Help buying speakers

[ricwilli]

Can anyone suggest a pair of front speakers and center for about $700? I will be listening to 60% movies and 40% music. What I would like to do is have them recessed in the walls, whether being floor standing or bookshelf. My room size is 11’x19’ and 8’ ceiling. What I’m trying to do is not take away space from the room. My TV will be above the fireplace with stones around the fireplace and also the speakers. Will I be taking away sound from the speakers if I recess them in the wall ? I’ll be using a pair of old JBL’s for surrounds until I can afford something else. I do not want speakers that are made to be recessed in the walls. I am looking for box speakes.

 

[bray]

Try looking at these.

Look at the Axiom M22ti and the Axiom VP 100. The cost comes in at around 680.00. For that size room these speakers will sound GREAT! (IMO)
However if you dont already have a sub, you'll need to get one.
Of course this is true for almost any speakers you get.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Polk RTi series for that price...centers speaker would be a CSi. Might get some Polk bashers here but for the money, you can't go wrong. Don't be fooled by expensive show rooms. Polk went mass market a few years ago, now sold at BB and CC so people assume they are weak when they are not. Fancy hi fi stores can't compete with big box stores, so obviously, they will disuade you from Polk. The RTi 8's , a nice matching Polk centre, and a sub will be great in that price range.

 

[ricwilli]

WOW!!! The Axiom M22ti are really nice. So are the Polks. But, can I have these speakers recessed in the wall like I want too? I took a look at the Axiom M22ti and I noticed the whole in the back. Will that be a problem if I recessed these speakers in the wall like I want too? Johnny, I'm going to go to BB after dinner today and take a look at the Polks.

 

[bray]

recessed

I dont recomend recessing any speaker, unless your going to have 3 to 6 inches behind them, and the speaker fronts flush or sticking out a wee bit from the wall. Recessed to far back in any wall or bookshelf will kill your soundstage.
If youd like to audition the M22s go to axiomaudio.com and look in the forums for a thread called "Auditioning Axioms in your area" and you should be able to find someone near you that is willling to audition there speakers for you.
Good Luck in your search.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

hope you like the Polks. I really can't comment on the Axioms.

For more assurance, go to the Polk Audio forums web site. Lots say the RTi8's and a quality sub are as good as the RTi12's..I have the 12's. I had the 8's in my house side by side with the 12's. Price was not a factor so i took the 12's as i felt more would be better. but on a budget like you said, the 8's and a sub was not much less in SQ...go for it.

 

[cownd]

I would recommend you purchase in wall speakers built for that purpose. Floor standing speakers need space!!!!

 

[ricwilli]

I went to CC, BB and 6th ave last night and the only store that had Polks was CC. But, they only had Monitors 50 and 70. I wasn't able to listen to them cause they were not hooked up. The only ones that they had was the floor models. Can someone please explain to me why I can't have the box speakers recessed in the wall? The speakers are already in a box.

 

[mustang_steve]

best bet is to buy some decent in-wall speakers, and do a little wall cutting if you want something flush with the wall.

 

[BAA]

You may want to check ASCEND ACOUSTICS,they've gotten some decent reviews from various sources. I have the CMT-340 center and am very pleased with its sound. Kept it as opposed to the AXIOM VP100, after doing an in home comparison --- IMO I thought the ASCEND sounded warmer and less harsh, Ssss did not seem as exaggerated, mind you it took some critical listening to decide between the two. READ IN ANOTHER POST: " If its worth your money its worth your time ". GOOD LUCK HAPPY LISTENING!

 

[cownd]

I went to CC, BB and 6th ave last night and the only store that had Polks was CC. But, they only had Monitors 50 and 70. I wasn't able to listen to them cause they were not hooked up. The only ones that they had was the floor models. Can someone please explain to me why I can't have the box speakers recessed in the wall? The speakers are already in a box.

