The primary goal of my project was to design and build a 5.1 surround speaker system (two front, two side, one center, and one subwoofer) for my 14' x 22' living room. The living room is my house's largest and most inviting area, so it is used as a formal living room as well as a multi-media room. This compromise in the living space's purpose requires a careful balance between what looks great and what sounds great.

I spent the next four months drawing designs for various types of enclosures, including a quarter-wave length labyrinth, a tall thin three-way ported enclosure, and a 2-way closed box. Finally, my wife contributed to the design goals by requesting that the speakers not sit on the fl oor or make the room look like a college dorm. I settled on a 2-way closed box and decided to build the enclosures out of solid cherry that would match the wood and fi nish of furniture already in the room. The fi nal design also drew inspiration from the style of the Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) 805S speakers.