building a TV stand with speaker stands with emphasis on best possible sound

[twochordcool]

I'm in the final stages of planning to build a TV stand that will allow the B&W DM602 S3 speakers to be placed at the ideal height underneath the television - 3 on the same plane.

Doing it this way will require me to make the thing as long as possible, to spread out the soundstage as much as possible.

This may not be practical.

It also may be so long as to make getting to the wiring for everything a complete nightmare.

But maybe not.

I'm worried that doing it this way will limit how far apart I can make the speakers.

I want the speakers to sound as fantastic as possible, and I like when I can close my eyes and point to where the vocalist is or the bass player etc.

If I can't get the speakers spread out I may lose this.

So I have an idea for an alternative one in which only the center channel is stored underneath the television - with separate speaker stands for left and right...which will give me some flexibility in being able to move them around to try to find the "sweet spot".

Another thing to consider is the size of the room - and how much of the room is useable - and whether to place the stereo / TV along the shorter wall or along the wider wall - the room is not a perfect square - it's usable portion is approxamately 14' X 8' (The room is actually 14' X 12' but there are 2 doorways on the same side of the room - one doorway on one side and another directly across from it on the other side of the room making 4' of it unusable. (Can't put a speaker or a couch there)

I drew up 2 "approximations" of the ideas I have and I'm hoping to get good advice and tips from people who have been through this before. The following are the rough drawings of the ideas that I have kicking around inside my head. Please give your opinion on how you think I should go about this.

And feel free to ask any questions if I left out any vital information which you feel is necessary for determining the best way to go with this.

Thanks in advance.

:?

 

[twochordcool]

 

[twochordcool]

 

[twochordcool]

Option One:

<a href="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/6ldww"><img src="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/6ldww.jpg"></a>

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

I'd say you'd better play around with the speakers first to see what set up suits your needs. you've got wide enough room so the speakers could be 2m or more apart. but the limiting factor is where your sofa can be placed. I expect you've got no more than 2m from speaker plane to your listening position, so spreading the speakers too wide may not be the best idea. but you've got to hear for yourself. if you don't have any dedicated stands for your speakers ATM use books or whatever items you have handy and play around with different positioning of the speakers. only then you'll know if it's worthwhile to embed speaker stands into TV stand or to keep them separate.

 

[Crossie]

Hi 2CC

I am really interested in this project. Please be sure to publish photos as the build progresses. Sorry not to be able to offer any practical advice. Good luck :clap:

 

[twochordcool]

Thanks guys.

Crossie, this site wouldn't allow me to attach scanned jpeg copies of my drawings - I tried to. Perhaps I just haven't figured out how.

Right now my hold up is over deciding if I should build one long TV / speaker stand unit - or build a speaker stand with a compartment below for the center channel AND separate right and left speaker stands - there are pros and cons to both.

If I build one big long stand I'll have limitations to how much I can spread my speakers out. Will 6 feet center to center be enough? Does placing them in this stand affect the audio quality? Will I get better sound out of separate speakers stands with the ability to spread them out and widen the soundstage be better?

More ideas and help please!

Am I the only one to have ever done something like this? I doubt it!

 

[twochordcool]

Thanks guys! You guys are awesome! GINORMOUS help! :roll:

 

[twochordcool]

That's incredible advice - why didn't I think of that?

 

[twochordcool]

That's incredible advice - why didn't I think of that?

 

[twochordcool]

Man you guys are an incredible help. Who would have thought such an amazing magazine would have even better participants?!

 

[twochordcool]

Actual room I'm working with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG2BNpYklQE

 

[bigboss]

I can't see any pictures.

 

[The_Lhc]

I can't even see who he's talking to...

 

[Paul.]

Fixed the picture for you..

 

[twochordcool]

Paul I don't know how you dug that thing up! I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to attach that here! Anyway, there is another drawing - another option - I'd share it with you guys if I knew how to upload it.

 

[MajorFubar]

I can’t see your drawing because of security restrictions on the server I’m currently attached to, but bearing that in mind, my general opinion is that for your main front speakers, assuming they are general HiFi speakers, you’d be better off with dedicated stands, rather than build them into a home-brewed cabinet. I can see how the latter would attract you from the perspective of aesthetic homogeny, but I think you would compromise some of the audio qualities you crave. For a start, HiFi speakers need breathing space around them to convincingly convey the illusion of a 3D soundstage. Secondly, it’s possible that resonances from your cabinet will induce obvious colorations in the mid-upper bass region, making the bass boom.

 

[BenLaw]

Can see your picture now. You will want to get your fronts waaay wider than that - an equilateral triangle is ideal. Have a look at the av setup link in my signature for a similar cabinet with my fronts on separate stands.

 

[BenLaw]

Also, while having the front 3 speakers at the same height is great, another important consideration is trying to have tweeters at ear height. This is more readily achievable with the fronts on stands, with a compromise of having the centre lower.

 

[Paul.]

Paul I don't know how you dug that thing up! I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to attach that here! Anyway, there is another drawing - another option - I'd share it with you guys if I knew how to upload it.

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/off-topic-and-miscellaneous/how-to-post-photos-to-the-forum

Take a look at this thread, should explain it. Basically What Hifi don't have the server capacity to host the images, so you need to host them yourself and link the file. Also take heed of The_Lhc's comment about making sure the link you copy has .jpg on the end, other wise you are copying the wrong link

 

[twochordcool]

Thanks Ben - your stand / cabinet is very very similar to my second drawing, with the exception of mine accomodating a 19" bookshelf directly underneath the television for a center channel for movies only, as you would see if this message board allowed attachments like practically every other message board does!

 

[BenLaw]

I hope your second drawing has more measurements on it than the first!

 

[twochordcool]

Ben, I'm having a hard time grabbing the image from another message board with a smart phone and putting it up on this great but frustrating message board!

Just imagine the second drawing to being VERY similar to your main stand, but slightly taller to accomodate a B&W bookshelf speaker - since I have 3 pairs of them!

I have concluded that I will build separate stands for left and right. I am just hoping the main stand in the middle won't adversely affect the soundstage too much - and / or I can move them around enough to make for corrections.

 

[BenLaw]

If you post a link to it I can probably do it for you, although I'm not at home at the moment. I don't find any integration problems with my setup, although my speakers have the same drivers and I don't know if yours do. Obviously that's the compromise and your choice but personally I would say the compromise over lack of width and lack of future flexibility by putting them all in one cabinet would be greater.

 

[twochordcool]

I have three pairs of B&W DM 602 S3 speakers. I will probably be getting a Rotel AV receiver - hopefully the better one of the two they currently offer for North American consumers. I own a Rotel integrated amp which I will use for music, unless I don't hear any audible difference with the AV receiver in stereo mode.