Fusion 12 and AT screen
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Yes - I have them as my LCR's behind a Spandex screen. I think they sound amazing, although occasionally at high volume the compression drivers can give a bit of ear fatigue. I guess that would be true of any speaker capable of such high, clear volume.
Buy them, you'll love them!
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I think a lot of people have. I've seen more than one or two in the dedicated theater forum.
My thoughts:
Jeff Bagby seems to design his speakers with a gentle downward slope on the top end. Warm, not fatiguing. Not dull either, but not bright. It's a nice sound for a long movie, a bright in your face speaker sometimes makes your ears tired after 2 hours, especially if you listen loud. Jeff did the FUSION 12 and the FUSION 8. I own the FUSION 8, and I have heard a few other DIY designs and built some other DIY projects similar.
I doubt you would not be happy. Especially if your point of reference is average joe best buy guy speakers.
Fusion 12 is a nice speaker, as is most of the other designs too. And Jeff Bagby is a good design and knows what he is doing.
That said, if I was to get ultra critical here is my thoughts.
I prefer a speaker that is a bit brighter. If that is because my own personal hearing, or just personal preference or whatever- IDK. But it's true. I don't like a very bright speaker- but I like a flat speaker. When you shoot a speaker a distance it naturally loses top end, some speakers account for this in the design so the sound is flat at the listening position. I find this is too bright. Some speakers are designed to be warm sounding, not too dull but with a very gentle down slope on the top end. This would be the FUSION 12. Heavier in the mids and midbass, less on the very top. Then other speakers are right in between- where they are basically flat near field but the highs are reduced at the listening position. This is GOLDILOCKS for me. It sound natural to me, when the highs are naturally attenuated by the projection, but are otherwise very flat and accurate. I am really nit picking here- but that is what I like.
I doubt you would not like the FUSION 12 it's an excellent speaker, especially for that price.
Shooting through an AT screen and over a distance will naturally reduce the highs a little, and it's not the brightest speaker to start out on the top; so if there was one thing you might not like it would be that. But that is going to depend on your personal preference. A bright speaker that doesn't have that is likely to cause a lot of people to get tired, ear fatigue, or annoy them by sounding a little harsh.
So you are stuck between a rock in a hard place there- but it's a really small rock and not so hard "hard place". A little EQ and you'll be smiling either way.
I think you can also swap a resistor to brighten them up. Just in case.
My thoughts:
Jeff Bagby seems to design his speakers with a gentle downward slope on the top end. Warm, not fatiguing. Not dull either, but not bright. It's a nice sound for a long movie, a bright in your face speaker sometimes makes your ears tired after 2 hours, especially if you listen loud. Jeff did the FUSION 12 and the FUSION 8. I own the FUSION 8, and I have heard a few other DIY designs and built some other DIY projects similar.
I doubt you would not be happy. Especially if your point of reference is average joe best buy guy speakers.
Fusion 12 is a nice speaker, as is most of the other designs too. And Jeff Bagby is a good design and knows what he is doing.
That said, if I was to get ultra critical here is my thoughts.
I prefer a speaker that is a bit brighter. If that is because my own personal hearing, or just personal preference or whatever- IDK. But it's true. I don't like a very bright speaker- but I like a flat speaker. When you shoot a speaker a distance it naturally loses top end, some speakers account for this in the design so the sound is flat at the listening position. I find this is too bright. Some speakers are designed to be warm sounding, not too dull but with a very gentle down slope on the top end. This would be the FUSION 12. Heavier in the mids and midbass, less on the very top. Then other speakers are right in between- where they are basically flat near field but the highs are reduced at the listening position. This is GOLDILOCKS for me. It sound natural to me, when the highs are naturally attenuated by the projection, but are otherwise very flat and accurate. I am really nit picking here- but that is what I like.
I doubt you would not like the FUSION 12 it's an excellent speaker, especially for that price.
Shooting through an AT screen and over a distance will naturally reduce the highs a little, and it's not the brightest speaker to start out on the top; so if there was one thing you might not like it would be that. But that is going to depend on your personal preference. A bright speaker that doesn't have that is likely to cause a lot of people to get tired, ear fatigue, or annoy them by sounding a little harsh.
So you are stuck between a rock in a hard place there- but it's a really small rock and not so hard "hard place". A little EQ and you'll be smiling either way.
I think you can also swap a resistor to brighten them up. Just in case.
Thanks for the replys. I should added to my original post that I aleady have the Fusion 12s as my front stage. I Finished the build last weekened and I've been enjoying them everyday! Also, I have the spandex and will be building the screen this weekend. Just curious how they performed behind a screen. Hats off to Diy sound group! Awesome job with the Fusions 12s and what an amazing packaging job Eric has done! Also, Eric customer service is top notch!
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Oh yeah in that case smokem if you got em.
The AT screen will knock the top down a bit. Such is life shooting sound through fabric. Just add some EQ or swap that resistor if you think it's too much.
In the old days movie sound tracks were often mixed a big brighter to make the distance to the seats in a commercial movie theater and penetrate those thicker commercial screens. The results were that at home the mix could be a bit too bright, there was a THX feature back in the day of high end AVR that compensated for that.
But these days I think they are mixed specifically for BR disc, independent of the movie theater. So not sure if that still hold true.
In either even, if you can measure from you LP you can take a look to see exactly what your response looks like.
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Just lay the spandex over the speakers and play some music. It should only roll off the top end by a few dB. My Coaxial speakers are behind a woven AT screen and the difference is very slight.
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This, and make the speaker close to it.
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I use a shelf
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Isn't spandex a terrible A/T material? I could be wrong but last blow test I did on spandex it was like a plastic bag.
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Milliskin
I have a Seymour 130" AT screen. I DO NOT like the sound of my Fusion 12 behind the screen. It sounds too muffled, however my QSC sound the same in front or behind, no difference. The Fusion 12 sounds best in front rather than behind. I was told a crossover change is required for use behind an AT screen. (To increase the DB) OR I guess try turning them out louder. lol There is a thread but I can't remember where its at. You can try searching or ask Eric.
I would be interested in the Tempest resistor change if someone has that info? Although I spend way too much time on this forum and I have never read about a change on the Fusion12's. I know Tux has said he has a change for the Fusion10's.
I haven't yet, but one of these days I will move my Tempest behind my AT screen and might be interested in the change.
I haven't yet, but one of these days I will move my Tempest behind my AT screen and might be interested in the change.
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Like all things, the devil is in the details. There are significant differences between spandex. Some types of spandex can have a very detrimental effect on the sound quality. Matte White Milliskin spandex is the way to go for an inexpensive DIY AT screen!!
Mike
Mike
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