HTM1D In A Cabinet

[blackmatterx]

Hi, I'm currently running out of room and I am considering having a cabinet custom made to sit over the top of the HTM1D. The TV will sit directly on top of the cabinet and will be flanked on either side by the amps, sources' etc. Due to the ports being rear-facing it will be an open back design. I'm keen to hear from anyone who has installed a HTM1D inside a cabinet to find out if it has made any discernible changes to the sound.

Thanks
Matt

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by blackmatterx

Hi, I'm currently running out of room and I am considering having a cabinet custom made to sit over the top of the HTM1D. The TV will sit directly on top of the cabinet and will be flanked on either side by the amps, sources' etc. Due to the ports being rear-facing it will be an open back design. I'm keen to hear from anyone who has installed a HTM1D inside a cabinet to find out if it has made any discernible changes to the sound.

Matt.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado. You haven't been posting much since April. Drop by more often. Thanks for supporting this great audio forum right from the get go.

The B&W HTM1D is a damn big center channel speaker to be sticking in a cabinet, and doing so will impact its sound to some degree. Leaving the rear open for the port is a good move, and also keeping the HTM1D as far forward in the opening will improve what your hear. If I were needing to have that speaker inside a shelf opening, I would want the front edge of the speaker out to the front edge of the shelf so that the drivers were as far forward and out of the cavity as far as possible.

[KahunaCanuck]

Good advice from Dan! I can't imagine putting it into a cabinet...it will have to be huge!

[blackmatterx]

Thanks for the input Dan. I hate to put it in a cabinet but at this stage it is taking up 26" of room in front of my other gear and has become a negative talking point in the house. Perhaps I will make more of a "hutch" rather than a cabinet. The hutch will also provide some protection from sticky little fingers!

DSC_2538.jpg

[GaryProtein]

Originally Posted by blackmatterx

Thanks for the input Dan. I hate to put it in a cabinet but at this stage it is taking up 26" of room in front of my other gear and has become a negative talking point in the house. Perhaps I will make more of a "hutch" rather than a cabinet. The hutch will also provide some protection from sticky little fingers!

If that sort of thing is a problem, you should consider one of those electronic dog shocking collars if anyone gets too close!

[o0OBillO0o]

That's the challenge with the center channel speaker, yet they are the most important in multichannel audio.

What I keep coming back to is placing the center tweeter at the same height as the L/R speaker (or at least w/in 12-18in, vertically.)

SO.. I think the best solution is to compromise the Flat panel TV placement and purchase a acoustically transparent screen and a nice projector. Which isn't cheap either.

i.e. put the center on your cabinet and mount the TV higher. Then have a drop down acoustically transparent screen for Movies.

[blackmatterx]

Originally Posted by GaryProtein

If that sort of thing is a problem, you should consider one of those electronic dog shocking collars if anyone gets too close!

Haha, I think the Wife would quickly see me wearing my own dog collar and moving into the doghouse too!! But I will definitely have to set up a small child proof fence before long!

[blackmatterx]

Originally Posted by o0OBillO0o

That's the challenge with the center channel speaker, yet they are the most important in multichannel audio.

What I keep coming back to is placing the center tweeter at the same height as the L/R speaker (or at least w/in 12-18in, vertically.)

SO.. I think the best solution is to compromise the Flat panel TV placement and purchase a acoustically transparent screen and a nice projector. Which isn't cheap either.

i.e. put the center on your cabinet and mount the TV higher. Then have a drop down acoustically transparent screen for Movies.

I do like your suggestion about the transparent screen and projector. Maybe one day I'll get there. I need to focus on the amp upgrades first

[Rod#S]

ahhh, a glorious HTM1D in rosenut, AWESOME! The HTM1 is an absolute beast. I can't imagine putting it in a cabinet. Due to it's size and I imagine because of the weight it's designed to sit on the floor and not even to be placed on a stand. Putting something that heavy and with such low bass capabilities in a cabinet is bound to resonate the cabinet which would impact the sound and also have the side effect of vibrating everything else on/in the cabinet including the speaker itself. Now if the speaker is still going to sit on the floor with the cabinet only over and around then that mitigates the resonance transfer problem but I would be concerned about the degradation of the sound from the mid range and tweeter once placed in a confined space.

I never thought these words would come from my mouth or from my fingers in this case but if the beauty can't be left out in the open I think a step down to a HTM2 might be worth consideration, at least until you can arrange to have the HTM1 put out in a room again. Wow, did I just say that?

Just curious, what are your other speakers?

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by o0OBillO0o

i.e. put the center on your cabinet and mount the TV higher. Then have a drop down acoustically transparent screen for Movies.

I used to have an acoustically transparent Stewart screen, I didn't listen to my video tech at the time who tried to talk me out of it.

It turned out to be a $6000 mistake, as it killed the video quality and muffled the center channel.

Just sayin.