he has his mind set on, "on the wall speakers". I'm just making sure there is nothing better out there as far as the slim designed speakers. Are the Boston Acoustics better performers than the xtr50?
He is probably going to put either dual setup of pb1000 or 2000s in his living room in the future. The subs will have to be approved by my sister (his wife), so they will have to be a small footprint as possible
As long as he's aware of the compromises inherent in a "low profile" on-wall speaker.
I doubt he'll achieve a satisfactory level of performance with them, particularly in that largish room. The XTR-50's measurements aren't all that crash hot:
Test Report: Definitive Technology Mythos XTR-50 Speakers Page 4 | Sound & Vision. Of most concern is the bass performance. The tester (Butterworth) notes:
However, the bass limits of the XTR-50 are rather severe. At 80Hz, distortion was always above 10%, and at 100Hz, I was able to get only 70dB out of it at 10% THD.
You really need to get more than 70dBSPL (@ 2m) clean out of an LCR at 100Hz, as this frequency and above can be a difficult to cover with subs without some localisation. Again, the largish room and (presumably) a lengthy listening distance exacerbates the issue.
If he must go the on-wall route, some of the highest performing on-wall speakers I'm aware of are
Triad OnWall Bronze LCR ($600 each, retail). If some carpentry work is possible, the
Triad InWall Silver/4 LCR or
InWall Silver/6 LCR (depending on available wall depth) ($900 each, retail) would be worthwhile step up, particularly for the extra 3dB of sensitivity. For selecting surrounds and rears later on, refer to the attachment in this post:
Triad Owner's Thread - Page 213 - AVS Forum. For sale/package prices, contact
your local Triad dealer.
AVR: Either of the Triad LCR's are 4Ω impedance speakers, so getting a 4Ω rated AVR is sensible. My pick at the moment is a factory refurbished
Onkyo TX-NR1010 7.2-Ch THX Certified Network A/V Receiver | Accessories4less ($900 shipped). It's THX Ultra2+ certified, packs Audyssey MultEQ XT32 (with SubEQ HT) and will happily drive seven 89dB/1W/1m sensitivity; 4Ω speakers to cinema reference level in a 4000ft^3 or larger room.
Future subs: For a reasonably small footprint with very solid performance, ultimately I'd aim for a
SVS PC12-Plus in each corner of the room.
Good luck!
