# A homebuilt Front Center Channel speaker



## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

I have a pair of JBL homebuilt L-300 front channel speakers for my home theater. The horns give superb dialogue definition. I bought a Klipsch center speaker (a Reference 64 II) that was touted for dialogue clarity. Not so as compared to the JBL's. It was almost $1200 and dialogue was much was better if out of the system using the stereo pair of JBLs as a front image.. Right now the Klipsch is really only a visual center speaker as I have the receiver set up to not have a center channel. I had hoped the klipsch would have a tonal balance more like the old Klipschorn corner horns. The four 6" drivers in it seem to be most of the dialogue range with the horn acting as a tweeter, not adding clarity to the speaker. 

Anyone have any experience with adding a center channel with a JBL compression driver and horn?


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## kbclamper (Jun 4, 2014)

shene said:


> I have a pair of JBL homebuilt L-300 front channel speakers for my home theater. The horns give superb dialogue definition. I bought a Klipsch center speaker (a Reference 64 II) that was touted for dialogue clarity. Not so as compared to the JBL's. It was almost $1200 and dialogue was much was better if out of the system using the stereo pair of JBLs as a front image.. Right now the Klipsch is really only a visual center speaker as I have the receiver set up to not have a center channel. I had hoped the klipsch would have a tonal balance more like the old Klipschorn corner horns. The four 6" drivers in it seem to be most of the dialogue range with the horn acting as a tweeter, not adding clarity to the speaker.
> 
> Anyone have any experience with adding a center channel with a JBL compression driver and horn?


Check diysoundgroup. I got rid of my klipsch in favor of the elusive 1099s


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

where do I go to get to the diysoundgroup ? What are 1099's? I have a jbl 2461 compression driver (coming from Ebay) and a 2345 horn (stashed in my attic) for a midrange dialogue starter. May be there is some way to integrate it with the four klipsch 6 inch drivers in the 64 II to fill in some of the below 600 cps info. The side L-300's I built are fine yet crossed over at 60 cps to a pr of SVS PC 13 ultras for bass.


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## kbclamper (Jun 4, 2014)

shene said:


> where do I go to get to the diysoundgroup ? What are 1099's? I have a jbl 2461 compression driver (coming from Ebay) and a 2345 horn (stashed in my attic) for a midrange dialogue starter. May be there is some way to integrate it with the four klipsch 6 inch drivers in the 64 II to fill in some of the below 600 cps info. The side L-300's I built are fine yet crossed over at 60 cps to a pr of SVS PC 13 ultras for bass.


Diysoundgroup.com. the 1099 is one of their speaker kits. It Is a 3way speaker with a compression driver/waveguide that Is 99 db sensitive.Dialog is crystal clear unlike my old klipsch. You can check the avsforum.com there is a huge thread on them


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I gave my la Scalas away when i went with the JBL 2360A horns (EV DH1A drivers), and DIY bass bins... The setup sounds way better now. You can do the DIY horns pretty cheaply. I think I spent about $300 per horn with drivers shipped off of eBay, another couple of hundred for each bass bin (EV woofers), and then I went with the Xilica 8040 crossover for about $900 (which does all 3 front channels, and 2 subs).


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

The 1099 as they have it will not fit where it would need to go. My glass table for the tv has two shelves each with steel or maybe aluminum box tube for support of the shelves. the vertical opening is 8.5 inches from the front and 10 inches from an end but the top1.5 would be behind the front shelf support. The 1099 is about 12 inches high with the 10 inch drivers. 

I don't know if I can find an affordable 500 or 600 cps horn (and lens if needed) for a jbl 2040 or 375. I would sure like to try a 375 driver (or 2040) if possible though. (This is theater only not music. I have home built jbl 4343'for music). The lens and horn are a fortune but a driver and a new diaphragm are not too bad to cover. I could add an original jbl aluminum diaphragm from orange county if needed due to poor condition if found on a used . First I will try the 2461 driver I ordered with my 2345 horn. I may be able to rig the klipsch 64 to use it for the lower frequencies on the bottom shelf Io or with the 375 (and an 075 bullet I have). Another possibility is to add a third jbl le85 which sure should match my existing le85 drivers in my mock l-300's. The were built first with only the 136A 15 inch bass drivers and a JBL crossovers to the le 85 drivers, then later I added a second crossover to add 077 slot radiators, sop they are using the 800 cps crossover point not like the 300's. If either the one driver I have on order or a 2040 would work I could maybe add some 6 uinch drivers at the sides or something to fill between the 5 or 600 cps and about 100 cps with a sealed box. The receiver lets me pick a variety of cutoffs for front and center as well as surrounds to send lower info to the1 (will be 2 next week) SVS 13 ultra cylinders in sealed mode. My first problem was the cutoff of the SVS with ported mode really fought with the JBL phase with its higher port tune. With the SVS in sealed mode and cutting the jbls off at about 60 cps the fight has calmed down. 
I think maybe just a third le85 in the middle would mate well with the front l-300s. First I want to try the phenolic diaphragm 2461 and my 2345 horn with a crossover to feed the klipsch for use of it's 6 inch drivers for bass.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

shene said:


