Hi! Newbie seeking advice on home theater speakers.

[dave13]

Hi everyone!

I’ve been doing a bunch of Google and YouTube research, trying to climb this learning curve a bit.  Was really excited to find your videos and this forum.  Thank you for tons of great information!

This will be my first speaker build.  I have a lot of experience building furniture, so no concerns with the woodworking.  Have built a few MAMEs and things like that, so I enjoy trying new things.

But I am getting lost in the audio details and would love some advice.

My theater is in my basement and is about 17′ wide.  Low ceiling of 7′ 6″.  The depth is a little weird.  The seating area is about 20′ deep, but effectively there is no back wall.  (We have a long basement and this area is open to the rest of the basement).

The Cinema 6 V2 has me very intrigued.  I’m wondering if it is appropriate for my space or if I should be looking at something different?  That design seems to be about the top of my budget range.

I have read the whole $3500 speakers for $350 thread and saw a cool approach to modify the cabinet for a center speaker.  What do you think about using the V2 for left, right, and center, and then adding a sub?  Should I wait for your Cinema 10 design for surround speakers?  Any guesstimate on the cost of the Cinema 10?

I’m also open to thoughts on a reasonably priced receiver.  I am truly starting from scratch.  🙂

Thanks and great to meet you!

Dave

[123toid]

@dave13 first of all, that is awesome that you build mame cabinets! I’m in the process, planning process, of building one myself. I had one before I moved, but I had to destroy the cabinet to move it across country. So I still have all the components, but just need to reassemble and rebuild the cabinet. They are fun though, eh?

As far as the cinema 6 v2, that’s exactly what I’m doing. It’s completely appropriate for your space. I’ll be running three of them in the front along a sub. Currently I have two of the v1’s on the left and right, but should get all the rest of the components for the v2s as early as today. So I’ll be upgrading mine hopefully sometime next week. And I paired them with the mx15 subwoofer. Although I think I’ll probably end up buying another one and putting another one in. Not that I need it, but it’s nice to have.

But honestly you can’t go wrong with those v2s. They are just so crisp and clear and very linear. I’m very happy with how they came out. Oh and if you have any issues or problems, we’re here for you. We’d be happy to help you out with anything that you might encounter. No matter what DIY speaker you go with.

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https://www.youtube.com/123toid

[dave13]

@123toid Thanks for the welcome!

Indeed, the MAMEs were fun.  Built my first one over a decade ago and then updated it to a Pi last year.  It’s amazing what a Pi can do now compared to an old Pentium from the 90’s.  lol

I have also wanted to build a digital pinball table for quite some time.  That project just hasn’t made it to the top of the list yet.

Thanks for the confirmation on the V2s for our theater room.  I will buy your plan and start studying. 🙂

Do you have a guesstimate of when your Cinema 10 design might be out?

[dave13]

@123toid I am also looking for an AV receiver, and trying not to break the bank.  🙂  What wattage should I look for to support 3 of the Cinema 6 v2’s?  I may add surround sound speakers later.  If you have a receiver recommendation, feel free to throw that out too.

 

Thank you!

[123toid]

@dave13 

I am working on the cinema 10 this week.  It’ll probably take a few weeks for it to be finalized. 

As far as wattage, you really don’t need much, as little as say 25-50watts for dynamics should be more than enough. Basically, any surround sound receiver will do. As far as which one, really depends on how much you want to spend. I have an Onkyo I really like.  I also really enjoyed my old Pioneer Elite.  Personally I am not a huge fan of Yamaha especially when paired with horn speakers.  

 

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https://www.youtube.com/123toid

[jayshud]

@dave13 

I do read allot about Home theater Gear and have owned several AVR’s the last 25yrs, right now the best value or “Bang for buck” AVR is the Denon 3700, it has some of the best class AB amps in it, nice clean power as tested on the Audio science review board, all the options you need like, Audessey room correction 32, DSP multi-sub for 2 subs, pre-outs, this year Denon added a super cool pre-amp mode, where it shuts off amp section for zero crosstalk, if you use separates like me, this is huge because Pre-pro’s are way overpriced imo and pre-pros don’t really add anything major as far as processing power or room correction accept the crosstalk argument, depending on the model. The Denon AVR-3700H is a Solid AVR, I own the 3500 now and I’m going to upgrade to this same model soon. Good Luck!

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