Here are the HTM12s with a couple of surround Volt 6s. The enclosures are not the prettiest but they are hidden behind screens. There was just enough room to use the ports after all. They sound great. Matt, thanks for your assistance!
@squish72, with these kits, the extra money goes directly into better components, so it's almost always worth it. :^) Of course, it depends on the rest of your system as well, and how tight your budget is. The lower cost models will still be great, so you shouldn't have regrets either way.
Thanks Gregg. Looks like I might have to wait a bit. It will only let me add two of the htms to my cart. Wanting 3
If there any reason not to substitute U-Haul's moving pads (not the quilted ones) in lieu of Ultratouch denim insulation for stuffing speakers? The U-Haul pads are pretty thin so they'd have to be doubled up, but Ultratouch is something that is a specialty item in my area whereas U-Hauls are rather ubiquitous. The U-Haul furniture pads are made of recycled pre-consumer denim waste. They consist of reclaimed scraps and cutoffs that got discarded during jeans manufacturing which are then shredded and pretty much sound like Ultratouch from there on out. I wouldn't insulate my attic or wrap a water heater with them as they lack any kind of fire rating, but for speaker dampening they just might do.
From what pictures I can dig up on those when searching they look far too thin and compressed or matted to be as useful for damping material. If you can't get ultratouch denim easily then fiberglass, mineral wool, polyfill and acoustic foam can all work just as well.
Somewhere I read that sheep’s wool is supposed to be the ‘ideal’ damping material for speakers......i’m going to order some sheep’s wool batt insulation from eco-building products.com out of Michigan....two rolls (32 feet total))of r13 (3.5” thick) 14.5”w....$85 plus shipping from Michigan. You might check that out. Matt you ever hear of sheep’s wool in speakers?
I have a pair of HTM-8's in my cart ready to purchase. I can't fit a vertical center so will probably get the Fusion 8 center unless an HTM version is coming soon. Figured I can get the HTM's nearly finished before I place an order for the center. I know LCR should match, ideally, but for me there just seem to be too many benefits to the HTM line.
I remember the sheep's wool rage, long ago, and built some speakers using it. I can't say it will make any difference, compared to other options (e.g. denim or acoustimats), but your hands will be soft. :^)
A few picts from our Michigan 4/13 gtg Before the event started, HTM-6 thru 12 plus a HT-8 showed up after this photo After event picture
How many here have built a baffle wall for their HTM-10 or 12's? Post picts of them please, as I will be putting my upcoming HTM-12's into a baffle wall.
I've owned mine for about a year and am planning to do the same very soon. There are a few forums on AVSF that discuss this that I've been reading. I can't seem to post a link to it here, but if you google "HTM-12 baffle wall" you'll see an AVS Forum thread on it. And Erich has some things to say about it in there. There's also a thread titled "Another build thread with no name" where you can see HTM-12s in a baffle wall (around page 13). Not sure why I can't link to them. Says "your post may contain spam"
What is the correct baffle wall design for these speakers? My current understanding of the setupset... They get mounted as close as possible to the front wall. Build a false wall that is coplanar with speaker baffle. Jam a bunch of insulation in the space between the false wall and real one. Assuming this is all correct (and that's a big assumption) then how far out does the baffle need to extend? A quarter wave? At 80hz that's 3.53 feet. My next question is can I any acoustic treatments on that front wall? It's a big flat reflective surface that the rears will be pointing at it. I'd like to slather it with that denim stuff, or some OC703. Will that mess up the baffle wall?
1 - Distance to the front wall doesn't necessary need to be as close as possible assuming you have a proper false wall or make it full size. I've seen theaters with an access hatch to the space behind the false wall. Obviously having excess empty space back there eats up real estate in the room itself. 2/3 - Yes. When I tested the HTM-12 I used a mock baffle wall made from heavy wooden tables and plywood extending about 30" to the sides and top and about 5' to the floor. I saw very good benefits down to below 80hz so I suspect 3-4' would give you sizable gains at low frequencies. You do want treatment on the baffle wall itself as there can be some sound reflected off the screen itself and you would want the wall to absorb that as well. I've seen people use duct liner, mineral wool or OC703, I'm sure denim would work as well. I'd also position the speakers so their baffle is flush with any treatment you place there.
