Sorry for the millionth post like this but I am a bit overwhelmed...so... What speakers would you choose for a small (11' x 17') dedicated home theater. 100% movies. Other details if you need them... Budget=flexible. Will only keep existing subwoofer (12" Shiva DIY). Will buy new AVR and additional amps as needed. Eventually will build up a 5.2.2 or maybe 7.2.2 system. What would you recommend?
I just went through a very similar process as you are ajman. I was trying to decide between the Fusion line and the Cinema line, specifically the 88 Specials and the Tempests (1099s were out of stock). All of these use similar drivers and components, so all of them are going to sound really good. If you have any constraints on layout of your room that could be the biggest determining factor. For example if you are placing the center speakers under a TV then requiring a horizontal center (or the "squat" 88 special) might help drive your decision. You will want the waveguide near ear level, so for some of the designs you might need a stand (or angle the center up if it is under the tv). One thing Erich has pointed out in a number of forum posts is the sensitivity and ability of these speakers to play at incredible volume (and not distort, lots of speakers can play loud and spew distortion!). When I was A/B testing between my current speakers and the 88 Specials I noticed that the 88s really did put a SMALLER load on my amplifier. In other words to keep the same overall volume I had to turn down the output when playing the 88 Specials. The higher sensitivity actually allows your amp to be less stressed even though they are playing louder. Also, some come with pre-assembled crossovers if that is important. I think there are some forum members who build crossovers that aren't on the website. Although overall I think the crossover assembly looks hard just because it is different than what most are used to. I was nervous with my first crossover, but for my second I ended up doing a two-sided (solder connections on bottom, components on top) board! If you are interested in build threads there are a bunch under the "DIY Sound Group Speaker Kits" section. That will help give a better idea of how each looks fully assembled. So after all of that, my vote is honestly "whichever talks to you"! You won't be disappointed.
I do not have an AT screen, so the speaker would sit below the screen which is 31" off of the floor. (Speaker can be vertical if it is under 31" tall, otherwise it needs to be horizontal). So do you recommend L/C/R Elusive 1099..then what for the surronds/ ATMOS channels Volt 8? Something else. Thanks for the response.
The room is narrow (11 feet) and the screen is wide so I don't have a lot of room on either side of the screen. Typical ear height when sitting is around 35" I guess, so the speakers would be below ear height with the top of the speaker at a max of 31". I also have a 12" riser behind the first row, so the speaker would be much below ear height for that case. The back row is also right against the back wall, so not much room for the back-surrounds. Also due to the narrow room, I don't have a lot of space for the surrounds (depth wise). I am not going in-wall since the room is pretty well sound-proofed. The surrounds will be too close for my liking and I may move them up a bit to just get more space between the surrounds and the seating posistions, but that was the space I had. The ceiling is tall though, so that was why I was thinking about ATMOS with the Dolby surround up-mix and just do away with the surround-backs all together (still have surround problems). bitmap42: Thanks again for the reply. I don't have any problems with any of the actual fabrication (cabinet, crossover, driver mounting etc) my problem is choosing the right speakers. I am a die-hard DIY so I know I definitely want to build the speakers (I built my last 7.1 system 13 years ago before these great pre-configured packages became readily available, just picking parts and putting it together myself), but my old speakers are really starting to show the budget constraints that I had at the time....it's time to upgrade. But I've never had the budget (or really the inclination) to buy good commercial speakers so I have nothing to really compare to. I am sure any of the speakers from the cinema section would be leaps and bounds better than what I have, but since I invest in speakers only once every couple of decades, I thought it would be worthwhile to get some more educated opinions about what to build and get the most I can out of it.
In case you didn't know, tuxedocivic is actually the designer of the 1099, hence "partial to 1099" from his post! But from everything I have seen on the forums here and on avsforum the 1099 is held in extremely high esteem. If you have space, budget, ability to build, and they are in stock, then 1099 seems like an easy decision! Take a look at Tux's "Elusive 1099 Official Info Thread" for a bunch of answers including his surround recommendations (Volt 10 and Fusion 10) and pictures of finishes and placement. You will definitely want stands of some sort for the LR speakers... since the waveguide is in the middle of the speaker, the "ear height" of the speaker when sitting on the floor is closer to 22", which would be too low especially for your back row. For the center speaker either above or below the TV with the speaker angled up to point towards the listeners would allow the waveguide to be aimed well.
Maybe not? [SIZE=large]Update March 25, 2015: The compression drivers are in US Customs in New York. The importers strike on the West Coast caused shipping companies to send their stuff to New York and it is slowing things down. The shipping company told me the pallet of drivers should leave New York this week. As soon as I get them the preorders will be packaged up and shipped. Once I get those done I will put a decent amount more in stock.[/SIZE]
Yeah I saw that mentioned at AVS, that's good news! I may actually order a '99 soon, as I'll have no CC when I get the Pures that are on their way.