Ricky's Audio Video Barn Build Project

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The speakers will be B&W
802D for front. And HTM1D ( rare ) for center ( it will be fine below the screen yet will be close to equal height plane with FR and FL ).
803D rears. Then I have available ( not sure what Ill do yet... ) another pair of 803Ds. I have 4 805 Signatures and 4 regular 805.
Still researching the ceiling speakers
 
The speakers will be B&W
802D for front. And HTM1D ( rare ) for center ( it will be fine below the screen yet will be close to equal height plane with FR and FL ).
803D rears. Then I have available ( not sure what Ill do yet... ) another pair of 803Ds. I have 4 805 Signatures and 4 regular 805.
Still researching the ceiling speakers
Word of advice: Make sure front and rear speakers match perfectly. You'd be shocked how much sonic boom those remix engineers have placed in the rears! Learned that lesson well with my new set~up!

See if you can trade up your existing surrounds to match those fronts!
 
This is no barn, this is a palace. Or at least a mansion. Instead of the Surround Master this will be a Surround Mansion. Ricky's Surround Mansion. Yeah that's the ticket!

subs will be 4 JL Audio units. The 2 fronts will be in wall and the 2 rears will be F-112s
Since the B&W 802 D's are large floor standers, should I assume what's being built into the wall are the ATMOS height speakers? Isn't it recommended these be built into the ceiling?

EDIT: Oh, I get it now. Building subs into the wall. Seems like that would be a wildcard for all sorts of bass resonances.

Bravo on the selection of front projection for video. I have a smallish big screen of 8' with a Panasonic 8000 projector. Front projection is not always practical for a lot of set ups but if it is it's a superb experience. I would never have a direct view screen as choice for serious viewing.

Inspired by me my older son in law purchased a Sony projector some years ago & uses an Elite fixed frame 10' screen. I think where doable this is the sweet spot for home projection. My set up looks a bit better for movies & anime, his looks better for sports. My set up is quite cinema like & his is more like being there. You will be very happy. And when it comes time check out the choices of Elite screens. Much more reasonably priced than others. And setting it up is a two person operation & very scary scary the first time. But not only did it survive our efforts to assemble it also was taken apart & unlike Humpty Dumpty put back together again when he moved. So kudos for durability.

I like that your using a center front speaker even tho I consider this optional for music. But for movies, as was noted earlier, it keeps dialogue centered no matter where you sit in the room. I'm sure your Surround Mansion will be a very popular place so this will come in handy. And it seems in sports the dialogue almost too loud, so having the ability to turn it down a little & balance it out will make it seem a bit more immersive.

Random questions:
What the heck do you need two offices for if you are selling your biz & retiring?

And what are the lockers for? Wait staff to change in & out of street clothes?
 
Last edited:
This is no barn, this is a palace. Or at least a mansion. Instead of the Surround Master this will be a Surround Mansion. Ricky's Surround Mansion. Yeah that's the ticket!


Since the B&W 802 D's are large floor standers, should I assume what's being built into the wall are the ATMOS height speakers? Isn't it recommended these be built into the ceiling?

EDIT: Oh, I get it now. Building subs into the wall. Seems like that would be a wildcard for all sorts of bass resonances.

Bravo on the selection of front projection for video. I have a smallish big screen of 8' with a Panasonic 8000 projector. Front projection is not always practical for a lot of set ups but if it is it's a superb experience. I would never have a direct view screen as choice for serious viewing.

Inspired by me my older son in law purchased a Sony projector some years ago & uses an Elite fixed frame 10' screen. I think where doable this is the sweet spot for home projection. My set up looks a bit better for movies & anime, his looks better for sports. My set up is quite cinema like & his is more like being there. You will be very happy. And when it comes time check out the choices of Elite screens. Much more reasonably priced than others. And setting it up is a two person operation & very scary scary the first time. But not only did it survive our efforts to assemble it also was taken apart & unlike Humpty Dumpty put back together again when he moved. So kudos for durability.

