[skeeter99]

Guys,

I'm kicking around the idea and have been talking to Danny about having a custom set of X-Statik's and an X-Voce built for me. I can build a box just fine but I've never veneered before and quite frankly, don't have the patience to learn  I know my limitations and that is one of them! Haha! This will be for our living room which, for now, is the only "room" I have as I've given the space I've used for our theater to my kids to use 

Usage is primarily TV and Movies and occasional music. I rarely just sit down and listen to music anymore so dialog clarity and imaging for movies are more important to me at this point. I've had X-Statik's before and currently have an X-Voce for Center and it does excellent for TV's and Movies. We typically use our 4th Gen Apple TV or a Blu-Ray player for content and I have a pretty good quality Marantz SR-7008 receiver. It's a bit older at this point but it really gives us very little to the newer versions.

So I asked Danny if he'd be ok with me reaching out to Salk Sound as they do custom built speakers and he was cool with it. I reached out to Jim today and have started the conversation. He's never built these before so I sent him the drawings and links and is going to get back to me.

I plan on doing the Sonicap and Mills Resistor upgrade but am thinking it might be better to either (A) get all new parts for the crossovers and do a full point to point crossover or (B) do the upgraded parts AND de-solder all the old parts and point to point wire. Given my above usage, though, this might be an exercise in futility and the increased clarity from point to point may be negligible for what I'll be primarily using the setup for.

Regarding finishes, and this is one of the key reasons I'm thinking of having Salk build these, there are SO MANY options that it's almost mind boggling! A few of the finishes I'm thinking of are as follows:

S3e with Silver Gray over Maple Veneer


S3 with Gray Burst over Maple Veneer


Song Towers with Silver Gray over Maple


Song Towers in Zebra Wood with black accents


S3 with Rose Red over Maple Veneer



These would be going in this room (I'll see if I can get a better picture tonight of the space)



What do you all think of these finishes? Which one is tops?

We have brownish stained bamboo flooring with Gray Walls and White Trim, Gray Couches with Blue and Red/White accent cushions. I've got an MFW-15 now but might replace it, we'll see how much this ends up costing ... lol!

Saving me some time trying to search through the archives, what have those of you that have built these yourselves done?? Show me the pictures 

I'm not in any hurry to do this, I haven't gotten myself anything new for a while (besides the PR X-LS' I just bought yesterday but those hardly count  ) so I'd like to do this right and get what I'm going to be happy with.

And ... go. Ready for comments/questions/etc! Haha!

Thanks all!

Scott

[skeeter99]

Pics of the room

[Captainhemo]

As I mentioned, I'll let  a  Dodge "tequilla Sunrise"  pair of  Oticas go for a good price and , you could drive up  and hear them . Upgraded with  Platinum/Jupiter bypass caps,  gortz Alpha Core inductor on  mid range, and   M165x wofers



I love these  and  am actually scareed to let them go , but,  I need to hear the  Super7's for a  while.... can always  go back  and build another  set of these if  miss them too much

jay

[skeeter99]

Oh is that what you were talking about Jay?? Haha! I don't frequent the forums enough so I didn't know what you were talking about. It was one of those smile and nod moments 

Let me know what the price would be, I could possibly be interested. I don't think I have the space for them in my room would be the biggest problem and I have no way to pull them out into the room very far.

[HT cOz]

Oh is that what you were talking about Jay?? Haha! I don't frequent the forums enough so I didn't know what you were talking about. It was one of those smile and nod moments 

Let me know what the price would be, I could possibly be interested. I don't think I have the space for them in my room would be the biggest problem and I have no way to pull them out into the room very far.

I'm not sure Xstatic is a good choice if you can't pull them out into the room.  Generally they would like ~3 feet behind them to not smear the sounds.  Maybe N3 or a boxed design would be better.

[skeeter99]

Hmm, I just measured and I can only get about 18" away from the back wall. I do have acoustic panels behind where they would go. Crud, would these not work well here?