> The 1099 as they have it will not fit where it would need to go. My glass table for the tv has two shelves each with steel or maybe aluminum box tube for support of the shelves. the vertical opening is 8.5 inches from the front and 10 inches from an end but the top1.5 would be behind the front shelf support. The 1099 is about 12 inches high with the 10 inch drivers.
> 
> I don't know if I can find an affordable 500 or 600 cps horn (and lens if needed) for a jbl 2040 or 375. I would sure like to try a 375 driver (or 2040) if possible though. (This is theater only not music. I have home built jbl 4343'for music). The lens and horn are a fortune but a driver and a new diaphragm are not too bad to cover. I could add an original jbl aluminum diaphragm from orange county if needed due to poor condition if found on a used . First I will try the 2461 driver I ordered with my 2345 horn. I may be able to rig the klipsch 64 to use it for the lower frequencies on the bottom shelf Io or with the 375 (and an 075 bullet I have). Another possibility is to add a third jbl le85 which sure should match my existing le85 drivers in my mock l-300's. The were built first with only the 136A 15 inch bass drivers and a JBL crossovers to the le 85 drivers, then later I added a second crossover to add 077 slot radiators, sop they are using the 800 cps crossover point not like the 300's. If either the one driver I have on order or a 2040 would work I could maybe add some 6 uinch drivers at the sides or something to fill between the 5 or 600 cps and about 100 cps with a sealed box. The receiver lets me pick a variety of cutoffs for front and center as well as surrounds to send lower info to the1 (will be 2 next week) SVS 13 ultra cylinders in sealed mode. My first problem was the cutoff of the SVS with ported mode really fought with the JBL phase with its higher port tune. With the SVS in sealed mode and cutting the jbls off at about 60 cps the fight has calmed down.
> I think maybe just a third le85 in the middle would mate well with the front l-300s. First I want to try the phenolic diaphragm 2461 and my 2345 horn with a crossover to feed the klipsch for use of it's 6 inch drivers for bass.


I have some EV DH1A drivers if you are interested.


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

I have a jbl 2461 driver on the way and it is to go on the 2345 horn I have. I'll try it to see how it sounds added to the jbls with the klipsch 64 lf 6 inchers before I go any further. ps I have a darbelet on the output of my receiver feeding either my 65 inch sony 4k tv or my Epson projector onto a "4x8 ft" screen that pulls down in front of the tv. I noticed your darbee I have a oppo 93.. just got the Yamaha 2350 
receiver a month ago to get the atmos. I like it even though the atmos and main surrounds are klipsch reference 62's. For surround it does not need to voice match with the front pair of speakers like the center channel does.. Curious, do you think it would do anything if I put the front side speakers on their own amp (have an old Audire or a 200 watt/channel heathkit I could free up) to save the Yamaha power for the surround system?


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

yamaha 3050 that is


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

shene said:


> I have a jbl 2461 driver on the way and it is to go on the 2345 horn I have. I'll try it to see how it sounds added to the jbls with the klipsch 64 lf 6 inchers before I go any further. ps I have a darbelet on the output of my receiver feeding either my 65 inch sony 4k tv or my Epson projector onto a "4x8 ft" screen that pulls down in front of the tv. I noticed your darbee I have a oppo 93.. just got the Yamaha 2350
> receiver a month ago to get the atmos. I like it even though the atmos and main surrounds are klipsch reference 62's. For surround it does not need to voice match with the front pair of speakers like the center channel does.. Curious, do you think it would do anything if I put the front side speakers on their own amp (have an old Audire or a 200 watt/channel heathkit I could free up) to save the Yamaha power for the surround system?


Depends on how much power you need for your fronts... I am now running the MX-A5000 11 channel amp for all of my channels, except the Atmos (using a Yamaha Pro 80x4 amp), and the subs (Yamaha P7000s 750wpch amp). I used to run the P2500s amps (250wpc), but it was way overkill for my setup, plus I ran out of rack space. The new mx-a5000 amp is not leaving me desiring any other amplification for my channels... The Atmos amp though is going to either need a quieter fan or I will find a different amp as the fans do not turn off. My front channels have EV drivers so they are not voice matched with my surrounds, or Atmos channels and it sounds great.