I like that your using a center front speaker even tho I consider this optional for music. But for movies, as was noted earlier, it keeps dialogue centered no matter where you sit in the room. I'm sure your Surround Mansion will be a very popular place so this will come in handy. And it seems in sports the dialogue almost too loud, so having the ability to turn it down a little & balance it out will make it seem a bit more immersive.

Random questions:
What the heck do you need two offices for if you are selling your biz & retiring?

And what are the lockers for? Wait staff to change in & out of street clothes?
Regarding in wall subs. see this cool explanation -

 
Random questions from THE Sonik Wizard -
"What the heck do you need two offices for if you are selling your biz & retiring?"

One office is an office. Im retiring from what I do now. But Im not expiring. Ive always had a work ethic. First job was in a factory at age 12 ( dont ask ).
I need an office for entrepreneur activities. The other office is a guest room. The kids can stay out there when they visit or if I want to stay up late for Sunday night or Monday night football........

"And what are the lockers for? Wait staff to change in & out of street clothes?"

My Carhartt's. Its just a few hooks on the wall to hang coats, etc. Dont let the word 'locker ' confuse.
 
Regarding in wall subs. see this cool explanation -


So glad you've decided on rear subs as in previous posts I've mentioned with my new self amped Meridian speakers there IS a tremendous amount of bass content coming out of the rears .......

But for total cohesiveness please make sure your rear speakers match the fronts ..... you will realize the importance of that when playing some of those older and newer surround and ATMOS remixes!
 
So glad you've decided on rear subs as in previous posts I've mentioned with my new self amped Meridian speakers there IS a tremendous amount of bass content coming out of the rears .......

But for total cohesiveness please make sure your rear speakers match the fronts ..... you will realize the importance of that when playing some of those older and newer surround and ATMOS remixes!
Ralphie
the revised AV-10 now has bass management and has AudysseyEXT. Should be able to tailor and sculpt sound for each and every speaker. If that dont get me there then Ill sell some more plasma to pay for your suggested upgrade
 
Ralphie
the revised AV-10 now has bass management and has AudysseyEXT. Should be able to tailor and sculpt sound for each and every speaker. If that dont get me there then Ill sell some more plasma to pay for your suggested upgrade
NO NEED TO SELL YOUR PLASMA ..... just a good idea to have all your ducks in a row when you fire up that magnificent system ..... the rears can be just as loud as the fronts as I've been discovering and even audyssey and bass management won't compensate for a mismatch in front/rear speakers!

I've lived AND LEARNED ...the hard way!

And do yourself a favor .....obviously your center channel won't match your front l/r speakers ....settle for Phantom center.

And get this ...when I finally had my system professionally installed and EQed ....I inquired about the center and was told if I wanted it, I'd have to shell out another $40K for that center speaker [which exactly matched my existing front l/r speakers] because Meridian's $20K self amplified center channel sucked [I heard it for myself]!

If you ever play any of those three channel SACDs, as I have, a mismatched center speaker doesn't cut the mustard! Been there DONE THAT! When I turned off that center speaker ...I was BACK IN BUSINESS! DAY AND NIGHT DIFFERENCE!
 
Last edited:
Ralphie
the revised AV-10 now has bass management and has AudysseyEXT. Should be able to tailor and sculpt sound for each and every speaker. If that dont get me there then Ill sell some more plasma to pay for your suggested upgrade
My two cents. Glad to see that you will be using room correction. (For bass frequencies only, please.). I swear by it since getting Audyssey.

I worry about built- in subs, but Audyssey should help correct any anomalies.

Those B&W 802 D speakers are -3dB at 28Hz. If you used them as both mains and surrounds, subs may only be necessary for movie LFE.

Are wides (9.4.4) really necessary? I don’t know but another pair of 802 D’s would be overkill-cool.

Lastly, build a model railroad in the garage. :cautious:
 
Why not see if you can get a single 802 D to use as a center speaker?

