[Straasha]

Danny,

I am considering purchasing either your AV/3 or AV/3S for my front speakers.  One question though, on your web site you say that the AV/3S is better when used up against a wall.  My living room would have me place my front speakers about 6 inches from a wall and one of them would be near a corner.  My question, how far away from a wall should the AV/3 be before I should consider using your AV/3S?

Kevin

[Blaine_M]

I have a pair of AV-3 speakers and you'd want to put them at least 2-3 feet away from the wall behind them.  The AV-3s is a sealed speaker with no port in the back, which I think is part of the reason it works better closer to the wall.  It however does not go nearly as low, so you'd want a subwoofer with the AV-3's for sure. 

[Hank]

I built a pair of A/V-3's and 2 feet worked.

[Danny Richie]

If your room is big enough and you want the low end extension of the floor standing A/V-3, then you can reverse (flip flop) the layout of the transmission line and allow it to exit out the front side instead of the back side. This will allow you to place it closer to the rear wall without too much added wall coupling in the bottom end.

However for a small sized room a set of A/V-3S models across the front might be just the ticket, but you will need a sub for sure.

Regardless of what speaker you go with, if it needs to be placed very close to a corner then treat the wall next to it with some type of absorbing panel to minimize that first reflection point.

If the first reflection point is too close to the speaker (and not absorbed or dampened out) then it will get jumbled in with the on axis response and cause a smearing effect. A longer delay allows the ear to hear it as a delay and not smear in the on axis respons

[Straasha]

Thanks everyone on the helpful information.  I do have a sub that I will use with either set of speakers speaker.

As for a center, I have Pinnacle's AC Widescreen Center that I have really enjoyed.  Hopefully, they will blend in well.

One last question.  The terms "small" and "large" room are very subjective.  My living room is about 16 ft wide by 14 ft deep with the right side open to the kitchen (10' x 14').  How would you classify this size room?

Thanks again for the help.

Kevin

[Blaine_M]

Sounds like your room is kind of like a lot of family rooms in today's houses, they usually open up on one end or side to a kitchen area.  My house does that, the back opens up to the kitchen.  I'd call it a larger room because of that.  I like my AV-3s for a center, but I really like the AV-3 floor standing speakers as left and right's.  If you can go that direction I would recomend it.  My room is 12 wide by 16 deep, and the back opens to the kitchen area....

[Mike C]

If your room is big enough and you want the low end extension of the floor standing A/V-3, then you can reverse (flip flop) the layout of the transmission line and allow it to exit out the front side instead of the back side.

I find this very interesting, as I'd like to put the speakers about 1ft from the wall if that will work well,
for 'WAF' reasons.
My present TLs use single 6.5 inch drivers and, mainly for 'package' reasons, have the vents in the sides of the cabinets about 12 inches down from the top (speakers are 40ins tall). It works well and allows placement about 9 ins from the wall. The sound does improve slightly at 15ins from the wall but the difference for me is OK to get the WAF approval!
With the new speakers I expect to compromise and set them 12 ins out.

Anyway, just a thought or two on Danny's suggestion.
One is to try venting the TLs through the side panels rather than the rear, keeping the area the same. Might be worth a try?
The other is this; when reversing the layout to vent through the front, the braces will have to be rearranged a bit, or the highest partial brace (brace C) will interfere with the lower driver. Any suggestion how to do this please?

I've been *very* busy with a major sailing boat rebuild project all this year which is why I have not yet ordered my kit. But I am fully confident in the AV/3.

[Danny Richie]

The other is this; when reversing the layout to vent through the front, the braces will have to be rearranged a bit, or the highest partial brace (brace C) will interfere with the lower driver. Any suggestion how to do this please?

Just omit brace C.

[mlpoteet]

hi all -

I have a question about the AV-3S...a couple years ago i auditioned a set of AV2's and loved them, but alas my receiver could not handle the 4 ohm load in a 5.1 HT step up.  So I had intended to build the AV3 tower speakers to get the bass extension, but alas, I don't have the space/room to use those.  I will need to use the smaller MTM design like the AV2.

So, i was wondering if the AV3S can be ported like the AV2 since it's got similar dimensions?  If so, what are the trade-offs and benefits of doing this?  I will be building a GR sub to handle HT duties, but like using just the LR mains in two channel music without the sub.

Thanks.

Mark

[Danny Richie]

So, i was wondering if the AV3S can be ported like the AV2 since it's got similar dimensions?

It can be built ported and you will get a lot more low end extension. You can hit a -3db of 46Hz in an optimal ported box.

You will need to double its air space though. Optimal ported for a pair of those woofers is 1.1 cubic feet.

You can build the box twice as deep (21.5" deep) or you can add air space by running it down to the floor. Of coarse if you are going to run it to the floor then you might as well built the A/V-3 box and take advantage of the transmission line loading and extend the bottom end even further.

[mlpoteet]

Thanks Danny. 

Would this essentially follow the same build/cabinet plans as the AV2?  Would it give the same level of low end as the AV2?  I remember being floored at how "full" those speakers sounded.

Mark

[Danny Richie]

If you built the A/V-2 boxes and used two ports then you'd get a -3db down of 56Hz and a little bit of a peaked output in the 80 to 200Hz range (about 1db).