Triad Owner's Thread - Page 16

Hi Paul,

Any chance Triad will come out with an InWall Gold/4 LCR anytime soon? I only have 4" studs and want the best sound possible. Otherwise, how much am I giving up going with the Silver/4 instead?

Allen

There will never be a 4" version of the Gold LCR due to driver depth. Most people with 4" wall depth mistakenly retreat to the cheaper Silver LCR when they should, instead, look to the InWall Silver/4 Monitor. It's a hundred bucks more than a Gold LCR, and it features Scan-Speak drivers and the same 92 dB sensitivity as the InWall Gold/6 LCR. It's a true audiophile speaker that will play to within 1 dB as loud as the Gold LCR.

http://www.triadspeakers.com/products/iws4mon.html

Paul, you have PM.

Paul - thanks, I never even noticed the InWall Silver/4 Monitors, but I do remember reading a post of yours raving about the Gold Monitors. Another option I have is to put LCR InRoom Monitors on low stands below the screen. How do you think the sound quality of the InRoom Silver Monitors in that configuration would compare to the InWall Silver/4 Monitors behind a good acoustically transparent screen?

Getting the InWall Silver/4 Monitors at the proper height behind an acoustically transparent (weave) screen is your best bet. The screen will not interfere, and you can get the speakers at optimum height. The InWalls work the same as the InRooms, only the built-in version doesn't have the reflection off the wall behind it that all freestanding speakers have.

Any thoughts on a good alternative to my M&K s150's? I looking for a "punch in the gut" feeling from the mid bass which the M&K's are not really doing for me.

My room dedicated is about 12.5 x 22 x 8ft high. First row is about 10ft from the screen. Current amp driving is a Theta Dreadnaught II (225w 8ohms, 450w 4ohms)

Thinking the Gold LCR's for the front maybe? Any input would be great.

Tony knows the Triad line very well, indeed. If you use three Gold LCRs, you have a total of six 8" aluminum-cone Seas woofers, with excellent midbass punch. Your M&Ks should be pretty punchy, though. If you sit with your head at 11.25' from the front wall, you're in the middle of the room where there is NO bass, though. Sit on the edge of your seat, and you should get a lot more bass.

The Theta amp is a beast, and with 4 ohm Gold LCRs, the system should induce structural damage to your home.

You lost me Paul.. You saying I'm too close? too far? or the M&K's just can't give me what I need..

You are probably EITHER too close or too far. If you sit at the halfway point between the front and rear walls, there will be no bass. That is universal, and not speaker-dependent. I would move so my head wasn't 11' 3" from the front wall, which is the biggest bass null in the room. Even one foot will make a huge difference.

Interesting.. something I was not aware of. I need to experiment a bit I guess. Any other methods to fill that void at the half way point? Screen is 100" so moving close might not be a good option. The stage for the second row is directly behind the first row of seats so moving back is not physically possible right now.

There's really no way to get bass in the center of a room, even with an 18 dB boost, which is totally impractical. It is inherently a bass null. Again, if you can be one foot in front of or behind the halfway point, bass will be much better. I had the same problem in my theater (it's a common one) and I moved my front row up a foot in the design stage. Bass is excellent in the front row...but it's thunderous in the back row. More subs spaced around the room will help a bit.

So I finally got my triads yesterday. The build, packing and custom painting is truly excellent stuff.

So far I only have the rear Silver/4 Omnis installed (they were easy as it was already wired) but they sound great! Way better than the B&W CWM650 in-walls I had before. Can't wait to get the rest hooked up and get it all cranking!

LR - InWall Bronze/4 LCR x2
C - InRoom Bronze/4 LCR
LR surrounds - InCeiling Silver/8 Omni x2
LR rears - InWall Silver/4 Omni x2
sub - InRoom Platinum PowerSub w/onboard amp (2nd hand deal!)

So I did some quick measurements.. total room length is 20.6ft". Front wall to about about where my head would be is just about 11.6" - 12ft so I should be ok there. Maybe I am expecting more than what the M&K 150's can deliver. The 150's are designed as near field so perhaps the Gold LCR should be a nice jump. How do the Gold LCR's compare to the inwall version? Much of a difference in performance?

Kewl. Make sure you use an 80 Hz crossover for all your speakers (set to "small".) Isn't the Platinum sub a beast??

