Question Building Surround Channels, I need your advice

Sean Pen

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Afternoon all

So the first question no doubt popping into your minds is why?
Easy, I love a project, no other reason than building things with nice wood and sticking some electronics in it is a win win for me. My 'man cave' is coming on nicely and I've explored buying some off the shelf items. I run a full Onkyo setup (centre, L&R, and rear surrounds), nothing wrong with it but being off the shelf I can't help but think I'd like more quality and better aesthetics.

The off the shelf stuff is great but for me it's 'too easy' and takes some of the fun out of it.

Naturally I've been reading around the subject, there are many video's showing builds but not many write ups explaining things around my questions (not that I can find with a web search). Most searches involving crossovers focus around subwoofer settings or car audio stuff.

So first question; All the builds Ive seen use a crossover of some kind, If I use my AV receiver then can I use the inbuilt functions of this rather than use a crossover or have I missed something?

Second question; What speakers to use, I don't see a huge amount of websites listing various brands, a lot of it is also based in the US. (Parts express etc). Thus far the Dayton Audio stuff seems popular but there must be other choices.

I'm reasonably handy with the tools, I have built my own furniture and made my own LED lights before so the physical side of things is the easy bit as far as I'm concerned, I'd like to get the setup right though.

As always, opinions welcome, be gentle, im new to some of this stuff.

TIA
 
Forgot to mention, if all this works out then i'll build centre and L&R first then follow up with rears. Would also like to add Atmos channels too.
 
Building a box to house a speaker is an easy job for those of us that way inclined :)

However actually making it sound good is a different matter ...

Cross overs are normally used when speakers are referred to as 2 or 3 way speakers (or with a single driver in a satellite cube). They split the audio signal to 2 or 3 different speakers, tweeter, mid and bass.

That's one consideration, however the design of the cabinet has a big impact on sound and paired with the wrong driver can give all sorts of issues.

A square box won't necessarily sound that good, manufacturers include baffles, bass ports, sealed boxes, bracing, and will often move away from straight edges or corner traps.

That's why I would agree with Joe and start with a kit then you have a tried and tested design.
 
Thanks for the advice gents. I'll have a look at the website and come back with questions.
 

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