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How do you think the ART arrays would work for a home theater setup? I have a front projection setup so I don't have to worry about shielding. I was thinking I could make a center-channel speaker using two (or maybe four) of the woofers and the same tweeter? Would I need a subwoofer?
ART Arrays are great home hifi speakers. I think they would make fine right and left channel speakers for home theater too. Your idea of a smaller version center channel would probably match well, maybe for surrounds too. I would probably make the center and surrounds as standard two-ways with a single midwoofer and a single tweeter. As for subs, it depends on what you expect. As you can see in the measured response, the ART Arrays are solid down to 40Hz. That's plenty for many people. Some want an octave lower though, particularly for home theater. If you want to get down to 20Hz, you'll want some subs to fill in the bottom octave.
Wayne, that's such helpful information. What kind of problems might one encounter with this kind of setup, though? You mentioned the limitations of the subs; is that really the only issue with ART arrays?
I'm going to defer to some of the other guys here that are using ART Array loudspeakers, and have lived with them for a while. A bit of history: Fred Thompson designed the ART Arrays and built the prototypes. He gave them to me, along with two crossovers, and my participation was really limited to just measuring them. I found that one of the two crossovers measured better, so that's the one I recommended. The other crossover was pretty good too, had sort of a "BBC dip" in the response curve. There was some discussion about whether or not a more sophisticated crossover with higher parts count might work better, adding baffle step compensation, for example. I personally think the design with its simple first-order crossover works very well, and while I would have initially thought maybe a higher slope might be better, after measuring the system, I concluded that it was probably my favorite solution. It was simple and cost-effective, which was sort of the spirit of the design. It also measured and sounded very good. More information about the ART Arrays
I've had my ART Arrays for about two years now and must say they do a solid 40Hz. I've tried both crossovers and prefer the simpler one as well (built a single crossover with parts for both on it so it was easy to change back and forth). There is a link somewhere here on the forum to the more sophisticated crossover network if you're interested. They would make excellent L/R mains if you've got the room. If you're wanting that HT low end punch though, you're going to have to run a pair of good subs IMO. The Arrays are just not going to do that viceral slam that makes watching movies so great. I think you could probably "split" a single array in half to make a decent center channel. And Wayne's idea for the rear monitors and/or side monitors would work well. Good luck if you go this direction and keep us up to date.
Thank you both for all that information and insight - I had no idea all the work that had gone into getting these setups "just" right. I'm looking at a lot of options, though with the holidays inching ever-nearer, I know I'll have to hurry up and decide if I want this to be the Christmas gift I want it to be!
I've had the parts for the ART Arrays for a while, but finished up the Zygmahornets and Curvy Chang's first. Now I'm onto the ART's and have all of the cabinet pieces and braces cut. I do intend to use the ART Arrays for HT as well but have a few questions I hope someone could help with. Where should the ports be located on the back of the cabinets? I've read a bunch of posts on the ART Arrays but haven't gotten any clues on this. Do the cabinets need to be ported? I intend to use an existing 12 inch sub that's already in my system. If un-ported, do the cabinet dimensions and crossover plans remain the same? Does anyone have plans for a matching center? I liked the idea I saw mentioned earlier of half of an array as a center. Wondered if it could be a sealed box based on the dimensions of one array with a tweeter in the center and 2 woofers on each side. Thanks for any help you can provide. Nick
I was able to find a schematic that shows where the ports should go. In my box of parts it seems I did not get the ports, so I'm unsure which ones I need. If anyone can let me know I'll go to parts express and order them. It looks like they are a 4 inch, but I'm not sure. Thanks
For where the ports are located look here: http://audioroundtable.com/GroupBuild/Projects/ART_Array_Front.jpg You can see where the ports are in relation to the drivers on the front. I would imagine close is close enough when measuring. Here is the parts list from the assembly instructions: http://www.audioroundtable.com/GroupBuild/Projects/ART_Array.doc Parts List: These parts are available from Parts Express as a package deal: • Sixteen Dayton #295-301 woofers • Two #264-578 Vifa DX25TG-05-04 tweeters • Four #260-411 port tubes • One 50' roll #100-116 16ga speaker wire • One pkg #081-435 #6 driver mounting screws • Eight #260-770 rubber cabinet feet • One pkg #095-282 female disconnects • One pkg #095-286 female disconnects • Two #260-304 bi-wire speaker terminals • Two #255-424 1.2mH Jantzen 15 Gauge air core inductors • Two #027-568 10uF Solen capacitors • Two #004-16 Dayton non-inductive resistors For more info look at this page: http://audioroundtable.com/GroupBuild/Projects/
Thank you, I now have the ports and can finish building the cabinets. I'll admit I'm a bit nervous about building the crossover. I've only done one before and it was for the tri-trix, but that had a helpful instructional video. I think based on doing that one I can translate it for this crossover, but if anyone has a photo of a finished ART crossover I'd love to see it. It would be a great guide to make sure I did it correctly. Thanks again
Here's mine, but I don't know that I can make heads or tails of it unless I pulled it back out of the speaker to see what hookups went where. Maybe it'll help, FWIW.