I'm building a Home Theater / Game / Bar combo room. Based on the rave reviews for PI and a hankering to build something, I plan on going DIY.

The room will be ~ 25x33 with a 8 to 15' vaulted ceiling (the vault's center line is along the long axis & LCR / Screen at the narrow end so the LCRs may have ceiling reflection issues). Room will have a lot of wood including ceiling, floors & beams. Pretty, but lots of volume needs (10000 cubic feet of air) and opportinities for ugly reflections.

Equipment I already have, which I'd like to use to get me started for this application: Sub - VMPS Larger Megawoofer (specs here http://www.vmpsaudio.com/sub1.htm ) & NHT SA-3 mono amp, Surround AMP - Rotel 1095 250w x 5 to drive 5 of the speakers.

1) What do you suggest I use for the PI L/R Center and Surrounds for this application?

2) I was looking at the Theater fours & sevens, would that be enough to get decent theater level decibels at prime seating (~15 feet back from the Center) using the Rotel?

3) Do you have any Surround, Dipole, Center channel kits in the works?

4) Should I use the four pi all around accept for the LRs in a 6.1 - 7.2 setup? I've got 3-4 months before construction is complete, so plenty of time to sell / buy / build components.

5) Do I have enough sub, should i get another one, should I sell this one and build yours, if I build yours would I need two.

6) Is the Rotel above a decent amp for this application and what would you suggest for the LRs another Rotel?

There are environments where the four π's work better, but if you have two suitable corners, the seven π's almost always win out. The corners help enforce the bass and sound is uniform throughout the room at all frequencies. But I think both the Theater four π and seven π speakers are great sounding.

You might also consider Theater seven π cornerhorns with an additional midrange horn such as the one I've just developed. I'll be showing it any day now; It's tested and ready to go and now I'm just waiting on a pair of more attractive models to get back from the wood shop so I can click some photos.

Or I could play with the idea of using a seven π at the center as well with some custom framing for a rack. 2x4s are easy at this stage. If I cut a triangle into a custom frame made to mate with the seven π how deep would it be by your recommendation. Seems like 3 options here 1) deep enough to square off it's 90% triangle guessing 1' (probably look the best this way), 2) deep enough to reflect the baffle guessing 2', 3) deep enough to flush with the front panel guessing 3'? I would probably frame over the cut w proj. screen mounted above and have built in racks to the left & right.

So my choice is to go with Theater 4pis.

I'm assuming the plans will not change, only the kit(s) regarding the mid horn choice? If this assumption is correct please send me the plans for the Theater 4pi. I'd like to start cutting this weekend ;-)

Cheers, Mike

>> You really need a SUB-woofer whichever system you use to get those 15 and 20 Hz spaceships and explosions.

I was thinking the same thing, though would like a great 2 channel on the rare occasions when listening to music vs video. I guess bass management should take care of sending that to the sub as well.

>> That aside, the greater detail and tonal quality of the JBL 2226 screams do the 4 Pro or the Pro 7. Even tho' the Delta goes lower, it doesn't go to 15 Hz.

Did you just swap the base or the horn too?

>> Then there's budget. The JBL's are dear, but you will never regret using 2Pi's for surrounds, eliminating the center (which you don't need anyway) and spending the money upfront.

Good point, no sense in over killing the surround tracks. Save me some real bucks!

>> Got the bucks?

This ranch w/ Sports Bar is a second home for me. So I'm expecting to be house poor for a while.

I keep refining my plans / thoughts but I'm leaning towards 3 Theater 4pis across the front and somewhere between 3-6 Studio 2pis for the surrounds. Then as the $ free up I'm assuming I could refit those boxes with tweeks like mid horns and / or jbl thumpers & better high horns. It looks like all of the pi speaker boxes have a easy JBL woofer / Eminence upgrade path. < that was more of a question than a statement!

Putting a JBL 2226 or an Eminence Kilomax 15 or Omega 15 in a Theater Series four π cabinet results in an EBS alignment having a -10dB shelf. It produces an interesting response curve with high 90Hz f3 but low 20Hz f10. Basically everything below 100Hz is shelved down -10dB, but then you get output all the way down to 20Hz.

It's an interesting response curve and potentially useful. But when used as the midwoofer in a two-way speaker, I prefer the JBL 2226, Kilomax 15 and Omega 15 speakers to have a different alignment.

There's another hybrid option that works well though. Move the Helmholtz frequency up to 35Hz or 40Hz. This moves cutoff up from 20Hz to 35Hz, but it also brings the bass shelf way up to the -3dB line. If you take a Theater four π cabinet and cut the port out, enlarge the hole to 5" diameter and remove the duct, you've formed this kind of system. Response is down -3dB at 100Hz, but it remains flat from there down to 35Hz. To me, this is an attractive modification of Theater four π cabinets when used with JBL 2226, Kilomax 15 or Omega 15 woofers.