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In wall speakers?

H2operator

H2operator

New Member
Seeking info, opinions!
I'm short on room and am considering a high quality in wall speaker, good/bad idea? Any input would be appreciated...
 
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I've seen people that had small apartments in Frisco use plant hanging hooks and the nets to suspend bookshelf speakers from the ceiling. Actually sounds great....
 
I think it can be done, but you'll have to choose carefully. Most in-walls are for convenience, not sound quality. That being said, some specialized ones have been made that sound very good - the HT craze has made "hidden" speakers that sound good a plausible item.

I know Boston has a few that sound pretty good.
 
That's why I said that hanging up speakers as they hung up plants hanging from the ceiling is a much better alternative! Because the sound is quite good because it's easy to adjust to ear level. Also easy to position them in the corners out of the way...
 
If yer gonna do that, maybe look into some commercial pendants ... some of those are quite nice. Only complaint I've ever heard is the omni dispersion can be a bit of an acquired taste.

pe304bu_pf1e.jpg

I do know someone who uses them for surround speakers, and they certainly fill the room.

Or maybe a surface mount. Surprised there's not more of those available. I scored a pair of Gekko's a while back that do an admirable job on the rear channels of my quad system.

gekko-flat-panels.jpg


The entire surface is a radiator. Bit short on bass as you'd expect, but nothing that couldn't be cured with a sub or two. Those are small enough you can tuck them anywhere. Not a problem here as I've got big box McIntosh on the front channels.

Also, there's quite a few floor standers with a mighty small footprint. Worth considering if you can plant them where nothing's in the way. I listened to some Focal Chorus a bit back and was impressed.

415%2B810rRFL._SY300_.jpg


They're tall, but only about 8" square, so I expect you wouldn't want to put them where they'd be knocked about ...
 
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For addition to your mental database: My limited experience is with the Yamaha 6" woofer 2-ways in my son's room and the Polk RCi 85s I helped a buddy with. The Polks were easily worth the extra money. Bigger sound for the watt, better clarity I initially figured, "In Wall - they all sound the same degree of crappy. Not the case.
 
I'm interested in this thread. Common sense says you won't get as good quality from in walls because with standalone speakers, a good part of the cost goes into the engineering of the cabinet. With most in-walls (and I know there are some that are fully enclosed) the cabinet is the wall cavity, which will vary from installation to installation, and possibly even from speaker to speaker in the same room, which means they have to be designed to work with the lowest common denominator.

Also, is your space so restricted that you can't even use wall mounted minis (like an NHT SubZero or A/D/S 200 or 300)?
 
swechsler said:
I'm interested in this thread. Common sense says you won't get as good quality from in walls because with standalone speakers, a good part of the cost goes into the engineering of the cabinet. With most in-walls (and I know there are some that are fully enclosed) the cabinet is the wall cavity, which will vary from installation to installation, and possibly even from speaker to speaker in the same room, which means they have to be designed to work with the lowest common denominator.

Also, is your space so restricted that you can't even use wall mounted minis (like an NHT SubZero or A/D/S 200 or 300)?
Click to expand...
swechsler said:
I'm interested in this thread. Common sense says you won't get as good quality from in walls because with standalone speakers, a good part of the cost goes into the engineering of the cabinet. With most in-walls (and I know there are some that are fully enclosed) the cabinet is the wall cavity, which will vary from installation to installation, and possibly even from speaker to speaker in the same room, which means they have to be designed to work with the lowest common denominator.

Also, is your space so restricted that you can't even use wall mounted minis (like an NHT SubZero or A/D/S 200 or 300)?
Click to expand...

There's a few issues, we have a woodstove that takes up a lot of space and prevents close placement plus I don't like the look of a speaker attached to the wall. The main things I like about wall placement is the clean look, doesn't attract dust(woodstove) and the wiring is concealed. I haven't looked around much but I did look at a Martin Logan model online, looks pretty nice. Seems like I may have seen one that has a box behind the speaker, Any ideas?
 
easycraig said:
If you go in-wall for primary speakers make sure you get something with directional tweeters.
Click to expand...

If you decide to go that route, I'd suggest you investigate the Speakercraft AIM series; directional tweeters is their big selling point. Also, Speakercraft pioneered inwall/in-ceiling speakers, so they have been doing them for years and are a major source for system integrators.

Cheers,
Larry B.
 
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