Can't post link, Google for "acoustic frontiers baffle wall", it has 2013322 in the URL. I found this method which jives with everything so far, including having the LCR baffles sitting flush with the treatment on the baffle wall. The denim I was looking is the UltraLiner Sound Blanket by BondedLogic. It's basically the same stuff as usual but there's a black lining glued to it. I strongly prefer working with the denim instead of glass fibers. They also say to use the pink itchy stuff behind the baffle because that's all good bass trap space. A foot on the back side of the baffle, a foot on the real wall, and then air gap for the space between. I'd might have a vertical strip in there somewhere that's solid across. The idea is after some point fiberglass is too thick to support air movement and sound waves start break around it instead of trying to go in to die. I gotta figure out how to have toe-in with this setup. I guess if I'm particularly enterprising then I can have the wall curved, but angled will be much more practical to implement. In playing with the HTMs they definitely benefit from toe in though, there's no question of that. It also keeps some waves away from the side walls by getting them out of the sweet spot.
You can probably angle the HTM's a bit though it would be hard to use strong toe in without doing something to the wall itself. Maybe pull the outside edges of the L/R speakers outwards and build up the denim along the outside edge of the speakers so that the speaker/denim forms a pyramid of sorts. That should keep diffraction down and allow decent toe.
Erich - the flat packs for HTM-12's (and HT-12's) have been out of stock for a few weeks now .. since at least 4/18 .. any eta when they will be available?
Ding ding, the flat packs are in stock, just placed my order for (3) HTM-12's, flat matte waveguide....
Any updates on the HTM center channel? How about a timeline on 1099's availability as a plan B for the HTM center?
Hi Guys, I was wondering what the HF Padding actually does? I have always been happy with the sound of my HTM 12's without ever using the HF Pad jumper cable. Can anyone please explain to me what it is for and what are the benefits or no benefits? Thank you so much. A friend of mine aid he believes with the jumper cable in place the sound is more detailed? Is this true? Thanks
HF pad just connects the 30 Ohm resistor (on the HTM-12) in parallel with the 8 Ohm resistor which is placed in parallel with the output on the HF side of the crossover. The decrease in resistance there has the effect of lowering the output of the HF driver by about 2dB.
Hi Matt, I am working on your new HT-8, I added some extra volume for a total of .96 without the drivers/port. Because of the way you answered my question about the volt 6, I was able to model the "Celestion" TF0818 with what I feel is flat enough yet low enough to cross over at 80hz. I was surprised that the 1.8"ish diameter port ended up looking good with the same suggested 2" length @ a 75hz tune. But I am a little perplexed since I am installing the port at a 45 degree angle, worse yet it ends up against the back wall (see photo) which I think adds ports length but how much is the question? Will 1.75" length from the port face 45 degree center work nicely or should I just keep it 2"?(I was going to tape extra length to the front and take REW measurements but it is at an angle inside) Thanks again for the help. Your speaker designs are so nice, I am sure these will be a nice Front Height Surround addition to the 1099s and Volt 6 rears. (of course with your VBSS filling in the lows)
I'd try them with the port length they are right now and see where tuning comes in, you can test that with REW and the sine wave generator watching or feeling for the point of minimum cone excursion. If it lands somewhere between 70-80hz I'd say leave it as is.
Hi, is it possilble to make the HTM-10 cabinet a little bigger for lower output so they can be stand alone speakers for music?
I’m looking at wadding for an HTM-12. Thinking I’ll probably go for acoustic foam tiles. Should I be looking for 2-3 inch thickness for these or would 3 inches be too much? Most of the tiles on Amazon are 1-2 inches, but there are some that are 3 if that would be more effective.