Help needed with In wall speakers

[AlfieArch]

Hi! When our house was built we had the loft wired for surround speakers. Can anyone please help me figure out what kind/size can fit? Apologies if this is a silly question….but this is all new to me. Thanks!!!

 

[lovinthehd]

Is that just the cable's access or is that the cavity the speaker mounts into? I'm guessing just the former, but not a lot to go on....

 

[AlfieArch]

Is that just the cable's access or is that the cavity the speaker mounts into? I'm guessing just the former, but not a lot to go on....

Thanks! Just the cable access. There really is no mounts or anything else that I can see….. I’m guessing they left joists on either side of the cavity hopefully to mount something?

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks! Just the cable access. There really is no mounts or anything else that I can see….. I’m guessing they left joists on either side of the cavity hopefully to mount something?

Hard to know from the photos Where on the wall are those boxes located? At the correct height for the in-wall surrounds? I take it on-wall mounts are not considered?

 

[AlfieArch]

Hard to know from the photos Where on the wall are those boxes located? At the correct height for the in-wall surrounds? I take it on-wall mounts are not considered?

Sorry, should have been clearer. They are in the ceiling. 3 front, and 2 rear. They are the same size as electrical outlet plates. I guess I’m just not sure how those help me mount in ceiling speakers except for the fact the wiring is there… Not sure what options I have.

 

[lovinthehd]

Sorry, should have been clearer. They are in the ceiling. 3 front, and 2 rear. They are the same size as electrical outlet plates. I guess I’m just not sure how those help me mount in ceiling speakers except for the fact the wiring is there… Not sure what options I have.

In ceiling isn't quite the same thing as in wall...but these cavities were per your specification or something the builder decided on or ? What size are the plates? They look very small. I'd use in-ceiling only as a very last resort (aside from atmos specific setups)

 

[TLS Guy]

Sorry, should have been clearer. They are in the ceiling. 3 front, and 2 rear. They are the same size as electrical outlet plates. I guess I’m just not sure how those help me mount in ceiling speakers except for the fact the wiring is there… Not sure what options I have.

They might be OK for the ceiling Atmos speakers but nothing else. What do you plan for the other speakers?

 

[AlfieArch]

In ceiling isn't quite the same thing as in wall...but these cavities were per your specification or something the builder decided on or ? What size are the plates? They look very small. I'd use in-ceiling only as a very last resort (aside from atmos specific setups)

Thanks! They were an option with the builder. I guess I should have asked more questions or perhaps paid more attention. Yea, they look exactly like a small box behind an electrical outlet plate. So, now I am like what do I do with these??

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks! They were an option with the builder. I guess I should have asked more questions or perhaps paid more attention. Yea, they look exactly like a small box behind an electrical outlet plate. So, now I am like what do I do with these??

You put blank white wall plates over them and leave then there until you have a system that requires Atmos speakers.

Just more evidence that builders are clueless when it comes to audio issues.

 

[AlfieArch]

They might be OK for the ceiling Atmos speakers but nothing else. What do you plan for the other speakers?

I actually have some previous bookshelf speakers from Aperion audio with stands (except the center speaker) that are about 12 years old. I guess I could run some flat speaker wire and tuck it in between the baseboard and carpet. Just now finally trying to do something in that room. I also have a large SVS sub.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks! They were an option with the builder. I guess I should have asked more questions or perhaps paid more attention. Yea, they look exactly like a small box behind an electrical outlet plate. So, now I am like what do I do with these??

Hard to know what the builder intended, maybe just to allow access to wire for speakers using some sort of on-ceiling/on-wall speaker mount....

 

[TLS Guy]

I actually have some previous bookshelf speakers from Aperion audio with stands (except the center speaker) that are about 12 years old. I guess I could run some flat speaker wire and tuck it in between the baseboard and carpet. Just now finally trying to do something in that room. I also have a large SVS sub.

You are still asking us to be mind readers.

We have no clue what you want.

We have not seen pictures of the room, your budget, what quality you are looking for, what ideas you have for powering it, whether it is audio only or AV. If AV proposed TV location, speaker locations and proposed location of equipment.

We have no idea what you want, and I suspect you don't either.

