[CAC3779]

Hey guys -

New here and stumbled upon the GR-Research website last week while researching options to finish up my basement Music/HT setup.

I have a few questions on the NX-Otica and servo sub kits I couldn’t find complete answers on in the forum so I’m going to drop them here (I did see the flat pack and cross-over assembly options which looked very helpful).

Backstory: I don’t consider myself an audiophile by any means but set out to create a DIY music/HT setup about 5 years ago (different house at the time).  I went with Jim Holtz Statement II’s based on reviews and they came out looking and sounding great.  I love them so far.  I have all of the boxes assembled and painted with some fancy BMW automotive paint but only the two towers are fully completed with speakers and producing sound.  I’m just now getting ready to order parts for the center channel and rear surrounds along with 2 music subs to go with the towers to finish everything up.  Along with an upgraded amp for the front speakers I’m looking at a 5-6K budget for everything.

No flatpacks for these at the time so I thought they turned out pretty well.  First and last project cutting MDF at home for me – the dust was killer




Before pulling the trigger I wanted to see what other types of DIY flat packs were out there in case I wanted to go a different route and came across the Otica and servo subs which look to fall in the same 5-6K range (not counting finishing materials) so I’m mulling over switching things up a bit:

Current receiver: Denon InCommand X4200W – this is fine to drive the Otica’s correct?

I saw mention of a possible center channel in the forums for HT but nothing on the website.  What would be an option here and is anyone currently using the Otica’s in HT setup? (I’m about 75% music 25% HT).

I assume the NX-Studio would work fine as surrounds but are there any other options that would work?  Preferably a bit cheaper since they won’t get used a ton.

Space isn’t really a concern since I’m in the basement but I’m looking to do this once and be finished for a bit    Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

Jared

[corndog71]

While your Denon receiver will be adequate for driving any GR speakers it will be a bottleneck for truly high end sound.  Unless you plan on getting different electronics you might be better served by building X-Statiks.  They are still excellent speakers (my living room speakers) and an amazing value.  The X-Voce center channel speaker uses the same drivers for a perfect match.  Danny also has designed surround speakers with the X-On Wall.  All of these kits have flat packs available for easy assembly.

The X series speakers brought me into this clubhouse over a decade ago and I still love them.  You will get better transparency from the NX line but again if you’re only using a receiver to drive them then I wouldn’t bother.  I also recommend the sonicap/miflex upgrade as well as lining the cabinets with No Rez.

[CAC3779]

Hi Corndog, thanks for the response!  So the Denon receiver will be upgraded eventually.  Everything I've purchased so far has either been closeout pricing or deeply discounted once the new upgraded yearly models come out.  Once I realized the audio world was information overload when you go down the DIY rabbit hole I had to have a trigger to start purchasing equipment otherwise I'd spend all my time just reading about it and not actually listening - so closeout pricing was my trigger

For the Statements - Emotiva XPA amp will/would be the purchase for no other reason than others have had good results with them and they fall in a price range I'm willing to pay for equipment.  But for those I've been told more power = better results (to a degree). 

What would be considered a good entry level amp for the Oticas or these type of OB speakers?  I actually do recall reading about the X-Statiks prior to going the DIY route years ago - but I think they were sold assembled at the time if I remember correctly.  The looks reminded me of the Martin Login (theos I think) speaker I had auditioned but never pulled the trigger on.

If I go this route I'd probably purchase everything in reverse order than normal (and I'm sure there's probably shipping/ordering delays at this point).  Surrounds first just to get started building something for a winter project.  Subs next as I assume(?) they would work/blend well enough with the statement towers while I figured out what to do with them and then finally the Otica and whatever the center channel happened to be.

I'm open to source ideas as well as some things I have on my purchase list from a couple years ago appear to have been discontinued.  Oppo UDP-203 player being one and I don't see or can't seem to find what the replacement for it is.

[subsonic1050]

My personal opinion is that the Oticas are not the correct choice for a purely home theater speaker. If you plan to use them for home theater AND do some critical listening- then yes. For home theater only I think the quality of these speakers would be wasted. You'd be spending money and time for a quality of speaker you don't need and which won't sound better for home theater purposes than a lot of less expensive options. Also, when it comes to subwoofers, my opinion is that the open baffle subs are also not ideal for home theater. They lack the punch and rumble of a sealed sub. They're fantastic for music and they work fine for home theater as well, but if you plan to set up a dedicated home theater setup they aren't what I would choose.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

For home theater I've seen the X-Statik and X-MTM being the most often recommended models for HT setups.

