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Jim Clark
06-20-2005, 11:01 AM
Seriously considering using a triple 20 to present my TV and have a question about the perforated steel doors. Seems like it's gonna mess with a center channel a lot more than the traditional fabric type approach. Anyone have any comments?

Regards,
jc

Woochifer
06-20-2005, 01:54 PM
Those perforated steel doors are not designed to be acoustically transparent. They're primarily designed to allow infrared remote reception with the doors closed. I use a Single 40 unit with a 40 extension, and it's a good versatile system, though I have my gripes about some of the little ergonomic quibbles (i.e. needing to order special brackets in order add new shelves in between existing ones without dismantling the rack; not being to put drawers inside of doors; not being able to remove the door brackets without also removing all of the shelving brackets as well, etc.).

The steel doors will likely reflect some of different frequencies back into the enclosure at different rates, and diffract the sound waves as they pass through the perforations. Either way, it will affect the timbre, time domain accuracy, and overall coherency of the sound from your center speaker.

If you intend to use a center speaker with a triple 20, then you need to either add a riser unit to the base unit (also not ideal because it adds a layer of enclosure around the center speaker, but probably not as problematic as the steel door because it still leaves the center speaker unobstructed), or if you have a wall-mountable TV, mount your TV onto the plasma mount attachment, which would leave the center speaker unobstructed.

Correction: I just went back to Salamander's website and it looks like they are now claiming that the perforated steel is acoustically transparent. Personally, I would not put too much stock in that. Plus, with the door shut, the speaker would have to get tucked well inside of the cabinet enclosure, which presents its own set of acoustical problems.

Jim Clark
06-20-2005, 03:44 PM
Thanks for the reply, which basically confirms what seems terribly obvious to me, but hey, I've been wrong before so it doesn't hurt to ask.

I'm going to the dealer tomorrow to see them in person. I'm now thinking that I'll use glass doors on the sides with no drawer or door for the center cabinet in the triple twenty. That ought to hold the center channel, but I'll measure first!

What may make some sense if I can deal with the aesthetic is to use the perf. steel on the units sides. I'm thinking it may help keep gear cooler.

Regards,
jc

Woochifer
06-20-2005, 04:00 PM
Thanks for the reply, which basically confirms what seems terribly obvious to me, but hey, I've been wrong before so it doesn't hurt to ask.

I'm going to the dealer tomorrow to see them in person. I'm now thinking that I'll use glass doors on the sides with no drawer or door for the center cabinet in the triple twenty. That ought to hold the center channel, but I'll measure first!

What may make some sense if I can deal with the aesthetic is to use the perf. steel on the units sides. I'm thinking it may help keep gear cooler.

Regards,
jc

Even without the door in front of the center speaker, you might still have a lot of cabinet interactions that will cause acoustical problems with the speakers. The best you can hope for is to be able to extend the center speaker as far forward on the shelf as possible in order to minimize the edge defraction from the cabinet itself. With the door in place, you won't be able to move the center speaker too far forward.

As far as the perforated steel doors for the sides, you're correct in that they help with ventilating the components. But, those holes also allow dust inside. IMO, it's a worthwhile tradeoff and I personally like the look of the perforated steel door (it blocks the components from view, but you can still see a faint glow from the displays).

Jim Clark
06-21-2005, 11:20 AM
Even without the door in front of the center speaker, you might still have a lot of cabinet interactions that will cause acoustical problems with the speakers. The best you can hope for is to be able to extend the center speaker as far forward on the shelf as possible in order to minimize the edge defraction from the cabinet itself. With the door in place, you won't be able to move the center speaker too far forward.

As far as the perforated steel doors for the sides, you're correct in that they help with ventilating the components. But, those holes also allow dust inside. IMO, it's a worthwhile tradeoff and I personally like the look of the perforated steel door (it blocks the components from view, but you can still see a faint glow from the displays).

Guess they call it a triple 20 for a reason. My center channel is 23 inches long and won't fit where I had envisioned it going. Back to the construction page. I'm thinking if I can't find anything better than the salamander that I will have to go the riser route. Saw it in person today and it is good looking enough and they had one out with the perf. steel on the sides, that seems to be a smart thing to do and it looks OK too. Thanks for your help on this.

jc