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

tHAT IS WHAT I FIND, SURROUNDS DO NOT REALLY NEED TO BE VOICED LIKE THE FRONT MAINS OR CENTER. OOPS, CAP LOCK I do not see any thing close to power lacking, just that with all the sound from everywhere it is hard to hear a problem with distortion. The 3050 is rated at 150 w/c but that is with two channels, not 9, driven. I never believed that the 150 w/c in the receiver (with 7 other channels periodically driven)can be as clean as a dedicated decent amp like the Audire or the Amber or even the McIntosh 240 tube amp I have, but to stick another piece of power using equipment in the system for primarily watching tv just seems to be a waste of electricity unless I was watching a movie. The jbl's are really efficient and I got them initially for use with my old heathkit 60 w/ch Ar 1500A stereo receiver. Now the 4343 136A's are on a 250 w/ch Heathkit ampwith an Amber amp running the midranges and slot radiators. . Right now I have a single svs sub and love it so am adding a second, not for volume but for a little more uniformity. The JBL front speakers are cut off at 60 cps to prevent the phase shift around 35 cps from fighting the subs sealed response phase changes so they really do not suck a lot of power. I hate to roll off the 136As at 60 or so but the subs are just great for lower bass. I have a JBL 18 inch sub in an 8 cu ft ported enclosure but never could get it to mesh with the main channels. Tried all kinds of active crossovers but it just never sounded good on the stereo with music. Maybe the ported tune was fighting with the 136 A s with their higher tuned boxes. 

Have you watched "Divergent"?-- great sound.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I have watched Divergent...great sound. Havew you watched Pitch Perfect... I have seen it so many times that I use it for a reference whenever I change something in my room or setup.


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

I have to get that or at least see a rerun on tv. I have one better though. I have done some recording in my day. I started with an old Nakamichi 600 II and am now up to a zoom digital. My daughter is a music nutcase. Has a masters in voice performance from Carnegie Mellon University plus some study in Gratz Austria and sings every year with Pittsburgh Opera Chorus and has had a few roles (Which I cannot record though). I tape her every chance I get as well as have recorded for Pittsburgh Theater Organ Society (Pipe organ) and McKeesport Symphony Orchestra making a CD or two for their archives. Have not done much there anymore as they actually cannot afford the $50 I had charged them for taping, editing and providing them with a CD (or two)of their evening performance. Of course I charged very little but have the original masters! It is amazing how much the recording business feels obligated to compress the HE double L out of recordings before making saleable medium when the medium has so much dynamic range! It seems that is not the case with movie sound tracks though. 
My recordings unfortunately do not use the full range while recording because I do not get a second chance to set levels and it is one shot live so I need overhead room for safety. Still blow away the cd industry records. email me your address if you would like a cd. email is [email protected]

By the way, how does one list equipment owned? Also drop me an email about your sale of the drivers or driver horn sets you were talking about. I looked at what the price has risen to with the 
Marchant 3 way crossovers! $1200. I have more trouble with the stereo due to cable connections or equipment, preamps, active crossovers and all that I really hesitate to go active on the theater sound section. I may have to start hardwiring my components together! Every time I fire up the stereo some channel or driver set is missing and it is a search for the loose connection despite using lock-on rca connectors on good video grade cable. Same goes for the hdmi cable connectors on the av stuff. The audio surround I use rca at the receiver and go to in wall mounted Neutrik Speakons for Blue Jeans Cable belden cable runs thru the attic.


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

Center finally done as well as new JBL Side surrounds. Center is a 1 cu ft enclosure and sides are 4 cu ft enclosures All three use a JBL LE85 compression driver. The front is on a HL 92 and the sides are on JBL 2370 horns. With my new Anthem receiver all five of the front speakers as well as m two rear speakers are quite flat and do sound alike except the center is not strong in low frequency nor is that needed. Superb dialogue speaker as my center. I am just setting up to do some tweaking on the Anthem alignment. New to ARC but it looks very nice to use.


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## shene (Aug 3, 2014)

I have a JBL 18 inch sub in an 8 cu ft ported enclosure but never could get it to mesh with the stereo L-300 speakers. Tried all kinds of active crossovers but it just never sounded good on the stereo with music. 

With a DBX equalizer for splitting the frequency band via a Crown XTi 1002 set for a bandpass from 20 to 63 cps and adding the 27 cps ish boost as JBL does with the B460 sub, it sounds great with the bottom of the L-300s!!! So far as theater goes though, the Anthem in auto mode cut them off at 250 cps in preference of using the front SB 16 ultras but I need to play with the manual controls and see if I can get some use of the 18's in the theater mode as rear speakers crossed to the ultras at more like 20 or so cps. Figure maybe the punchthe 18 inch JBL's have could really contribute to the impact type sounds.


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