[hawkeyejw]

OP said he is 75% music so there’s no reason to take the NX-Otica out of consideration IMO. The main drawback is no current center channel or surrounds in the NX line but you could go for Studios as surrounds and run a phantom center.

[Tyson]

I'd get the NX-Otica and use a NX-Studio as the center channel for movies.  IMO it's always best to get the very top speakers you can.  Because later on, its a LOT easier to upgrade the electronics than it is to upgrade speakers. 

Also, speakers are the main device that interfaces with your room.  Full OB speakers are just easier to integrate in any room than any other type.  So again, NX-Otica is the one you want.

[WGH]

My personal opinion is that the Oticas are not the correct choice for a purely home theater speaker. If you plan to use them for home theater AND do some critical listening- then yes. For home theater only I think the quality of these speakers would be wasted.

I have the opinion that home theater speakers should be just as good or better than stereo speakers, whereas if you only stream music the Oticas would be wasted. Maybe streaming has improved but I had Tidal Premium for over a year and overall the quality was inferior to .flac in both redbook and hi-res.

The sound in Dune is the clearest and most dynamic of any film I have seen. Dynamics are off the charts, modern pop music along with most recordings don't have dynamics this wide. Bass is deep and tight. The super high level 15Hz-20HZ synth bass like in Blade Runner 2049 has been backed off so my woofer can be run at a higher level which means better balanced bass and more of it. The Dune soundtrack demonstrates that movie soundtracks are improving and will soon eclipse the sound of many music downloads, it already is better than many streaming services.

In addition movie sound is played louder than most people listen to music and for a longer period of time. The better the speaker the louder you can play the soundtrack without ear fatigue. The center speaker is the most important speaker in a home theater. The drivers should be identical to the L&R for a homogeneous soundfield plus the drivers should be of premium quality. Many people complained about not understanding the dialog in Dune. Well, if you take a 48kHz, 24-bit high-res dynamic soundtrack and play it back at a high volume through a cheap speaker then of course you won't understand what anybody says.

These days the soundtrack is 50% the movie experience. Go for the 100% - sound and vision and NX-Otica's.

[cjsailer]

So I've done what you are thinking, I use the NX Oticas as the mains in a music/home theater setup.  I also have dual servos subs for the low end.  And all the satellites are Klipsch R41-Ms.  Right now it's more of a home theater setup because I don't have a discrete DAC and I'm just using the Emotiva XMC-2 as the DAC for two channel listening  I'm saving up for an R2R DAC, possibly the Holo Spring, and then I'll have a proper stereo that will really allow the NX Oticas to sing.

For HT, I actually prefer to run without a center channel because the height of the mid woofers and tweeter of the NX Otica are vertically right in the middle of my screen, so you don't get that sensation of dialog being lower than the screen when using a center channel under the screen.  I wouldn't stress about getting NX Studios for the satellites for simple movie watching, but if you plan to get into five channel audio recordings, then maybe it would be worthwhile.  Oh and don't get sucked into maxing out all the possible channels that ATMOS can support.  I think 11 channel is good, 7 floor and 4 heights.  My XMC-2 can support 16 channels, but I've found that the front wides and middle heights are seldom even utilized in most movies.

[mlundy57]

I use the smaller NX-Otica MTMs with dual servo subs for both music and HT. I use the AV/1-RS surround speakers. I also do not use a canter channel. The 'Oticas/servo subs are so quick and clean a center channel is not needed for clean, clear dialog. Also, the bass is so quick even a big explosion does not affect dialogue right after it. Add to this the fact there is no center channel speaker available that comes close to the performance of the 'Oticas, any speaker used as a center channel would degrade the overall performance, not enhance it.



The TV can barely be seen at the center/top of the picture above the diffusers. It is mounted with an out and down full motion mounted that allows it to be pushed up to the ceiling and against the wall when listenng to music and pulled into viewing position when watching movies.

[CAC3779]

My personal opinion is that the Oticas are not the correct choice for a purely home theater speaker. If you plan to use them for home theater AND do some critical listening- then yes. For home theater only I think the quality of these speakers would be wasted. You'd be spending money and time for a quality of speaker you don't need and which won't sound better for home theater purposes than a lot of less expensive options. Also, when it comes to subwoofers, my opinion is that the open baffle subs are also not ideal for home theater. They lack the punch and rumble of a sealed sub. They're fantastic for music and they work fine for home theater as well, but if you plan to set up a dedicated home theater setup they aren't what I would choose.