 

[AlfieArch]

You are still asking us to be mind readers.

We have no clue what you want.

We have not seen pictures of the room, your budget, what quality you are looking for, what ideas you have for powering it, whether it is audio only or AV. If AV proposed TV location, speaker locations and proposed location of equipment.

We have no idea what you want, and I suspect you don't either.

Apologies for the confusion here. Yea, I don’t know quite yet. But I do appreciate the honest feedback. I would like to put in a HT system on some level. I would say budget is about 10k max. I have attached some pictures of the loft area. I originally was thinking a projector but the area is really not conducive to that. I did get the surround sound wiring option from the builder but guess I really didn’t understand what that really meant. For now, I am thinking an OLED tv with a wall mount. I was thinking maybe I could purchase in ceiling speakers to avoid running wiring but what the builder provided doesn’t seem to allow that.

 

[AlfieArch]

So I’m thinking the TV on a wall mount against the front wall (along the wall where the equipment rack is). I wasn’t sure whether to keep my existing speakers or sell them and get in ceiling using the existing wiring from the builder.

 

[lovinthehd]

So all five "boxes" are in-ceiling? I'd probably just use your existing speakers and sub to start. Does tv mounting and rack on front wall still allow for speaker placement?

 

[AlfieArch]

So all five "boxes" are in-ceiling? I'd probably just use your existing speakers and sub to start. Does tv mounting and rack on front wall still allow for speaker placement?

Thanks, Yep, all 5 are in the ceiling. I think wall mounting the tv should allow for placement of existing speakers. Was just hoping to get a “cleaner” look without too much exposed wiring. The wall unfortunately in the loft area is only 5 ft high where the tv would be mounted. Just trying to figure out options with speakers and placement. The wall being so short doesnt really lend to a good center channel placement as I fear it would be at the floor level almost. So I think I am forced to do the phantom center channel as another member suggested.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks, Yep, all 5 are in the ceiling. I think wall mounting the tv should allow for placement of existing speakers. Was just hoping to get a “cleaner” look without too much exposed wiring. The wall unfortunately in the loft area is only 5 ft high where the tv would be mounted. Just trying to figure out options with speakers and placement. The wall being so short doesnt really lend to a good center channel placement as I fear it would be at the floor level almost. So I think I am forced to do the phantom center channel as another member suggested.

Made me wonder about how tall the top edge of my 59" is with a center in front of it (but not blocking it) and it's 5'1".....but not wall mounted, tv is also on a stand as is the center (a fairly large one). If I had to I could lower this a bit, tho.

 

[Eppie]

So I’m thinking the TV on a wall mount against the front wall (along the wall where the equipment rack is). I wasn’t sure whether to keep my existing speakers or sell them and get in ceiling using the existing wiring from the builder.

An irregular room like that will always lead to compromises of some sort so I would consider a few options and see what suits you best.

• The TV can go an a low profile stand or wall mount. With a stand, you might manage to fit a center speaker below the TV. With a wall mount, I would probably go with a swing arm. The reason being that a standard tilt mount will force the TV to be close to the floor. (I assume you want as big a screen as will fit the room and your budget.) A swing arm allows you to move the TV away from the wall so that it can be higher. Likewise using a stand allows the TV to be positioned away from the wall which give you more space above with that angled ceiling. Some cardboard cut-outs the size of the TV can be helpful in envisioning how either would work.
• If you want the true surround experience, the "bed layer" speakers need to be ear level. (The front 2 or 3 speakers and any side or rear surrounds.) If you use the ceiling speaker locations, forget about ATMOS. For ATMOS to work you need a proper bed layer and then ceiling speakers in proper locations. If you want ATMOS (which yields side surround and overhead effects) I would use your existing speakers for the front and rear. If your seating is in that alcove, side surrounds will be a challenge. It doesn't look like you have enough room for side surrounds on stands, but you could use the bookshelf speakers for rears. Side surrounds would likely have to go on-wall or in-wall. The location is closer to the seating than I would like, but that is one of those compromises. My side surrounds are close to the couch in my system but they do the job.
  If you can set up a proper bed layer, then the contractor wiring above the seats can be used for in-ceiling ATMOS. Use angled baffles so that the speakers point to your seating location. The front ceiling positions look to be too far away for ATMOS, so I would just use 2 speakers. Hard to know from the photos but the front ceiling positions would only work if you can get the speakers to point at your seats. If they point to the floor, I would not bother with those.
  For wiring, you can run speaker wires along the corner of the floor from the rack to behind the seats for testing. If you're happy with the setup, you can mount plastic or metal channel above the baseboard to hide the wires. You can also remove the baseboard to run wires in the wall but use fire rated wiring for in-wall runs.
• If the above is not within your ability or liking, you can use the contractor wiring for a 5.1 setup. It's not ideal, as the sound is coming from above instead of from the TV image, so don't expect realistic surround sound positioning, but for casual TV and movie viewing I know a few people that use ceiling speakers and they are fine with that. For in-wall or on-wall speakers, I would look at RSL, Monoprice and Paradigm. (I've seen Monitor Audio recommended as well.) RSL and Paradigm offer speakers with angled baffles so you can try and aim them at your seats. Monoprice has the THX line of in-walls that perform very well for the money.