As long as you're not dead center, you'll have bass.

The InRoom Gold LCRs sound exactly the same as the InWall Gold/6 LCRs. Same drivers, crossover, internal volume, crossover. One of our main schticks is we make two to five versions of the same speaker, for different applications.

Thanks Paul! So how do I find a local dealer northern NJ? The website only shows factory dist. My zip is 07424

That's not a distributor, that's my rep. Call and ask for Steve Glatzl, and use my name. We have a few northern New Jersey dealers.

Thanks Paul.. will give them a ring tomorrow.

Paul - you've got me paranoid. I took another measurement of the room. Dead center of the room (10ft 3") from the front wall is right about where the cup holders are on my theater chairs. The chairs are pretty deep though.. the null usually dead center?

So my house is nearly complete after having to buy out my house at about 70% finished and having to GC it to completion and loosing a small fortune. I am now ready to purchase my Triads and I called the dealer but we had a question that they didn't know the answer to. I'm installing the Gold LCR/6 and the dealer didn't know about the center speaker and how it gets installed. I would have thought that the center has the mid and tweeter turned so it can be installed horizontally but he didn't know.

What is the right way to install the Gold/6 LCR?

John

I have another question for you Paul if you don't mind. Can I use a different center instead of the Gold/6 LCR? Maybe the Silver/6 because of the smaller footprint. It's just a lot of work to mount a speaker horizontally that is 40 inches.

John

It's dead center, and to use an old Richard Pryer punchline...it's deep, too...

The InWall Gold/6 LCR is a vertically-aligned speaker. There is no InWall Gold/6 Center, because this would require cutting out two studs. Did your dealer actually look at plans or come out to the jobsite, or did you not consult them? This is an important detail that an engaged dealer dealer should have caught.

Here are your options:

1) Mount the InWall Gold/6 LCR vertically, as high off the floor as possible.

2) Switch to three InWall Silver/6 Monitors ($100 each more than the Gold LCRs), and mount the center either horizontally or vertically.

http://www.triadspeakers.com/products/iws6mon.html

Mounted horizontally, the InWall Silver/6 Monitor is less than 19" wide, and will fit better. I don't know if you are in the framing stage, drywall, or this is a retro installation, but I do not recommend ever just cutting out a stud. If possible, it needs to be framed, which, if the sheetrock is not up, is no big deal.

The Monitor series is an audiophile group of speakers that have our highest resolution, and they are used as LCRs all the time. (I'm using three Gold Monitors.) Sensitivity is the same as the Gold LCR, and the grill size is nearly half as big. The two mids are Scan-Speak drivers; the same two Krell used in the $18,750-each LAT-1. The two Scan-Speak drivers are the same mids used in the $7,000-each Triad InRoom Platinum LCR, BTW.

I'll be back in the office tomorrow early if you want to further discuss this. PM me and I'll give you my office phone number. Most custom jobs run into multiple snags such as this, and they always get fixed.

When using different versions of the same speaker, ie GOLD LCR in-room for the main L/R, and the GOLD LCR in-wall for the center, what does the difference in the speakers' environment do to the soundstage across the front three speakers?

My concern is that having two out in the room, and, one in the wall, therefore different environments, might take away from the benefit of having (somewhat) identical speakers across the front.

That's a valid and appropriate question. First of all, you compensate for distance (arrival time) in the receiver or processor. The center, if it's an inwall, may be two or three feet farther away. Assuming the inwall and inroom speakers are identical, other than one goes into a wall, there are really no other issues.

Thanks Paul. So are you saying it is a valid concern, or rather has little significance in the speakers matching?

Your question was astute and valid, but there is no concern, whatsoever. The speakers are identical, and the placement of the center farther back is compensated for in the processor or receiver. The soundstage will be holographic and pans will be seamless.

Sorry Paul if I'm kicking a dead horse here, but let me re-phrase the question to convey my concern..

The inroom speakers would have essentially no wall around within 12-18". The center would be in the wall. As far as distance from the sweet spot, all three would be close to being in the same plane. My concern is that the center would possibly have a "cupping effect" (imagine talking through your hands when forming a megaphone with your palms) and the mains would not being out in the room. Will the sound be different or am I totally on another planet with my logic here.......