[Chewbacca]

Hello Friends!

I recently received my NX-Otica kit, and I've been quite excited...  before I pulled the trigger on them fully, I wanted to make sure they fit properly in the room, they weren't too intrusive, etc... So doing this kind of thing for a living, I drew up my Living Room in SolidWorks to mess with placement, and different options.

Here's a picture of my living room as of today. I was doing some critical listening, so I had my coffee table and ottomans moved. I just have all the diffusers movable at the moment:





Here's some pics of the model I made with the Oticas in the Living Room. The red guys are going to be 244 type movable bass traps. The left one most likely having a Pi Audio MR T attached to it. I'll probably experiment with some better bass trapping as well. Maybe even just stuff insulation behind the record cabinet for a start :











I have to get a little creative with my ceiling reflections, given the uneven surface. But I think with some cut down diffusion and an a-typical size bass trap, we can make it work:








Here's what I want to try to do... I didn't spend any time placing room treatments on this yet though. Really would love some symmetry, and the ability to get about 6-7' off the wall behind the speakers, and further opened up to the back. Get a projector, or a flip down TV mount... I really don't dig projector quality (historically at least, I'm sure they're much better now):





and what we really want...





So currently I haven't done too much on the kit, minus get the materials for finishing them, which I'll probably start this weekend.

Currently I've been putting together the crossover, and if someone could verify that this is correct, that would be great.

The heat shrink is only for purposes of showing white speaker cable. The little bypass cap is inside the big bundle. The wire at the bottom right tied to the medium sized Sonicap is just solder wire as reference to where to connect back to ground:





I tried my best to design a network that used the least amount of speaker wire as possible. Using only the leads of the components when possible. I think (if it's correct LOL) it's a pretty neat network. I haven't fully finished twisting everything together, but didn't want to get too far unless I did do something wrong. Thanks!

[Early B.]

Placing the subs inside the speakers may screw up your imaging. Room dimensions would also be helpful. 

[Chewbacca]

Here's a plan view of the room:

[Chewbacca]

Placing the subs inside the speakers may screw up your imaging. Room dimensions would also be helpful.

I see what you're saying. How much does it matter that you separate the back wave of the woofers 36" from the front wall? I had them at 36" before, measured from the middle baffle. Below is shown at 29".

[Chewbacca]

This probably would be ideal:







Just not as welcoming IMO. Plus - as it is, it's nice to have the good positions in the dining room with both speakers in clear view.

[cjsailer]

So on the network's mid circuit, you have the sonic cap in shunt, which provides the negative out wire.  It appears to be connected to another wire which is connected to the insulation of the positive woofer out wire. What's that for?  I'm probably just seeing this wrong.

Edit, I read your post a little more closely, now I understand. Sorry!

[Chewbacca]

So on the network's mid circuit, you have the sonic cap in shunt, which provides the negative out wire.  It appears to be connected to another wire which is connected to the insulation of the positive woofer out wire. What's that for?  I'm probably just seeing this wrong.

Edit, I read your post a little more closely, now I understand. Sorry!

Hi cjsailer! Thanks for checking out the circuit for me!

Below I've provided a better picture explaining that part of the circuit. I think it's correct? Although maybe a bit different than most...

From what I see, a lot of people will connect for instance (3) leads off the positive speaker terminal, one to high, one to mid, one to low. I'm trying to get rid of this as much as possible and splice as far up the line to eliminate as much redundant circuitry as I can. The only negative I could see (which IMO should be a positive?) is that at points you're running nearly the whole signal through one piece of the 14ga speaker wiring on the xover... Hopefully that's not an issue?





So, for simplicities sake (this does not match my xover, this is just a general question), I've made a quick sketch explaining what I'm trying to do:





Is there an issue with splicing down the line like box #2?

[Tyson]

Don't put the subs between the speakers.  And not the equipment rack either if you can help it - both will mess with imaging.  If you "must" have the equipment rack there, use something that's low and wide instead of narrow and tall.

[Chewbacca]

Don't put the subs between the speakers.  And not the equipment rack either if you can help it - both will mess with imaging.  If you "must" have the equipment rack there, use something that's low and wide instead of narrow and tall.

Thanks for the input Tyson.

Is this due to them simply being in between the speakers (the placement of bass being reproduced), or is this more of an interaction of the Oticas with the Subs between them? i.e. Reflections from the Oticas to the sub boxes, and mentioned equipment rack.

I did notice Ron, from New Record Day has his OB subs between his Oticas, but they're placed completely behind the back of his Oticas... I could do a setup like this if I set my room up the more "ideal" way of turning the setup 90°. There's plenty of room behind the speakers.

I'd have to mess more with placement a bit to find a way if I could get the subs on the outside of the speakers... I did try this a little bit, but to make it work (from what I remember) it had to push the speakers too close together, which just closed up the living room trying to maintain the equilateral triangle.