I think media room might be a better description of what I am looking for.  I do have these bad boys behind the couch for home theater purposes but they aren't currently hooked up.  I have a 3 year old so for me right now so true "home theater" is likely a few years off but the room will never be dedicated to home theater.  I saw a pic in your X-treme build with a projector screen.  Not sure what you play on it but that's kind of the idea of what I'm looking for.  For now it's most likely sports and children programming for me but I'd like to watch movies with given the chance.

[CAC3779]

So I've done what you are thinking, I use the NX Oticas as the mains in a music/home theater setup.  I also have dual servos subs for the low end.  And all the satellites are Klipsch R41-Ms.  Right now it's more of a home theater setup because I don't have a discrete DAC and I'm just using the Emotiva XMC-2 as the DAC for two channel listening  I'm saving up for an R2R DAC, possibly the Holo Spring, and then I'll have a proper stereo that will really allow the NX Oticas to sing.

For HT, I actually prefer to run without a center channel because the height of the mid woofers and tweeter of the NX Otica are vertically right in the middle of my screen, so you don't get that sensation of dialog being lower than the screen when using a center channel under the screen.  I wouldn't stress about getting NX Studios for the satellites for simple movie watching, but if you plan to get into five channel audio recordings, then maybe it would be worthwhile.  Oh and don't get sucked into maxing out all the possible channels that ATMOS can support.  I think 11 channel is good, 7 floor and 4 heights.  My XMC-2 can support 16 channels, but I've found that the front wides and middle heights are seldom even utilized in most movies.

I was looking at atmos but 5 channels is likely my limit.  I might do some in ceiling atmos speakers at some point since I have easy access to run wiring with my open access behind the main wall.

My knowledge of audio equipment is fairly limited but I can follow along with most of what's out there but getting into two channel listening I start to get a little lost reading about the DACs/Sources etc.  When using the Oticas for strict 2 channel listing what would be a typical setup from source to speaker?  There's way too many options/opinions when I start looking at amps so "typical" for me would fall into the category of good enough to get the job done.  It doesn't have to be the cheapest option but the name brand and options I probably won't use don't matter to me.

I have a computer I'm planning to convert to a media player I was wanting to use to play my videos/music from.  Most of it is 16 - 24 bit FLAC from 7 Digital or came from CD's I have.  I've not converted anything yet but does anyone have opinions on this route and if so what would I need to look at from media player to speaker output to make it worthwhile for these speakers?

[CAC3779]

I have the opinion that home theater speakers should be just as good or better than stereo speakers, whereas if you only stream music the Oticas would be wasted. Maybe streaming has improved but I had Tidal Premium for over a year and overall the quality was inferior to .flac in both redbook and hi-res.

The sound in Dune is the clearest and most dynamic of any film I have seen. Dynamics are off the charts, modern pop music along with most recordings don't have dynamics this wide. Bass is deep and tight. The super high level 15Hz-20HZ synth bass like in Blade Runner 2049 has been backed off so my woofer can be run at a higher level which means better balanced bass and more of it. The Dune soundtrack demonstrates that movie soundtracks are improving and will soon eclipse the sound of many music downloads, it already is better than many streaming services.

In addition movie sound is played louder than most people listen to music and for a longer period of time. The better the speaker the louder you can play the soundtrack without ear fatigue. The center speaker is the most important speaker in a home theater. The drivers should be identical to the L&R for a homogeneous soundfield plus the drivers should be of premium quality. Many people complained about not understanding the dialog in Dune. Well, if you take a 48kHz, 24-bit high-res dynamic soundtrack and play it back at a high volume through a cheap speaker then of course you won't understand what anybody says.

These days the soundtrack is 50% the movie experience. Go for the 100% - sound and vision and NX-Otica's.

I've not seen Dune so I will have to check it out once I have everything setup.  Any other recommendations to try? 

[CAC3779]

I use the smaller NX-Otica MTMs with dual servo subs for both music and HT. I use the AV/1-RS surround speakers. I also do not use a canter channel. The 'Oticas/servo subs are so quick and clean a center channel is not needed for clean, clear dialog. Also, the bass is so quick even a big explosion does not affect dialogue right after it. Add to this the fact there is no center channel speaker available that comes close to the performance of the 'Oticas, any speaker used as a center channel would degrade the overall performance, not enhance it.