 

[AlfieArch]

An irregular room like that will always lead to compromises of some sort so I would consider a few options and see what suits you best.

• The TV can go an a low profile stand or wall mount. With a stand, you might manage to fit a center speaker below the TV. With a wall mount, I would probably go with a swing arm. The reason being that a standard tilt mount will force the TV to be close to the floor. (I assume you want as big a screen as will fit the room and your budget.) A swing arm allows you to move the TV away from the wall so that it can be higher. Likewise using a stand allows the TV to be positioned away from the wall which give you more space above with that angled ceiling. Some cardboard cut-outs the size of the TV can be helpful in envisioning how either would work.
• If you want the true surround experience, the "bed layer" speakers need to be ear level. (The front 2 or 3 speakers and any side or rear surrounds.) If you use the ceiling speaker locations, forget about ATMOS. For ATMOS to work you need a proper bed layer and then ceiling speakers in proper locations. If you want ATMOS (which yields side surround and overhead effects) I would use your existing speakers for the front and rear. If your seating is in that alcove, side surrounds will be a challenge. It doesn't look like you have enough room for side surrounds on stands, but you could use the bookshelf speakers for rears. Side surrounds would likely have to go on-wall or in-wall. The location is closer to the seating than I would like, but that is one of those compromises. My side surrounds are close to the couch in my system but they do the job.
  If you can set up a proper bed layer, then the contractor wiring above the seats can be used for in-ceiling ATMOS. Use angled baffles so that the speakers point to your seating location. The front ceiling positions look to be too far away for ATMOS, so I would just use 2 speakers. Hard to know from the photos but the front ceiling positions would only work if you can get the speakers to point at your seats. If they point to the floor, I would not bother with those.
  For wiring, you can run speaker wires along the corner of the floor from the rack to behind the seats for testing. If you're happy with the setup, you can mount plastic or metal channel above the baseboard to hide the wires. You can also remove the baseboard to run wires in the wall but use fire rated wiring for in-wall runs.
• If the above is not within your ability or liking, you can use the contractor wiring for a 5.1 setup. It's not ideal, as the sound is coming from above instead of from the TV image, so don't expect realistic surround sound positioning, but for casual TV and movie viewing I know a few people that use ceiling speakers and they are fine with that. For in-wall or on-wall speakers, I would look at RSL, Monoprice and Paradigm. (I've seen Monitor Audio recommended as well.) RSL and Paradigm offer speakers with angled baffles so you can try and aim them at your seats. Monoprice has the THX line of in-walls that perform very well for the money.

Thank you!!! I’m going to spend some time digesting this when I get home from work! Great idea on the cardboard cut out! Yea the room is definitely challenging with the opening to the stairs and the angled ceiling. Thanks again!!

 

[DigitalDawn]

If you wish to keep the ceiling locations, you might wish to consider Triad Speakers. They have InCeiling speakers that are angled at 35-45 degrees, so the sound will appear to come from the wall in front of you. Triad will also paint the grills any color you like.

See link to the Bronze Sats below:

https://triadspeakersforum.com/files/datasheets/Bronze-sats-triad-data-sheet.pdf