Do I have to use in wall speakers?

[speakerboi]

Greetings gentlemen. Thank god for specialized forums. I'm in trouble, boys. I purchased a 135" acoustically transparent screen and an Optoma HD27 projector. My seating position is 14' away from the screen and 15' away from the wall behind the screen. Most decent center channel speakers I've seen range from 7" thick to 10" thick. That means that at most I can get a 2" to 4" gap from the center speaker's rear hole (stop laughing, I forgot the term) to the wall. I've read that this gap should be 2 to 3 feet. So I've been researching in wall speakers. Trying to do this on an extreme budget it looks like the Monoprice Alpha center in wall speaker is my best bet. Unfortunately I want to make sure that my front 3 speakers match so I have to use their in wall right and left speakers as well. For the rears I can't really do in walls because one side of the couch is open to the kitchen area and the other side of the couch has a sloped wall. So I'll have to mount a bookshelf to the right wall and buy a speaker stand for the left speaker. Question is will Micca MB42's be compatible enough with the fronts?.

Second question is, I'm wondering if either buying Micca's (MB42Xs and it's corresponding center), Or Fluance SX50BC 5.0 set or even Bic Venturi 62si's + DV62CLR-S and having the center speaker so incredibly close to the wall will still sound better than the Monoprice in wall speakers that I'm thinking about buying. There's really not that much online comparing in walls with these budget bookshelf speakers. Wondering what you guys think would be best?

 

[everettT]

Just do the front 3 identical bookshelves for the fronts. Do higher quality fronts and sub and less expensive for the surrounds. What is the total room size and what is your budget?

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Is your AT screen a woven screen? You can sandwich speakers between the wall and the screen with almost no space in between if the speakers are sealed. I just did this and it works great. I had no change in sound when I put the screen in front of them. I did put a layer of acoustic foam behind the speakers, but other wise there is maybe an inch from the wall and another inch from the screen.

If you want a little more space you can also cut the drywall so your speakers are recessed into the wall a little bit as well.

 

[speakerboi]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Budget is around $300 for the speakers. Most of that going towards the front 3, then sub, then rears.

Drink penguin what sealed speakers did you go with? Haven't seen too many of them, but I've just been focusing mostly on bookshelf speakers and their corresponding centers. Just barely started looking at in walls.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I went a bit overboard, but...

https://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/speakers/products/mtm-210

 

[speakerboi]

I've driven cars for years that cost less then that speaker.

 

[-Jim-]

This is a challenge. But here's a solution with no holes in your walls, or fishing speaker cables.

Grab 5 Monoprice MP-65RT 6.5in and Ribbon Tweeter 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers They are sold by the pair, so you'll have to contact their Sales Department for 5 of them. 5 should cost about $125. Place all of them vertically at ear level when seated including the center one behind the screen.

Monoprice MP-65RT 6.5in and Ribbon Tweeter 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (Pair), Black

For $60 each get two Monoprice 12-Inch 150-Watt Powered Subwoofer Black (Open Box) Monoprice 12-Inch 150-Watt Powered Subwoofer Black (Open Box) Do the Subwoofer crawl to determine optimal Sub placement.

Use the remaining $55 to get some speaker stands off Craigslist /eBay, and / or mounting brackets.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[speakerboi]

Those speakers look great. Love that they don't have portholes in the back. Think I might pull the trigger on those. Noticed that the subs go down to 50hz on paper. In person they should be fine? Also, here is a picture of my living room in case that changes anything.

http://imgur.com/VFoDoJx

http://imgur.com/zIUo5zp

 

[everettT]

Portholes = Port

 

[KEW]

This is a challenge. But here's a solution with no holes in your walls, or fishing speaker cables.

Grab 5 Monoprice MP-65RT 6.5in and Ribbon Tweeter 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers They are sold by the pair, so you'll have to contact their Sales Department for 5 of them. 5 should cost about $125. Place all of them vertically at ear level when seated including the center one behind the screen.

Monoprice MP-65RT 6.5in and Ribbon Tweeter 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (Pair), Black

For $60 each get two Monoprice 12-Inch 150-Watt Powered Subwoofer Black (Open Box) Monoprice 12-Inch 150-Watt Powered Subwoofer Black (Open Box) Do the Subwoofer crawl to determine optimal Sub placement.

Use the remaining $55 to get some speaker stands off Craigslist /eBay, and / or mounting brackets.

I hope this is helpful.

Don't forget to include shipping in your budgeting. At $60 for a used 12" Monoprice sub, I was about to buy one, just to check it out. However shipping (to Georgia) adds $56 to make it $116.
You can get a new one shipped from NewEgg for $120!

 

[-Jim-]

Don't forget to include shipping in your budgeting. At $60 for a used 12" Monoprice sub, I was about to buy one, just to check it out. However shipping (to Georgia) adds $56 to make it $116.
You can get a new one shipped from NewEgg for $120!

I'd spend the $4 for the new one regularly, but they have a Labor Day Special if you use this coupon code "LD20" you can get 20% off this weekend on selected products. (I don't know if these are "selected" but if so the deal is better.) Buying on-line it's all about timing and what the pricing is at the moment.

 

[pewternhrata]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Budget is around $300 for the speakers. Most of that going towards the front 3, then sub, then rears.

Drink penguin what sealed speakers did you go with? Haven't seen too many of them, but I've just been focusing mostly on bookshelf speakers and their corresponding centers. Just barely started looking at in walls.

$300 for speakers, I hate to break it but not gonna get much. Philharmonic's aa or jamo s25/35. With a dayton 1200 or 2 you can get great sound on the cheap.

 

[shadyJ]

$300 for the entire speaker setup? Take a look at this article. You might also get some ideas in this thread.