a 3/4" tweet and 5.25" mids) on crutchfield, and I don't know what for a sub--if we need a sub)
-All speakers must be in wall/ceiling/floor (this is a girl-fiend mandate)
-Sub woofer placement, there is waynes coat (wood paneling) along the bottom 3 feet of wall and I don't know that an in wall sub will fit in the 10.5" wide panel.
-There is a large (13"x17"x how ever deep it needs to be) heating grate in the floor. We are installing radiant heat so we won't be using this space for heating and so it could be used to hide a sub. Is it a problem that it is in the middle of the room?
-The whole living room opens up into the kitchen as you can see so that probably will affect the acoustics.


Some things about us, like I said earlier we are not audiophiles so even a budget system will sound amazing to us. We don't like a lot of bass (maybe we don't even need a sub with 4 8" woofs and two 5.25" mids??) Also there will be an apartment built below this room so we don't want the bass to be earth shattering and for the budget we are working with it probably won't be.
I trust the name brand Polks but if there is a "generic" complete in wall/in ceiling set up with every thing we need that you Audiophiles like and trust that might be fine too.

Thank you in advance for your help and I'll be here if you have any questions about the space or my horrible not -to -scale drawing.

 

[just-some-guy]

UMMM. how bout some REAL pics ?

 

[zepper]

Ok real pics will be coming tomorrow.

I was hoping to avoid exposing y'all to the construction site mess I am living in right now.

But yes, I'll take some pics for you tomorrow.

 

[Jack Hammer]

A few things to consider while you're still looking around. Look at centers that match your mains (same speaker or designed to work together). You don't have to be an audiophile to notice mismatched speakers sounding and/or performing poorly. A small subwoofer, like an 8" even on a low setting, can make a huge improvement in your overall enjoyment without angering the neighbors. Just because you have one doesn't mean it has to be set to earth shaking levels (though that is rather fun too ). A sub will allow you to hear frequencies that smaller speakers are unable to produce.

 

[zepper]

Pictures

Thank you JackHammer.
So I think i'll take your advice on the sub. We can build a box for a small 8" powered sub in the floor grate (photo shown) Would I point the sub up or toward a floor joice or would I get a sub that pushes out the bottom?

So in the pix, the shelves of the corner cabinet are coming out and that is where the front left inwall will go.
Do you think that the infinity center channel (ERS HV250) with the 3/4" tweeter and the dual 5" woofers will work ok with the Polk RC85i with the 1" tweeters and 8" mids (front LH & RH) and the rear in ceiling RC80's with the 8" mids and 1" tweeters?
The ceiling is 9' 5" and the RC80i's would go in the back corner of the vaulted ceiling.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x33/zanehalvorsen/LivingRoomAudio007.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x33/zanehalvorsen/LivingRoomAudio008.jpg

 

[zepper]

I think for space reasons a couple of the photolinks didn't open. So if you just click the links....

 

[zepper]

Still need a Sub Woofer Answer

Ok so I decided to go with the Polk RC85i for front LH RH and Center and the RC80i in ceiling for the rear surrounds.

I still need an answer to the sub woofer question in the last post. Can a standard powered sub be put in a box in the floor that is open on the top. If so which direction should it point if it is front firing? Or is bottom firing a better option.

Thanks.

 

[just-some-guy]

i say = put in the 5 speakers first. see how you like it. if you feel you want a sub, buy one that will fit in the grate. set it on the floor and try it out. if you want to keep it, put it in the grate facing up.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I'm glad to hear you went with speakers that should timbre match with each other. I'm really not sure how a sub would sound mounted in the floor like you mention. I think it would far less than ideal but sometimes you have to try things to see how they work out. For now try listening with just the speakers and see how you like it. I misread your earlier post to say the speakers you were getting had a 6" woofer not an 8" woofer. I still prefer a subwoofer but with the 8" inch woofers in your speaker you may find you are happy enough with the sound they deliver (and honestly that's what most important). You can always play with and add a sub at a later date.

 

[westcott]

This is a difficult room to sort out.

Acoustically, the best solution would be to have the display and front speakers on the short wall, opposite the kitchen. This has the added benefit of allowing your guests in the kitchen to enjoy your system from the island too.

In wall speakers should be a last resort. They will not sound as good as cabinet speakers and prevent you from doing any speaker adjustments to improve room interactions. The key to a good sound system is speaker placement. You just don't throw them in the room and not test how they interact. They should be moved around the room until a flat frequency response is achieved.

Seating position will be a challenge if you do as I recommend because one should avoid sitting against a wall or in the center of the room. The ideal seating distance is about 2/3 back from the display.

My best advice is to not rush into this. Do some research and take your time. A well set up system will provide a greater return on your investment. Audio is a priority so looks should take a back seat if you want to do it right.

P.S. Do not underestimate the importance of a subwoofer and its placement. Its placement is the most critical when setting up a system because it has the most impact on the rest of the frequency range and room interaction. It should be placed first and a complete test sweep of its frequencies plotted with an SPL meter. Keep moving it around the room until you achieve the flattest response possible. Then worry about the rest of the speakers and their placement. NEVER enclose a subwoofer or any other cabinet speaker.

 

[indulger]

Throw a small mat over the grate, buy an Auralex Subdude, plop down the sub and be done with it.