# Is a clean look possible????



## joonbug99 (Feb 24, 2011)

Hello

My theater build project gets underway Monday. I can't wait to finally start. I love this forum. I have got a ton of information from
this site. And products from the classifieds!!!!! 

My equipment 
Panny 4000
Elite 110 AT screen
Denon 3311 ci
Kef C series. C7 fronts. C3 surrounds(4) and a t301c center. 

My question for this thread is this????

I want to hide all the speakers. I planned on building a front stage of studs and drywall with space for the fronts and cover the openings with AT material. The center channel will go behind the screen. The surrounds I was going to hide in some columns along the side and back of the theater. 

I have read that putting speakers in cabinets is not ideal. I don't want to get into a major money sapping situation either. Is it practical to do what I am thinking or am I better to leave everything in plain site. 

Can't wait till Monday!!!!!!!!
Illl have lots of pics 

Thanks for everyone's help thus far.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

Putting the speakers in a false wall is like surface mounting them. If they are not designed for it then you will get sub optimal results. One thing I have considered, but never pursued, is framing the false wall and covering it entirely in some AT style material. 
The benefit being that the room is not made smaller than necessary and you retain the conditions that the speakers were designed for.
If anyone has tried this I would be interested in hearing your results.


Cheers,
Bill


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Agreed. If you want to hide it all, just build a false wall and set the speakers behind it. It will perform much better and give you the clean look. The cost isn't all that high. Studs for one wall, cloth and framing material for the grilles to go over the front.

Bryan


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I have just recently put in an AT screen in my false front wall..with the speakers mounted behind the screen..in a baffle wall..
Apart from making for a nice clean look, you get a very realistic sound stage where sounds pan smoothly across the entire screen and beyond!..You can also easily pinpoint where voices are coming from..


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## joonbug99 (Feb 24, 2011)

Prof,

What size screen are you using? Do you have all three fronts behind the screen. 

My setup would be with a 110" screen and I wonder if that size ( almost 8' across ) gives enough separation between the three speakers????

Thought.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I have an 8'6" wide 2.39:1 CIH screen..All three fronts and sub are mounted behind the screen..
My L&R speakers are well inside the edges of the screen (being a scope screen) and are just inside the edges of a 16:9 image..


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## joonbug99 (Feb 24, 2011)

Prof,

Here is my setup with some dimensions. Please bare with me in my description. The screen has a 96" viewable area. The center channel is 23.5" long which leaves 36.25" from each edge to the outside edges of the viewable area. My R/L channel speakers are 8" wide. If I place them at the edge of the viewable area it leaves 28.25" of space between the center channel and each R/L. It leaves a total distance of 80" between the R/L channel. 

My room is about 14 feet wide or 168". This would leave 36" of room space on each side of the room outside of the "sound stage". 

Would I gain anything by moving the L/R channels to the corners of the room thus leaving then exposed? Or will my wanting of a clean look outweigh the diminished performance of the speakers behind a false wall because that is what I really want to do. 

Thanks for being patient. 
Oh yeah if anyone else has a thought let me know please. Thanks.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

joonbug99 said:


> Prof,
> 
> Here is my setup with some dimensions. Please bare with me in my description. The screen has a 96" viewable area. The center channel is 23.5" long which leaves 36.25" from each edge to the outside edges of the viewable area. My R/L channel speakers are 8" wide. If I place them at the edge of the viewable area it leaves 28.25" of space between the center channel and each R/L. It leaves a total distance of 80" between the R/L channel.


You described your situation very clearly!
I wouldn't be overly concerned about those spacings..In reality, your spacings are actually a bit wider than that..
The spacing is taken from the centre of each speaker..so the space between the R/L speakers will be 88"..

Previous to my present AT screen set up, I was using a horizontal centre speaker that was 26" wide and my L/R speakers were 10" wide..The screen width was only 78" within the 16:9 image..
When viewing, I still found good separation between the channels..



> My room is about 14 feet wide or 168". This would leave 36" of room space on each side of the room outside of the "sound stage".


Since you have that width in your room, there is another way you could set up your speakers if you feel they are too close together..
What I would do (with the AT screen) is use a 2.35:1 screen and mask off for 16:9..That way you can move the speakers further apart and still be inside the screen width..
Also, you then get the benefit of the wide Scope screen image with 2.35:1 movies.. 



> Would I gain anything by moving the L/R channels to the corners of the room thus leaving then exposed?


No gain really and if they are too close to the corners, you'll have boundary issues..



> Or will my wanting of a clean look outweigh the diminished performance of the speakers behind a false wall because that is what I really want to do.


With the spacings mentioned above, I don't think you'll lose anything and have a lot to gain..


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## joonbug99 (Feb 24, 2011)

Prof

Thanks for your time and advice. I am going to put the speakers behind the AT. I'll keep ya posted as to how it goes. 

Thanks again.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I'll be interested to see the results..:T


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