[Kev]

I have been looking at the Selah products for several months but it's difficult to make a decision since I haven't been able to hear the products.  My application is probably 90% home theater with some CD use.  I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver, 7 channels x 130 with a sub out and selectable crossover, Sony blu-ray player and Vizio 47" LCD TV, so shielding is not an issue.
Current speakers: (most are 20+ years old)
Front: 6.5" peerless with Dynaudio D28 1" silk tweeter
Center: Deftech with 2 5.25 and 1" aluminum tweeter
Sub: 18" JBL T-180 x 2, crossed at 80 hz.
Rear: B&W cwm 800, 8" 2 way in-wall

I'm planning to replace everything except the rears.  The room is roughly 15' long and 14' wide.  I like more bass than most audiophiles but want to keep the vocals as accurate as possible. 

I'm considering 3 Tanzanite or 3 SSR and a pair of 12" subs, with Rick's group doing the woodwork.

If anyone has heard the SSR and the Tanzanite, I would be interested in a comparison between the two, particularly with regard to female vocals and low end punch when mixed with a sub. 

I'm also curious whether a pair of Whomps (or Citrine) put out enough bass for a system that is almost exclusively home theater.  The small box of the Whomp is appealing but I wonder if something with a longer throw might suit me better.  The Peerless driver lists an x-max of 12.5 mm and is marketed as a musical sub while the Dayton Titanic lists 18.7 mm as a home theater sub.  I would like to stay in th 1-2 cubic foot range for subs.

[Rick Craig]

I have been looking at the Selah products for several months but it's difficult to make a decision since I haven't been able to hear the products.  My application is probably 90% home theater with some CD use.  I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver, 7 channels x 130 with a sub out and selectable crossover, Sony blu-ray player and Vizio 47" LCD TV, so shielding is not an issue.
Current speakers: (most are 20+ years old)
Front: 6.5" peerless with Dynaudio D28 1" silk tweeter
Center: Deftech with 2 5.25 and 1" aluminum tweeter
Sub: 18" JBL T-180 x 2, crossed at 80 hz.
Rear: B&W cwm 800, 8" 2 way in-wall

I'm planning to replace everything except the rears.  The room is roughly 15' long and 14' wide.  I like more bass than most audiophiles but want to keep the vocals as accurate as possible. 

I'm considering 3 Tanzanite or 3 SSR and a pair of 12" subs, with Rick's group doing the woodwork.

If anyone has heard the SSR and the Tanzanite, I would be interested in a comparison between the two, particularly with regard to female vocals and low end punch when mixed with a sub. 

I'm also curious whether a pair of Whomps (or Citrine) put out enough bass for a system that is almost exclusively home theater.  The small box of the Whomp is appealing but I wonder if something with a longer throw might suit me better.  The Peerless driver lists an x-max of 12.5 mm and is marketed as a musical sub while the Dayton Titanic lists 18.7 mm as a home theater sub.  I would like to stay in th 1-2 cubic foot range for subs.

For the center channel do you plan to place it vertically?

[Christof]

Sounds like a good application for the Chalcedony design.  This is not featured as one of Ricks standard kits but it is essentially a Tanzanite + Whomp in one slim cabinet, I think you can see it in his gallery on the website.  I owned this design for a couple years and thought it was excellent for 2ch applications but it would be very well suited for HT as well...use with a Sardonx (sp??) as a center and Tanzanite rears.   There is less cabinet work involved so the price might be lower than Tanzanites with seperate Whomp subs.  You are going down a good path.

Ask not if the bass can handle your room but rather if your room can handle the bass....the 12" XLS in a 1 cu.ft box will have no problem filling a room like yours, my room is nearly 8 times the size of yours and the Whomps would have no problem beating my brains out in it 

[Kev]

The center speaker would be standing up.

I looked at the Chalcedony but I'm pretty much limited to bookshelves on the sides because of other furniture in the room.  Truck freight also made the cost of 2 Chalcedony's higher than 2 Whomps and 2 Tanzanites.

What fits the room best is to have the center and both subs under the TV.
I can't fit a Sardonix and Subs, but I can fit a Tanzanite or SSR and subs.
If I do separate cabinets for subs and center there would only be 3-4" between them.  Rick and I traded e-mails about combining a Citrine and an SSR in one cabinet for the center channel.

Bass that beats my brains out.
Sounds inviting.

[musicman06]

Yeah the center channel can be interesting with limited space... have you thought about skipping it and going the phantom route. Some people like this, personally I don't recommend it especially for 90% HT.

I have the Whomp sub with Tanzanite fronts and S7 rears, and the Sardonyx center. I'm about 50/50 movies and music and listen to music in 2.1, movies and concert DVDs 5.1. The small room doesn't need but may benefit from a second sub.

I did lots of research before going this route last winter. The SSR would put out more bass, but with the subs that wouldn't be a concern. I like the 3-way design of the Tanzanites and prefer the SEAS Excel woofer to the Scanspeak used in the SSR. Better detail while the Scanspeak is warmer IMO. I haven't personally heard the SSR's though. The Whomp will play loud enough and deep enough to satisfy most bass desires, though some other subs will reach deeper at audible levels.