Yes yes... You guys are thinking I should have gotten the NX-Otica MTM's...

[Chewbacca]

So, for simplicities sake (this does not match my xover, this is just a general question), I've made a quick sketch explaining what I'm trying to do:





Is there an issue with splicing down the line like box #2?

I just watched Danny's Youtube video he made 20 or so hours ago about wiring up the "minis", and he did a run similar to option #2, so I don't think this will be a problem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m3dH5OpZMw

He does it a little after 8mins in. Timely information

[tull skull]

I'm sure you already know this but the big screen is going to work against everything you are trying to do....as are the subs...as are the foot rests...as are the  .

It's a frustrating elixir of small compromises isn't it?! 

[Early B.]

I'm sure you already know this but the big screen is going to work against everything you are trying to do....as are the subs...as are the foot rests...as are the  .

Glad you said it...

OP -- what's your goal? Is this room primarily for home theater or music? If for HT, then you're OK. But for music, you'll need to make some adjustments.  You got a lot of stuff you're trying to jam into that room. Keep it simple.

[Chewbacca]

I'm sure you already know this but the big screen is going to work against everything you are trying to do....as are the subs...as are the foot rests...as are the  .

It's a frustrating elixir of small compromises isn't it?! 

Yeah, it's certainly a lot of compromises

But if I do the 90° turned setup, I'll either get a projector or a automated ceiling tv mount that can pull the tv close to flat to the ceiling for music listening. Yeah, not perfect, but I'm sure it would help! I may play around with this model over the weekend and see if I can figure out a way to get the subs to the outside of the speakers... I'll have a little time on that though, I'll be playing the Oticas with a 15" rythmik for a few months before the OBs.

[Chewbacca]

Glad you said it...

OP -- what's your goal? Is this room primarily for home theater or music? If for HT, then you're OK. But for music, you'll need to make some adjustments.  You got a lot of stuff you're trying to jam into that room. Keep it simple.

Music 100% priority. HT falls wherever it falls. Only ever plan on a 2.1 (2.2 with OB) setup. Never had an issue with wanting a center or surround speakers.

Yeah... the room is a little busy. It's the main living area, which is connected to the dining room. It's a smallish house, and this is the only space with (almost) enough room for a setup.

[Early B.]

Music 100% priority. HT falls wherever it falls. Only ever plan on a 2.1 (2.2 with OB) setup. Never had an issue with wanting a center or surround speakers.

Yeah... the room is a little busy. It's the main living area, which is connected to the dining room. It's a smallish house, and this is the only space with (almost) enough room for a setup.

This is a very important question -- are you influenced by a significant other with what you can do with this room?

[Chewbacca]

This is a very important question -- are you influenced by a significant other with what you can do with this room?

Yes and no... I'm currently engaged... Which is probably why I'm draining my bank account on all the audio upgrades lol!

She has said, and I quote "the living room is your area"... She's a huge music fanatic and is starting to get pretty into the audiophile world as well, and especially the DIY aspect. She was enthralled with helping on the crossover.

So more or less, I can do whatever I want... within reason... for now... maybe

[Early B.]

She has said, and I quote "the living room is your area"...

Congrats on the engagement,  but don't believe this!!!!!

You may as well include her in on the plans for the living room now or deal with the fallout later.

[Chewbacca]

Congrats on the engagement,  but don't believe this!!!!!

You may as well include her in on the plans for the living room now or deal with the fallout later.

Thanks for the congratulations btw!

Yes yes, She has been included in on this. I am well aware of the nuclear fallout that could ensue on making "my room" the way I want it She didn't seem too opposed to moving the room 90°, but in my opinion it's not totally ideal either. It probably wouldn't be so bad as it is currently if I just center myself within the room, but I'm centering myself around the TV which is placed directly between the windows, which are not symmetrical within the room. The TV would overlap part of the left window if I centered it as is. Again, could eliminate this with a projector screen.

Open to any and all ideas!

[Chewbacca]

So I was just looking at a post from sledwards, and it looks like he has his OB subs placed behind his Oticas but not totally out of the way of them. Obviously the frequency is omni, but would it cause much of an issue if I took that a little bit more extreme?

Here's a pic of his setup... which is absolutely STUNNING btw:





I did a quick sketch to show what I'm talking about; I'm not at home, so I don't have access to the model of my room, so bear with me (also didn't remember the exact sizes of speakers/subs):




Thoughts?

[cjsailer]

Chewy, I don't know enough about crossovers to advise.  I just like looking at what other people do and get ideas for when I finally wire up the crossover for my Oticas.  I'm pretty literal when it comes to interpreting the networks.  So I'm inclined to do separate leads for each circuit just so that the layout is visually clear and can be easily compared to the schematic.