[Captainhemo]

Ideally you  want that   3'  minimum.
As  Coz  says,   the  N3tL's  would work well and they are a  wonderful lspeaker
The NX - Otica's  require about the same  space as the  Statiks, pretty much the same  size speaker   aside from the   10 degree wedge of the  Otica's.

jay

[mlundy57]

If you can get the back of the X-Statiks 18”’off the wall that would put the open baffle section pretty close to 3’ from the wall. Unlike the Oticas, the bottom section of the X-Statiks are not open baffle.

As for finish, the whole point of paying for a custom finish to to get what you and your wife like. You’re the ones that will be looking at them every day.

Mike

[skeeter99]

I can get the back of the TOP SECTION 18" off the back wall, I wish it was the back of the bass portion of the cabinet! This is a pretty shallow room from the sitting position.

And, yes, I know the point of the custom finish is for us, I'm just curious what others think as well

[mlundy57]

In that case the X-Statiks are not the best speaker for that situation.

The N3s are wonderful speakers and have the matching N3S center speaker. By reversing the transmission line and having the port open to the front the N3s can be placed fairly close to the wall.

Another option would be the Skinny 6s with the Flat 5 center speaker.

Mike

[skeeter99]

Well poops! I was getting all excited! I've heard the N3's are great speakers and I'm sure they sound really good but I dunno ... 

And I'm sure I'm just being dumb, but there's something about large center channels that appeals to me. The N3S is just so little! Lol!

[mlundy57]

Well poops! I was getting all excited! I've heard the N3's are great speakers and I'm sure they sound really good but I dunno ... 

And I'm sure I'm just being dumb, but there's something about large center channels that appeals to me. The N3S is just so little! Lol!

In that case, check out the Flat 5. While it is only 4-1/2” tall it is 32” wide and 13-3/4” deep.

[skeeter99]

Yeah, tall skinny speakers or wide and low speakers don't aesthetically appeal to me. Not for the living room at least.

[HT cOz]

I built some M3 a few years back while the profile is not huge, nothing small about the sound. 


If you are going as far as getting custom cabinets you could, with Danny's help, wisely choose some drivers and Danny might design a custom speaker for you.  I think he only requires you to buy the crossover and pay for mock up etc.  There are lots of cool options available if you go that route. 

[mlundy57]

Yeah, tall skinny speakers or wide and low speakers don't aesthetically appeal to me. Not for the living room at least.

Then go with the X-MTM Encore for the main speakers and the X-Voce for the center channel. The X-MTM Encore is the X-CS Encore in a ported floor standing cabinet.

[skeeter99]

I built some M3 a few years back while the profile is not huge, nothing small about the sound. 


If you are going as far as getting custom cabinets you could, with Danny's help, wisely choose some drivers and Danny might design a custom speaker for you.  I think he only requires you to buy the crossover and pay for mock up etc.  There are lots of cool options available if you go that route. 

See, add two more drivers below the N3's pair and on the N3S flank them to each side for the center, now we're talking! I dunno, I'm a sucker for lots of drivers staring me in the face. Haha!

Have you heard the X-Statik's? How would you compare the bass response? On the center, do you notice any boxiness in the sound? Moving from an OB Center to an enclosed makes me nervous I'm going to be wanting that OB sound again ...

[skeeter99]

Then go with the X-MTM Encore for the main speakers and the X-Voce for the center channel. The X-MTM Encore is the X-CS Encore in a ported floor standing cabinet.

The MTM Encore is an option, I haven't heard them but I've heard the CS Encore and it should just have more bass than the CS.

[apstoltz]

on your cabinet color I really like the salk work. I like the first pic with the silver gray over maple. I had a pair of his bookshelves that were a cherry burst with the darker edges and it looked killer. Jim does nice work.

[Tyson]

What about 5 of Danny's new Studio Monitor, it's semi-OB and uses the phenomenal Neo3 as the tweeter.  For immersion, you really can't do better than identical speakers, especially across the front. 

[skeeter99]

on your cabinet color I really like the salk work. I like the first pic with the silver gray over maple. I had a pair of his bookshelves that were a cherry burst with the darker edges and it looked killer. Jim does nice work.

Yeah the "burst" ones look pretty cool I like the first one too, it was both me and Lisa's favorite