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Hello, tell me if i'm mad, but i would like to....

3rutu5

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Hello guys, new dude here.

Thought this is a bit of a random posts, but i have just built a sizable TV unit which i will be scrapping my old tower speakers and incorporating them into my build. I want to do the same with my pioneer amp, but pulled the front off and thinking i could get some custom buttons/dials and use the LCD display. Now this is where i may be losing my mind.....there are ten little push buttons which have a little pressure plate on the board itself, thinking a electronics guru could de solder them and solder on some wires to connect to these custom buttons.

Do you think im being silly and wasting my time, or has somebody heard of anyone doing something similar?

if the first response is why? The pioneer amp is black, when i was wanting silver fixtures and i'm making a bit of bespoke furniture and to be honest the amp is boring. First constraint was to build a unit which didnt look like a 2m long bluetooth speaker.
 
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It should be possible. The ease (or not) with which it could be done depends on the size and accessibility of the solder joints. Be sure to allow plenty of ventilation in whatever enclosure you construct for it.
 

andreasmaaan

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@3rutu5, I know this is no answer to your question, but I'd love to see pictures, drawings, plans etc. if you have any available? :)
 

sergeauckland

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Technically, there's little issue with removing the ten little pushbuttons and taking wires out to separate switches. I've done something similar to several CD players so we could control them from remote physical switches on a mixing console, and not using a wireless remote control. The main problem is more one of fragility, as the boards will have small pads, so some care is needed. I would leave the existing switches in place, and wire across them, as the existing switches will provide something more solid as an anchor point for the wires.

Otherwise, I too would like to see some pictures etc of what you're planning.

Good luck.

S.
 
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3rutu5

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It is a work in progress and started off as me trying to try kerfing (bending timber). It is ever evolving, first we were wanting to use some white speaker clothe and recess it under the second sheet of MDF, covering the speaker, but had trouble finding something decent locally, which then looked at custom molding some metal grill, but once again hard to find in Australia. Didnt want a massive hole with a black receiver showing as it will be the natural colour of the ply and white for the MDF, so based on this i have been racking my brain trying to think of something creative, hence wanting an LCD with some nice stainless (looking) dials and switches subtly installed.

I was really wanting something to look more like furniture and less like was crammed in the back of my car during my 20's, oh i even though about leaving the speaker grill off and displaying the 3 speakers each end, but my 3 year old decided that was something worth poking at.
 

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andreasmaaan

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Looking good! What are your speakers and how exactly do they fit in there?
 
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3rutu5

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I have a holesaw which i will just cut them in and build out the back to create a sealed box. Then use a router to add a bevel.

The towers i got 20 years ago, which are DTX ones, they just have 2x 6inch woofer and a tweeter. I think they were a budget to mid level popular chinese tower in australia, which to be honest have been great for home entertainment needs and the occasional blasting of some music.

was going to calculate the volume of the current tower and replicate it, dont know if i will be able to find the specs. When they go i will source some Dayton Audio or Peerless ones as a replacement.
 

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andreasmaaan

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Ok I know sound quality might not be number one consideration in this project but be aware that even if you maintain the correct box volume, when you change the driver configuration by putting them in a triangle like that it will muck up the functioning of the crossover and change the frequency response of the speakers moderately. Ditto if/when you replace drivers (but in that case likely to a greater extent). Might not be a concern for you but just checking you’re aware of it.
 
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3rutu5

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very good point. guess i will be installing them as is in the same arrangement. Didnt think of that, just assumed that matching the volume was the first step and the board has it set up to work like a component speaker.
 

andreasmaaan

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@3rutu5 nice :) Ideally you would keep them in their original configuration, the same distances from each other and (crucially - although as you're going from one flat surface to another, I think you've got this covered already) on the same z-plane.

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3rutu5

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damn....just measured them, wont fit....might have to slightly offset the tweeter
 
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3rutu5

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wow.....this was actually pretty close to what i first sketched...just without the cool middle display/amp.

now i know what a radiogram is, i have all new source material for ideas.
 

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3rutu5

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@andreasmaaan based on the feedback re speaker configuration yesterday do you see any issues with rotating the config 90 degrees but maintaining the spacing etc?

thinking I can fit them in without cramming them in.

Been doing most of.the work at my folks place due to the tools, took the kids around to there today and noticed the old man had fun with his mitre saw
 

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andreasmaaan

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@andreasmaaan based on the feedback re speaker configuration yesterday do you see any issues with rotating the config 90 degrees but maintaining the spacing etc?

Good question.

I would advise against this. Those speakers in their original configuration will have poor vertical polar response. In other words, to listen to them in the original configuration, it will be important to have your ears more or less on the correct vertical plane, because as you move up and down the frequency response will change significantly.

This is always the case for speakers with vertically configured drivers, but even more so for those with a woofer-tweeter-woofer configuration like yours have. Explaining the reasons for this is a long topic, but to summarise, it's to do with the way the outputs from the individual drivers interact with each other in space. It's not so much of a problem when the speakers are standing upright because normally your head is in roughly the right position on the vertical plane when sitting in front of them. Also, as our ears are horizontally spaced from each other, we are much more sensitive to this problem in the horizontal plane than in the vertical plane. This is why almost all speakers are designed with the drivers spaced vertically from each other.

So, the practical effect of flipping them 90° will be that you turn all this on its head and end up with a pair of speakers that has very poor horizontal (no longer vertical) polar response. As a result, when you sit directly in between the speakers, you will not be on the correct horizontal plane for either speaker, and thus there will be no sweet spot in the middle where you are hearing the correct frequency response from both speakers at the same time. Moreover, your ears by virtue of their horizontal spacing from each other will interpret the poor horizontal polar response as more strange and negative than they would a poor vertical polar response.

However, if you want to decide whether this is a tolerable problem for you, simply flip your speakers 90° and put them up at the same height they would be in your new radiogram and listen. Your ears will tell you whether or not this is acceptable to you :)
 
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3rutu5

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Good question.

I would advise against this. Those speakers in their original configuration will have poor vertical polar response. In other words, to listen to them in the original configuration, it will be important to have your ears more or less on the correct vertical plane, because as you move up and down the frequency response will change significantly.

This is always the case for speakers with vertically configured drivers, but even more so for those with a woofer-tweeter-woofer configuration like yours have. Explaining the reasons for this is a long topic, but to summarise, it's to do with the way the outputs from the individual drivers interact with each other in space. It's not so much of a problem when the speakers are standing upright because normally your head is in roughly the right position on the vertical plane when sitting in front of them. Also, as our ears are horizontally spaced from each other, we are much more sensitive to this problem in the horizontal plane than in the vertical plane. This is why almost all speakers are designed with the drivers spaced vertically from each other.

So, the practical effect of flipping them 90° will be that you turn all this on its head and end up with a pair of speakers that has very poor horizontal (no longer vertical) polar response. As a result, when you sit directly in between the speakers, you will be not be on the horizontal plane for either speaker, and thus there will be no sweet spot in the middle where you are hearing the correct frequency response from both speakers at the same time. Moreover, your ears by virtue of their horizontal spacing from each other will interpret the poor horizontal polar response as more strange and negative than they would a poor vertical polar response.

However, if you want to decide whether this is a tolerable problem for you, simply flip your speakers 90° and put them up at the same height they would be in your new radiogram and listen. Your ears will tell you whether or not this is acceptable to you :)

Sounds like I have two options.....a) turn the towers on their side and blast some music through them to see how they sound, or b) look at getting a set of 6's or 6.5 and maybe a tweeter or smaller full range speaker.
 
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