In wall speaker advice for Newbie

N

Newbie1234

Audiophyte
First time I have ever posted in a blog but need some help.

Trying to get audio for my open concept family room/kitchen. Its a big space - the family room part is probably 24 feet wide (on this wall is where the TV would be), and 15 feet deep, but there is no back wall cause it opens up the kitchen, which is another 12 feet deep.

On the 24 ft wall i have wires for a L/R/C and a sub in the corner, and two ceiling rear for L/R surround that are right over the couch.

This is where we spend 99% of our time so wanted a system for both movies and music; i am by no means an audiophile, but i did grow up with a dad that was and had Aerial speakers growing up 30 years ago (not sure if they even make those anymore) so I do appreciate the difference in quality.

Despite being wired I started with this setup cause of ease of use:
1. Sonos ARC plus sonos in ceiling speakers powered by a sonos AMP, sonos sub This obviously sounded better than the TV, but for the cost it wasn't great in this room. Maybe the room, but the soundbar just felt very small.

2. I returned this, and recently got
Klipsch 504 for center
Klipsch 625 atmos for L/R
Klipsch in-ceiling 160 CDT for surround
Klipsch 12 inch sub
Yamaha V6A receiver

This setup sounds quite a bit better than the sonos (especially for movies), but two problems. 1. The voice isn't as clear as I feel it could be - it is a bit hollow and distant. 2. More importantly, the speakers are really big, and wife hates it. I also cant really hear the ATMOS effect - maybe cause my ceiling is too high at 12 feet?

Thus, advice....

I am now at the stage of looking for a new setup with in-wall or on-wall speakers - at least for the L/R and could also do for the center.

For this much money, I really feel like it could be bada-s, but I feel like I am missing the mark (or it is just the aucistics of the room).

Anyone have any recommendations for in wall speakers for this setup? I am really all over the place, and at first was gonna buy the Klipsch 5502 or something similar, but then was looking around and found Goldenear as well as B&W CWM 7.4 (I know these last two options are quite a bit more expensive which I dont mind spending if it will be that much better). I am going to a store on Sat to listen to the Goldenear, but does anyone else have any advice on a newbie setting this up????

Once I cut open the wall, these speakers will be staying for a long time....so i am a bit hesitant.

Thanks much for any help anyone can provide

-Ben
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
High ceilings can be an issue with Atmos.

I have 14’ ceiling in my HT room. I use four 8” in-ceiling speakers. I have to increase the trim levels of the ceiling speakers by about 4dB. Might try that.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I don’t think GoldenEars or B&W will be any better than Klipsch. Actually all 3 of these brands tend to boost the treble around 8-11kHz.

Are you using Auto Room Correction YPAO on the Yamaha? If yes, might using Through mode to bypass all the EQ.
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
I don’t think GoldenEars or B&W will be any better than Klipsch. Actually all 3 of these brands tend to boost the treble around 8-11kHz.

Are you using Auto Room Correction YPAO on the Yamaha? If yes, might using Through mode to bypass all the EQ.
I say it doesn't hurt to demo, the GE have smoothed out the measurements a bit until after 10K on the reference, with less boost than the T1s. As for the in-walls there are no measurements I have found. The Triton 7s do not have as dramatic upwards swing.
 
nathan_h

nathan_h

Audioholic
First time I have ever posted in a blog but need some help.

Trying to get audio for my open concept family room/kitchen. Its a big space - the family room part is probably 24 feet wide (on this wall is where the TV would be), and 15 feet deep, but there is no back wall cause it opens up the kitchen, which is another 12 feet deep.

On the 24 ft wall i have wires for a L/R/C and a sub in the corner, and two ceiling rear for L/R surround that are right over the couch.

This is where we spend 99% of our time so wanted a system for both movies and music; i am by no means an audiophile, but i did grow up with a dad that was and had Aerial speakers growing up 30 years ago (not sure if they even make those anymore) so I do appreciate the difference in quality.

Despite being wired I started with this setup cause of ease of use:
1. Sonos ARC plus sonos in ceiling speakers powered by a sonos AMP, sonos sub This obviously sounded better than the TV, but for the cost it wasn't great in this room. Maybe the room, but the soundbar just felt very small.

2. I returned this, and recently got
Klipsch 504 for center
Klipsch 625 atmos for L/R
Klipsch in-ceiling 160 CDT for surround
Klipsch 12 inch sub
Yamaha V6A receiver

This setup sounds quite a bit better than the sonos (especially for movies), but two problems. 1. The voice isn't as clear as I feel it could be - it is a bit hollow and distant. 2. More importantly, the speakers are really big, and wife hates it. I also cant really hear the ATMOS effect - maybe cause my ceiling is too high at 12 feet?

Thus, advice....

I am now at the stage of looking for a new setup with in-wall or on-wall speakers - at least for the L/R and could also do for the center.

For this much money, I really feel like it could be bada-s, but I feel like I am missing the mark (or it is just the aucistics of the room).

Anyone have any recommendations for in wall speakers for this setup? I am really all over the place, and at first was gonna buy the Klipsch 5502 or something similar, but then was looking around and found Goldenear as well as B&W CWM 7.4 (I know these last two options are quite a bit more expensive which I dont mind spending if it will be that much better). I am going to a store on Sat to listen to the Goldenear, but does anyone else have any advice on a newbie setting this up????

Once I cut open the wall, these speakers will be staying for a long time....so i am a bit hesitant.

Thanks much for any help anyone can provide

-Ben
I don’t know your budget but I’d be looking at Revel, KEF, Triad, Focal for quality neutral in wall speakers.

B&W and Goldenear each have a particular flavor for their sound. Some people like it a lot and if you do after listening to them, they are good choices, too.

It’s hard to hypothesize about why your dialog is hard to hear without seeing how you have the center speaker set up. While I am not a fan of Klipsch I would suspect a setup issue rather than a problem with the speaker.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
I don’t know your budget but I’d be looking at Revel, KEF, Triad, Focal for quality neutral in wall speakers.

B&W and Goldenear each have a particular flavor for their sound. Some people like it a lot and if you do after listening to them, they are good choices, too.

It’s hard to hypothesize about why your dialog is hard to hear without seeing how you have the center speaker set up. While I am not a fan of Klipsch I would suspect a setup issue rather than a problem with the speaker.
Gotta be set up wrong I’m using similar Klipch icons same meterial speakers and center sounds really clear once I got it correctly positioned.
So many people switch brands just to realize it was there incorrect calibration or set up . I had to adjust after audysee too !!
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Yeah, I think most of the time it is related to the setup. Using Room EQ, trim levels not “optimal” for preference.

I think some people feel that “Auto EQ” must be “correct” or “best”, so they are afraid to change anything like Trims or to turn off EQ, etc.

But before making any drastic system changes, it doesn’t hurt to play around with the settings.

Then after giving it a try, you can change speakers if you want - but only do this after a lot more research.

Or you can be like many of us and buy/resell a bunch of speakers trial-and-error style. :D
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I say it doesn't hurt to demo, the GE have smoothed out the measurements a bit until after 10K on the reference, with less boost than the T1s. As for the in-walls there are no measurements I have found. The Triton 7s do not have as dramatic upwards swing.
It never hurts to demo any speaker for sure.

Definitely go out there and audition as many speakers as possible.
 

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