Art, I can't wait to see the new room too.
Could the WMTMW version be used in a vertical configuration so that the tweeter was at the same height (or, vs the towers, much closer to the same height) as the horizontal unit?
This all depends on your room and the application. You threw me on this one. ->
(To clear my screen the top of the horizontal unit has to be at 39" or less.)
It must be shorter than 39" to clear the TOP of the screen? Or does it need to be less than 39" to remain under the screen?
Could I still add/fit the side firing sub to the left and right?
The standard WWMTMWW design has it built in. With the MTMWW the sub or subs are external and can be placed anywhere you need them to be.
Any way to cleanly add the powered sub to the horizontal center?
Not necessary. The first octave and a half is pretty omni-directional. Where the sub is in relation to the center channel is not so important.
What listening distance do you recommend for these (the large version)? And what is the smallest room you would put them in?
I wouldn't want to be any closer than 6' away. We had them in a small room at the RMAF and they worked out pretty well. That room was 13' by 18'. It did load the room a little in the 50 to 80Hz range. It was likely a room related deal. We plugged the rear ports with a piece of foam and all settled down pretty smoothly. Since the larger model has a side loaded woofer covering the bottom end. I decided that the upper and lower woofers would be better off in a sealed box. This will give more flexibility to tuning them to a given room. I think about a 12' by 16' room is about as small as I would want them in.
Danny... will the A/V-1RS PDR also be temporarily available as a kit?
For a limited time only.
How would the sound differ between having them as surrounds vs using the WWMTM? It would be nice to have 4-6 of the WWMTMs along with the WMTMW as the center channel and a good subwoofer.
That would be pretty bad ass, but an application such as that would require that the rear speakers be located just as far away or farther away from the listening position than the front three speakers. For most listing rooms this is not practical.
For rears a speaker that can create an accurate but non-localized sound field is best. Omni-directional speakers can work out nicely in this application. This is why the A/V-1RS has worked out so well. It also works well in applications with limited space.
Hank, The MTMWW design would be great for your home theater room. That really big something that I have in the works will be better suited for a large dedicated two channel system.