The TV can barely be seen at the center/top of the picture above the diffusers. It is mounted with an out and down full motion mounted that allows it to be pushed up to the ceiling and against the wall when listenng to music and pulled into viewing position when watching movies.

I have that same mount for a 75 inch TV in my living room above my fireplace.  It's perfect as it allows you to utilize the space above the fireplace for a TV without having to strain your neck when you watch it.

[CAC3779]

So it looks like the servo subs are currently out of stock but question for when they are available again.  If I decided not to use a center channel is there a huge difference between having the 3 sub setup flanked to the side of each speaker vs. having the cabinet laying horizontal between the two speakers and under the projector screen.  Asking more from the positioning perspective as I believe I saw flat packs that could hold 4 or 5 speakers.  I wouldn't use that many on each side of the speaker but in between could be an option unless there would be some reason not to go that route.

[cjsailer]

I was looking at atmos but 5 channels is likely my limit.  I might do some in ceiling atmos speakers at some point since I have easy access to run wiring with my open access behind the main wall.

My knowledge of audio equipment is fairly limited but I can follow along with most of what's out there but getting into two channel listening I start to get a little lost reading about the DACs/Sources etc.  When using the Oticas for strict 2 channel listing what would be a typical setup from source to speaker?  There's way too many options/opinions when I start looking at amps so "typical" for me would fall into the category of good enough to get the job done.  It doesn't have to be the cheapest option but the name brand and options I probably won't use don't matter to me.

I have a computer I'm planning to convert to a media player I was wanting to use to play my videos/music from.  Most of it is 16 - 24 bit FLAC from 7 Digital or came from CD's I have.  I've not converted anything yet but does anyone have opinions on this route and if so what would I need to look at from media player to speaker output to make it worthwhile for these speakers?

A typical high end two channel setup might be : Source (Media Center PC) ---> DAC (brand denafrips/holo spring) --> Pre Amp (optional, if DAC has volume control & output switching) --> Amplifier --> Speakers

In a high end setup, DAC through Amplifier would be fully balanced.

You can work your way gradually to a high end system, so you don't have to get to that level of separates right away.  For me, the pre amp will come in handy because I can run my HT XMC-2 processor's L/R Main's XLR outputs into that, as well as my future DAC's XLR outputs.  The preamp will then serve as volume control and switching between HT and 2 channel listening.


Bare bones two channel setup:  Source (Media Center PC) --> DAC (brand Schiit) --> Amplifier --> Speaker

If you plan to go the bare bones route for 2 channel listening, at the very least get a separate DAC and do not go from your Media Center PC straight to your Amplifier.

[Endo2112]

Jay and I just made a NX Ottica center channel, we just need to get it packed and sent to Danny for the x-over design, should be available soonish??? I'll get him to post a picture.
 
Don

[Tyson]

Jay and I just made a NX Ottica center channel, we just need to get it packed and sent to Danny for the x-over design, should be available soonish??? I'll get him to post a picture.
 
Don

Sweet!!

[CAC3779]

A typical high end two channel setup might be : Source (Media Center PC) ---> DAC (brand denafrips/holo spring) --> Pre Amp (optional, if DAC has volume control & output switching) --> Amplifier --> Speakers

In a high end setup, DAC through Amplifier would be fully balanced.

You can work your way gradually to a high end system, so you don't have to get to that level of separates right away.  For me, the pre amp will come in handy because I can run my HT XMC-2 processor's L/R Main's XLR outputs into that, as well as my future DAC's XLR outputs.  The preamp will then serve as volume control and switching between HT and 2 channel listening.


Bare bones two channel setup:  Source (Media Center PC) --> DAC (brand Schiit) --> Amplifier --> Speaker

If you plan to go the bare bones route for 2 channel listening, at the very least get a separate DAC and do not go from your Media Center PC straight to your Amplifier.

Great thanks for all the info. If going the high end PC media route how does the sound card integrate when using an external DAC? Is a high end card needed or is that basically what the dac is for?  Any amp suggestions for each approach. Thanks in advance.

[CAC3779]

Jay and I just made a NX Ottica center channel, we just need to get it packed and sent to Danny for the x-over design, should be available soonish??? I'll get him to post a picture.
 
Don

Awesome. Will a flat pack be available for that as well?