[sta2lt]

My name is Mark, I am looking to build speakers for home theater. I am an accomplished woodworker, not so much on the electronics side of things, however I can follow directions and solider. Mostly I build furniture.

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome 
On building enclosures for speakers you cant go wrong if follow the golden ratio proportions, in this case the enclosure dont need braces for block resonance.

[JLM]

Welcome!

Don't make the mistake many do of an MTM (mid-woofer/tweeter/mid-woofer) center channel design that only provides good performance when listening from straight on.  Best to look into matching 2-way left-front, center, right-front design that uses a 6 - 8 inch mid-woofer. 

[Phil A]

Welcome!  There's stuff like this where you have to build the enclosure and they give you plans - http://gr-research.com/avserieskits.aspx

[borism]

Welcome Mark! I would also look into the DIY Soundgroup offerings for home theater speakers (https://www.diysoundgroup.com). They have some nice designs and if you like you can build your own enclosures or get a flat pack. I built a pair of speakers from their site a few years back and really liked them.

[Mudslide]

Beautiful woodwork on those chairs, Mark.  I'm envious of your skill.

Couple of questions to consider before embarking on your build....

Do you have a budget in mind?
Will you be listening to much music through the speakers?
What is the size of your home theater room?
Will you be using 2,3,5,7, or 9 speakers?
Will you want a subwoofer (or two or more)?

With these questions answered, we can likely steer you in a good direction.  Otherwise, we'll just be throwing bubble gum against the wall to see if it sticks...or tossing out a barrage of our favorite speakers to no good end.

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC Mark      Lovely furniture. 

[WGH]

Hi Mark,
Nice chairs, I have made a few and they are hard with too many parts, my niche was custom one-of-a-kind entry doors. Because I was woodworking full time I bought Salk Sound speakers but I did make the mesquite veneer that I sent to Jim Salk. Another reason I bought speakers is because I heard Salk speakers at RMAF, loved them and realized I would never be able to design/make speakers that sounded as good.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=100672.msg1015847#msg1015847

You will have a lot of time invested in making your speakers, woodworkers don't do shortcuts very well so you will want to build them right the first time and use excellent drivers with a well designed crossover. My speakers have 2 - Seas W18 woofers and a RAAL tweeter, the Seas are $287.20 each, the RAAL is $423. The total for parts alone would be $1100 for each speaker and the Left, Right, and Center speaker components should match exactly so dialog tonality is consistent across the three front speakers.

GR Research speakers are a solid choice, both conventional and open baffle. If you go with open baffle make sure you can position them with 3'-4' behind the speakers so they perform optimally.
http://gr-research.com/

Sela Audio has high end speaker kits to fit all budgets, Rick Craig is an excellent speaker designer and I wouldn't hesitate building one of his designs.
http://www.selahaudio.com/

[WGH]

The Philharmonic Audio BMR Philharmonitor speaker kit designed by Dennis Murphy would make an outrageous 5.2 or 7.2 home theater setup because the Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers and RAAL tweeter have great off-axis performance. Dennis is the crossover designer for all of Salk Sound speakers so you know they sound good. $976.44 a pair from Meniscus Audio
http://www.philharmonicaudio.com/

https://meniscusaudio.com/product/philharmonic-audio-bmr-speaker-kit/


A custom BMR Philharmonitor is available from Salk Sound
http://salksound.com/model.php?model=BMR+Monitors



You would have to work with Dennis to design a matching horizontal center channel speaker. He is very generous with his time and advise as shown by the voluminous Philharmonic Audio thread on AVS Forum. Discussion of the BMR speaker kit starts around page 314 but if you have been on AVS Forum you know how rambling the discussion can get. The last page in the thread has DIY build examples.
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/1348949-philharmonic-audio-dennis-murphy.html

Add a sub or two and you wouldn't have to upgrade for a long, long time. GR Research sells servo sub kits, both sealed and open baffle.
http://gr-research.com/diysubwooferkits.aspx

[Mudslide]

The Philharmonic Audio BMR Philharmonitor speaker kit designed by Dennis Murphy would make an outrageous 5.2 or 7.2 home theater setup because the Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers and RAAL tweeter have great off-axis performance. Dennis is the crossover designer for all of Salk Sound speakers so you know they sound good. $976.44 a pair from Meniscus Audio
http://www.philharmonicaudio.com/

https://meniscusaudio.com/product/philharmonic-audio-bmr-speaker-kit/


A custom BMR Philharmonitor is available from Salk Sound
http://salksound.com/model.php?model=BMR+Monitors



You would have to work with Dennis to design a matching horizontal center channel speaker. He is very generous with his time and advise as shown by the voluminous Philharmonic Audio thread on AVS Forum. Discussion of the BMR speaker kit starts around page 314 but if you have been on AVS Forum you know how rambling the discussion can get. The last page in the thread has DIY build examples.
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/1348949-philharmonic-audio-dennis-murphy.html

Add a sub or two and you wouldn't have to upgrade for a long, long time. GR Research sells servo sub kits, both sealed and open baffle.
http://gr-research.com/diysubwooferkits.aspx

Lacking any knowledge of the OPs desires or requirements....I'll say that the BMR gets my vote!  Good to build.  Great speaker.  Reasonably affordable.

[sta2lt]

Wow what a response to my intro, way to make a guy feel welcome.

My primary goal is to have a good 5.1.2 or 4 home theater set up, looking for the atmos and surround effects. We do very little or no critical listening but do some back ground music while doing other things.

My living room is irregular shaped open design with kitchen and dining area. 10 foot flat ceilings.  I currently have 2 Yamaha ceiling speakers that were installed when we built the house. I do not have a atmos AVR yet but plan to buy one when Yamaha comes out with the new versions later this year. I have a Paradigm Sub.

I have been frustrated with how to find quality speakers for a fair price, not sure how I found GR Research but was taken with what I learned about quality components. At this point I have been looking at XL-S and the  A/V series. I need to have bookshelf type speakers for the L R fronts. Due to space and builtin cabinets the Flat 5 would be perfect for my center. Can some one tell me how the flat five would work with the A/V or XL-S? Looks like I would have to wait for the Flat 5 parts for a bit.

Give me a bit to read and digest all of the input you guys have given!

Thanks again for the warm welcome and input.

Mark

[JLM]

Creative Sound Solutions (css-audio.com) offers a variety of completeness of kits.  Workmanship is the kits and CNC cabinets are the best I've ever seen.  Know you do woodworking but their CNC cabinets would be hard to beat.  Have heard the P215, but for an extra $80 each recommend the Criton 1TD. 

[WGH]

At this point I have been looking at XL-S and the  A/V series. I need to have bookshelf type speakers for the L R fronts. Due to space and builtin cabinets the Flat 5 would be perfect for my center. Can some one tell me how the flat five would work with the A/V or XL-S? Looks like I would have to wait for the Flat 5 parts for a bit.

Both the XL-S and A/V series are rear ported if that matters. If the speakers are going to be on a bookshelf a front ported or sealed speaker designed/voiced to be placed close to the wall will sound better. And you can't take a bookshelf speaker and lay it on it's side on a shelf, the dispersion pattern, horizontal and vertical off-axis response will be all screwed up.

Questions about placement of GR speakers can be asked in the GR Research Circle. You will get expert advise here:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=16