It would work behind a screen, and the screen could be raised when listening to music.
That would be a solution but see my post regarding perforated screens [Post #11] ....... a phantom center like you hear with all QUAD and QUADIO discs sounds incredible if your front speakers are perfectly IMAGED.
 
That would be a solution but see my post regarding perforated screens [Post #11] ....... a phantom center like you hear with all QUAD and QUADIO discs sounds incredible if your front speakers are perfectly IMAGED.
I agree with you Ralph. I'm in the camp that believes that the center speaker often causes more problems than it solves when it comes to music...This is especially so in that it can adversely affect the sense of space / ambience that hovers around that perfectly centered image. There is indeed a sense of space that gets damaged when the center information is embedded totally in that center speaker.
 
I agree with you Ralph. I'm in the camp that believes that the center speaker often causes more problems than it solves when it comes to music...This is especially so in that it can adversely affect the sense of space / ambience that hovers around that perfectly centered image. There is indeed a sense of space that gets damaged when the center information is embedded totally in that center speaker.
Essentially, the center channel was created for large movie theater venues whereby they prioritized the dialogue for large audiences. In most home theaters even with 120" or larger projection screens the main front l/r speakers are not distanced far enough apart to really need that center channel. With my new system I've even eliminated the LFE .1 channel by ensuring all my speakers which have built in phase aligned subs along with the highs/mids reach the listener ALL at the same time! Just telling your player/pre/pro there is no center nor subs sends ALL the info to those four speakers plus my self amped side elevated speakers!

I have a perfect center phantom center front AND rear and the bass is amazing! And how many 5.1 surround recordings have also had issues with out of phase LFE .1 ..... a LOT.

And don't get me started on mismatched speakers ..... After years of living with them even with very high priced electronics I decided to spent the $$$$ on four self amplified main speakers and two self amplified sides of which match the characteristics of my mains and I've never been happier .......

Sometimes LESS IS MORE!
 
Last edited:
! have a perfect center phantom center front AND rear and the bass is amazing! And how many 5.1 surround recordings have also had issues with out of phase LFE .1 ..... a LOT.
I'm sure it sounds great Ralph. But if the recorded LFE signal is out of phase, it's still out of phase when it's added back to the mains. The phase cancelation effect would be even worse because it would be true electrical signal cancelation vs acoustic cancelation, which is more forgiving. Just sayin.
 
Why not see if you can get a single 802 D to use as a center speaker?

It would work behind a screen, and the screen could be raised when listening to music.
hey AR - I do have another 802D for the center. Its an HTM1D ( affectionally called the Rhino ). Basically Its an 802D that lays on its side.
Was made to timbre match the 802D by B&W.

thanks to you - and others - for all the valuable input so far. Im soaking it all in. And - yes - the garage would be a great locale for an HO
choo choo landscape !!!!
 
To Center Speaker or Not To Center Speaker ---that is the question.
Here is what I have and what the manufacturer says about it -

More from B&W:
The HTM1D is the largest of four centre speakers in the 800 Series. The full configuration of FSTTM midrange in a Marlan® sphere / tube ‘head’ with diamond dome tweeter on top is used, so that the system perfectly voice matches either the 800D, 801D or 802D in a substantial and powerful multi-channel installation.

The HTM1D uses three 8” diameter Rohacell® cone drivers with twin rear-firing FlowportsTM. All drivers are, of course, magnetically shielded to avoid picture distortion with CRT-based screens.

The HTM1D is specifically intended to be mounted on the floor, its low profile allowing a large projection screen to come within 2 ft. of the floor. Supplied with the system are four heavy-duty height-adjustable feet. This design allows up to 1.6” of vertical adjustment so that the speaker may be tilted back to face more towards the listeners. They have a case hardened spike at one end for carpeted floors, and a non-marking rubber pad on the other for more vulnerable surfaces.
 
Back
Top