# DIY setup and more



## perceval (Oct 17, 2012)

I've always been a tinkerer, and joining the DIY crowd was only a matter of time.

Mostly because, in the little corner of the world I reside at the moment, there is a very steep price increase on anything "luxury". So a pair of speakers sold in the US for about $1,000 will be over $2,000 here. Exception for the local brand Usher, which is much cheaper here.

Anyway, it didn't take long before I got the bug and this is where I am at.

In the spirit of giving back to the site that started it all, I'd like to share my setup if anyone needs some different ways of doing things, with the constraints I had, namely room and WAF.

Here's my setup:

L/R are DIY line arrays. 16 full range 3" drivers for each column. Soundstage is amazing for HT. I highly recommend line arrays for and expansive soundstage and the feeling of being in a huge movie theater. They may look big but they actually occupy a very small footprint (about an A4 paper) and look really nice, so WAF was reached!

Center is a big Usher center speaker. Will need to be upgraded one day, but for now, it's doing fine.

Surrounds are some company's bipolar speakers...

Subs. One is a Yamaha 315 I believe, but is only there to provide a little extra support, the main sub is a DIY folded horn designed for the TB W8-740Q using Hornresp. It goes down to 35Hz and it is very dynamic. The folded horn made it a bit more reasonable in size and again, WAF was reach with only a very small comment passed when she saw it for the first time! 

I use my MacBookPro to play music or movies, with VLC or Audirvana. I tried a PC with JRiver, but my setup is even more customized than what JRiver can provide.

The MBP is hooked to a Presonus AudioBox 1818vsl. It is a concert live mixer that offers DSP control and routing over 8 channels in and 8 channels out. I already had the 1818 to play with, otherwise I was interested in the nanoAVR.

I am able to EQ the mains, the center, the surrounds and subs separately. I use a highpass on the line arrays to cut everything under 150Hz. I also use a lowpass to cut everything over 200Hz on the subs. 

One of the main things I found using the 1818 was that I was able to send extra levels of the center to the mains, greatly improving the dynamics and range of that center, while adding a bit of EQ to the higher frequencies to make the dialogues cut through the ambient music or sound FX.

With that setup, I was able to hear tiny details in every movies I re-watched lately, bringing a huge grin on my face!

The addition of the 1818 was a game changer in the enjoyment of my setup. It helps design a sound response according to the various bits and pieces of hardware we have and the acoustics of the room used.


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## perceval (Oct 17, 2012)

Yikes!

Wrong place!

I'm terribly sorry. I had multiple tabs opened at the time, and in the confusion, I posted this here instead of the DIY section.

I don't know if mods or admins can move this post to the appropriate section, and I sincerely apologize for the trouble.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

You know without pics it didn't happen. I have never heard line arrays and I hope to someday. Are you planning on making some subwoofers also or are you happy where its at?


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## perceval (Oct 17, 2012)

orion said:


> You know without pics it didn't happen. I have never heard line arrays and I hope to someday. Are you planning on making some subwoofers also or are you happy where its at?


When I first posted, I figured I should add some pics...
BTW, I did mention I added a DIY folded horn sub, that is just as dynamic as the arrays.

For HT, I used to think a nice compression driver stuck on a horn suited for your room would be it, coupled with some woofers to handle the rest of the spectrum... but after hearing my arrays, I must admit that I've since changed my mind.

Arrays have a way to expand the soundstage, and give you a feeling like wearing headphones! The separation and neatness is amazing. sitting 3 to 4 meters away, the feeling is just jaw dropping. And the dynamics provided from the multiple small driver is mesmerizing. The transients are clean cut. Fast. 

Ok, I mentioned pictures, right? 

Here's the array as it stands... 16 drivers in each column.










The build thread is here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/251669-short-line-array-line-source-build.html

Here's how they used to sound like after one week of finishing them... 
I've made some improvements since using a better EQ pattern... still, they sounded pretty good then!
Use headphones to get the full effects. 
Recorded on a Mac, using a Blue Microphone"s Yeti, set on stereo mode.

https://soundcloud.com/perceval-1/arrays-with-eq-to-flat


This is the sub I made using the TB W8-740Q. I had help from very nice people on the DIYAudio forum.










And here's the build thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/259869-w8-740q-what-am-i-doing-wrong.html

Of course, these are not the "end-all-to-musical-nirvana"! 
But I must admit that they sound really good placed in my humble abode.


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