Looking for Help

[Dustin L]

Im new to the home theater scene, mainly im a car audio person, but im building a 5.1 onto a 7.1 (4 towers, center, 2 subs, and bass shakers all around) for a late christmas present and was looking to model after the polk audio monitor 70 towers:

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/93008/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#tabs

possibly loading it with:

http://www.*****************/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-308

and

http://www.*****************/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=270-035

i was just wondering on maybe some box specs, including port diameter/length, and a way to set each of these up to run off a single channel, i have an idea, i just want to double check with people that know what their doing, im also probably going to set up a pair of JL 12s in their, and was wondering would a single box for the 2 or 2 small boxes beside the 2 front towers

what kind of amp/crossovers should i run and how would i wire all of this, and for the other 2 channels on the reciever i was going to hook up an amp going to bass shakers going to the seat and back rest on a 2 seat couch, 3 seat couch, and 2 chairs, so a total of 7 pairs of shakers running potentially at 50 watts a piece

on the speakers it would be nice to run somewhere around 60 watts per speaker including the tweeter

the center channel was going to be of the same speakers with only 2 6-1/2 instead of 4

these dont have to model after the monitor 70s but that was generally what i was looking for and didnt really want to put out 400 per speaker, if i can keep these under 250 per tower, ill be perfectly happy with that

any help would be greatly appreciated

any other questions on the setup in my mind please feel free to ask

 

[Dustin L]

no help or no tower suggestions? i may have figured everything out that i need to figure out, but i would really like to know from people that have done this sort of stuff before

if i were to put approx 50 watts to each speaker, what kind of amp would i get and how would i wire the 3-way, and how would i wire an amp to power 4 sets of bass shakers, and another amp to power 3 sets, putting about 50 watts into each shaker

im thinking some good dimensions for the tower would be approx 4 foot tall, 6-8 inches deep, and 8 inches wide, tuned to 100 hz with a 4 inch port, and as for the center channel, im either going to use the same design as the towers or use the cynosure off of parts express

any help is much appreciated

 

[j_garcia]

That design is going to most likely involve a complicated crossover and a lot of testing with the right driver selection. Not a good idea for a first project, IMO. What's your price range to build?

 

[droeses58]

That design is going to most likely involve a complicated crossover and a lot of testing with the right driver selection. Not a good idea for a first project, IMO. What's your price range to build?

Agreed.

I would look at some of the "projects" people have submitted to parts express and try one of those out first, I really wish I had done that, it would have saved alot of headaches.

If you don't what to copy someone else's design I would suggest you download Winisd for the proper box sizes needed for your particular drivers. And also join a diy forum or two and ask lots of questions.

Speaker building is far more difficult then you may think, it's not just a matter of picking any two or three drivers and having at it, you have to make sure the drivers "compliment" each other or you'll have a world of hurt trying to make your crossovers work.

I'm not trying to discourage you from trying diy speakers, but I highly recommend copying a proven design first.

Though I'm strictly a novice, I'll help out if I can, just pm me.

 

[Dustin L]

ive looked on parts express, i like some of their designs, and dont know how they sound, im lookin for something thatll sound incredible but be able to shake my house *hence the bass shakers* and i plan on using much bass in this system, i may not even need much low end per channel, especially with each 12 pushing around 150 watts a piece, then the bass shakers to add the special effect that you cant find anywhere else

still leaves me with the question of how would i wire these bass shakers?

 

[Ryan_Lilly]

About the shakers, you want 7 total, Right? you are probably talking about the "PRO" model for 50 watss, although you can get 2 of the smaller ones(25watts) for less money, at parts express. Anyway wiring them, most amps recomend an impedence of no less than 4 ohms, bass shakers are 4 ohms each, so you are going to need to use a combination of parrallel and series wiring. using an even number a shakers would make it easier, but here are the basics.

Running 2 4ohm bass shakers in parralle will result in a 2ohm load, this is too low, you can run 2 in series and get 8 ohm load.

2 in series = 8ohms, 2 8ohm sets in parallel= 4ohm per channel, so a 200watt per channel stereo amp could power 8 shakers at 4 ohm load per channel. I can try to post a drawing later if that is not clear.

 

[Ryan_Lilly]

Ok I have a very messy drawing for how to use the bass shakers. you can do it with one stereo amp, but I would run 8 shakers with 4 in your main couch.
You could even go with 16 of the small ones, it would actually cost less, and put them in the seats and the backs, but I leave that up to you.

Take a look at Vince's VHT, like you say it is impossible to know how they sound, but they look great, are 3-way like you are looking for, and vince seems very satisfied.http://www.************.com/projectshowcase/homeaudio.html
the crossover is the hardest part of any speaker project, and these are in your price range, so using his design could be the way to go.

I attatched the drawing hopfully it is clear enough.

Good Luck!