They use the space all around the speakers to create the soundstage. In-wall designed speakers are manufactured with that in mind. As an example, if you place floor standing speakers to close to a corner or wall, the lows become over-exagerated. It's a "sound game" when placing these speakers in your room. I would imagine if you installed floor standing speakers in a wall, the sound would suffer. I hope others can help clarify this, and I would suggest you visit a "high-end" audio store for some real good advise as well, because Fancy hi fi stores KILL big box stores for real service and support

 

[bpape]

Box speakers are designed to have some space around them. Sound radiates in a spherical pattern until you get into the high frequencies. The front area of the speaker is designed in many cases to complement this and to avoid diffraction/cancellations.

When you build this type of speaker into a wall, you are in fact now using the ENTIRE wall as the front baffle and incurring a LOT of early reflections, cancellations, and will likely not only mess up the imaging but also significantly change the tonal 'voice' of the speaker. Also, if the space you put them in is not an EXACT fit, you'll get ringing from the enclosure, and a more hollow sound. Lastly, you'll have absolutely zero in the way of imaging depth unless you severely treat the wall surface and know exactly what the radiating pattern is, how it reacts in terms of SBIR, etc.

Speakers DESIGNED to be put into a wall are voiced and designed to compensate for the wall.

 

[ricwilli]

So are there any good recessed speakers that can compete with bookshelf speakers? For example the Axiom M22ti's which I'm leaning torwards buying. If there is, than can someone tell me which ones.

 

[bpape]

Check out Paradigm. They make some decent ones that would fit in your price range.

OR, go back to your first thought and get box speakers and take up a foot of your room. Just don't get any bipole/dipoles or anything with a rear port. While you may lose a bit of performance being that close to the wall, your options become much more open. It's only a foot. Your mantle will come out that far...

 

[Johnny Canuck]

agree with you Cownd. Future Slop (Best Buy in the USA)service is absolute garbage. The only reason I bought mine there was they beat the "small" store in town by $200. In hindsight, that $200 saving may come back to bite me. My previous post was just to say Polks are found MOSTLY in big box stores now as they want to mass market and although that is the case, Polks should not be ruled out as a good bang for your buck. If you can find Polks in a high end store, it might be worth paying a little more for the service.

I lost one of those black/red plastic screwdown things on the speaker wire posts down inside my port last night and am having a hard time getting a replacement from the "slop"..they said call their "1-800 parts line"..I did. Apparantly they don't support Polk products at their parts store???? Now i must go through the local Polk rep to get one...

sorry RicWilli...didn't clue in you wanted wall mount. RTi's are tower speakers

JC

 

[ricwilli]

Well I was looking for eigther floor standing or bookshelf. One that would sound real good in my room size 11'x19'x8'. Now that I got my eye on the Axiom M22ti, I will be going with the bookshelfs. I think you guys are right about BB and CC. I went there last night after dinner to check out the Polks speakers and there setup was all sloppy, dusty and unorganized . Most of the speakers were not hooked up so that you can hear them. That say's something about the service that they would provide if something go's wrong with the speakers after you purchase them. I was actually looking forward to listening to the Polks.

 

[jaxvon]

Just why exactly do you want to recess your speakers? Seeing how you're looking at bookshelves, you could get wall-mount stands for them. You could also just get normal stands. Either way, you must find some way to elevate them to ear level so they sound good. Also, Axiom speakers are rear-ported, so recessing them would be a BAD idea.

 

[bhrvatin]

sorry RicWilli...didn't clue in you wanted wall mount. RTi's are tower speakers

I have heard the Polk RTi4 and RTi6 bookshelfs and they both are decent for the money, slightly forward in my opinion, perfect for HT.

Check out the Paradigm Mini Monitors, very nice sound but not as forward as the Polks. Then again, it depends on you electronics. Great price on the Minis.

Bart

 

[ricwilli]

I wanted to recess the speakers either floor standing or bookshelf cause I didn't want to take away from my already small room. I wanted to know if it could be done and now I know I can't. Some members suggested some speakers and I liked the Axiom M22ti. So that is why in the last few post I've been leaning torwards the bookshelf speakers (M22ti).