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Any one using 4343's or similar in a surround setting? In the near future I'd like to add to my current setup. If possible, I'd like to hear what other's use for a center, side channel or surrounds in a multi channel setup or home theater setup. My mains are obviously my 4343's. What would be sonically correct? All thoughts would be appreciated
I don't have 4343 as my mains but they are similar as far as the drivers. 15' bass driver 10" mid and horn loaded compression drivers. I tried an L65 Jubal but that just didn't work out. The vertical height differences were too great between the center channel and the main horns. Also felt that it was being pushed to hard on some movies. I would clip a 300 watt amp on peaks. Have to admit it never really sounded bad though. Now I use a Urei 811C clone as my center channel. A 15' coax driver that works very well although size 4cu.FT could be a real issue. Same amp never clips and overall seems a much better match. Height no longer an issue. There are plenty of DIY options open if you want to go that way. If you have the room you could build a 4343 center clone :thmbsup:
Now were talking!!
Rob:)
Initial selection is subject to your bass management beliefs.
The acoustical properties of a room intended for surround has a lot to do with it too. JBL (Harman) and Genelec both have excellent multichannel reference papers on their sites.
I use 4435's in front and 4430's in the back.
I also use 4343s as main and I use my old L100 for surround. They lay on stands horizontaly.
see this thread
They work quite well, with EQ I can get the all system within +/- 3 dB at the listening position which makes it really nice for SACD and DVD-A.
Fred.
Infred and Rob, thanx for the reply. Rob. I like your idea. I have the space for another 4343 for a center. I'd like to keep it a bit smaller but hey. Question. Where can you get ONE center speaker? I'm crafty but cabinet making is not a specialty of mine. If I can't get a 4343 are there other model numbers that I could use or have someone build? Infred. I saw your pix. Nice! There is no center speaker? By the way. I am proud to say I still have the original grilles and cloth and faceplates. All still mint. Here's the thread. http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...&threadid=3548
No! I tried many times to use a center channel in my previous setup and couldn't bare that funky beamy voice paning in between three speakers.Quote:
There is no center speaker?
I really rarely watch movies and listen to music mostly in 2 channels. When I switch to multichannel music I don't think I miss anything without center. Of course my receiver is set to phantom.
Looking at your 4343s pic I noticed that it's not the original 2121 there. How come?
Fred.
There is a build thread for the 4344 on the site. Do a search for 4344. You should get plenty of hits. There are plans for the cabinets so you could have someone build a single. The layout is similar to the 4343 and the baffle could be modified to suit your needs. Getting the drivers might be an issue only for the 2121. Don't know if recone kits are available so you could use a 10" core with a fresh recone. The 2231A or H could be substituted with a 2235. The rest less the crossover is readilly available. The crossover you would have to build. As far as other alternatives?? Bass management is a key issue. If you run the center as small then you don't need a 2231/2235. You could use a smaller driver like 12" and go from there. If you want to use fullrange across the front a 4343 clone would obviously do it.
Rob:)
Like SteveW I have 4435's in front with 4430's in the rear. I have a pair of 4425's that will make it 7 channel surround for movies with the future purchase of an additional 4425 for the center. I have yet to buy a DVD player so my old Dolby Surround processor is it for now as far as movies go.
If you are wanting to keep your system a pure 43XX system & money isn't that big a deal, 4333's, 4331's or maybe 4315's should be fine to finish out your system. L-200's or L-300's would be good rear & surrounds if the wife is a factor since they are "prettier" and they basically match the 43XX's.
I've always heard that surround speakers should at least be the same "type" of driver to match the mains. Don't know how factual that is but that's why I'm using the 44XX all the way around. Well, I did get the 4430's dirt cheap. Hopefully in the not too distant future I will be able to afford hi-rez and true digital movie surround.
Hugh
After doing some measuring and a little research it looks like something like the 4311, 4312 4312a or the 4315 would best suit my needs. Which of these would sound close to the 4343 sitting between them as a center. Fred, I have 2122's in the mid because about ten years ago when I went to have them reconed I was told that the 2121 was no longer available. This was the replacement. Not knowing what I know now I have these. They're OK though.
I have been mucking around building a Surround system with JBL stuff for a while and the conclusion I have come to is the 3 front speakers should be the same.
The difference when they are the same is quite remarkable.
Having said that my current front speaker has a limited base response below 80 Hz but you don’t notice.
You can tell your THX control thing that the centre is “small” and it redirects the bass, you may or may not think this sounds better..
I couldn’t figure out how to fit another 18" driver in a 10 cubic foot enclosure for the centre speaker otherwise….
I was initially a bit worried about the height differences between the left right and center but found I don’t notice.
:smthsail:
I like to share my experience on this, sinceI had the same issue with my stereo system to be completed with a channel center.
After some listening trials (4311, L100, L26, 36, 4301,etc...), I came to the point that a center channel has to sound much more crisp to reproduce with the same accuracy and sufficient energy voices and various non-music noises and sounds at comfortable movie-like listening level.
After some design considerations, I eventually build up a 3 ways-design system including:
Bass/mid-bass: 2202 in a 85 Liters cubic cabinet
Med:2441/2395
Highs: 2402
Network: 800/7000, 12dB/oct slopes, mids and highs adjustable.
THis is a very easy going way, since the form and size of the cabinet is not critical, and couple 2441/2395 is just suspended to the cabitet with braces.
Positioning is as picture shows.
Is sounded immediately unbelievely natural and crisp, with a total absence of distortion and acoustic compression.
A very significant value is that with this design, the voices really seem to come from the picture (at 5 meters from listening point)
Of course some other combinations driver/acoustic lens could be considered. Alternatively 2441 can be successfully replaced by 2420/21 + 2327 but but I made trials with 2307/2308 and was not satisfied, since they are very far away from what I obtained with 2390, 2395 or 2345.
Melissa / pink noise CLIO measurement confirmed the flat frenquency response of the design.
I can be post explicit network shematic design for candidates to this experience but, I confess that a copy-paste of the 3110/ 3105 JBL networks morks wery well.
SO, cut, try, and enjoy!
Jerome, thanks for the post... that is an interesting solution.
I too am an advocate for three identical speakers across the front. As for sides and rears, in a HT environment I think you could get away with almost anything that has the SPL capacity to keep up and is reasonably neutral. For surround music I think 5 identical systems are ideal. Personally I wouldn't go beyond 5.1, but I suppose in some rooms there may be an advantage.
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