In-wall Speakers: Are they as good as box speakers?

[gene]

Despite the flawed conventional wisdom, in-wall speakers can be as good as their freestanding counterparts. In fact, there are areas where in-walls even offer advantages over conventional box speakers. And while a bad speaker is a bad speaker; in-wall or in-room; good in-wall speakers can solve many logistical problems. Put on your "open-mind" cap and read on...

Read: The Truth About In-wall Speakers

Are you using in-wall speakers? Let us know which ones and please share your install pics.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

A minor pick with the article para. about AT screens.

It’s almost always a better solution than a fixed screen and a horizontal center below the screen.

Fixed screen is screen which doesn't move, permanently fixed. It could be AT as well.
Perhaps using none-AT screen would be more accurate.

Experts (BMXTRIX) please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[TheWarrior]

A minor pick with the article para. about AT screens.

Fixed screen is screen which doesn't move, permanently fixed. It could be AT as well.
Perhaps using none-AT screen would be more accurate.

Experts (BMXTRIX) please correct me if I'm wrong.

Paul was trying to focus on getting away from horizontal centers, it appears. Perhaps "...better solution than a Flat Panel TV..." would solve that.

The issue I saw was in the same paragraph "And I cannot EMPHASIZE enough..."

Poor Gene's eyes are glazing over at 1am. Editing is a process, perhaps he could use an associate editor?

 

[gene]

Fixed. thx guys.

 

[RochRx7]

I don't understand how a big beautiful acoustical masterpiece would be considered ugly in a room. Walnut Granite housings aside..

Rooms without giant floorstanding speakers are ugly. This is the cold hard truth in this world. Ugly people, get your act together. Buy speakers.

 

[agarwalro]

I don't understand how a big beautiful acoustical masterpiece would be considered ugly in a room. Walnut Granite housings aside..

Rooms without giant floorstanding speakers are ugly. This is the cold hard truth in this world. Ugly people, get your act together. Buy speakers.

I chuckled.

Sarcasm side, barring exceptions speakers are utilitarian boxes, that stick out like sore thumbs in any decor. This is especially true for budget/value speakers. Then, they have to be placed 2' from boundaries, which is not convenient for many. Folk with rambunctious kids or pets might have reservations too.

Why not make the speakers a conversation piece?

 

[Steve Fleming]

There are a number of good reasons that people choose in-wall speakers over free standing speakers and there are many models that are decent performers but that doesn't change my opinion that in-wall speakers are always a compromise when compared to a free standing speaker, atleast when you are talking dollar for dollar, pound for pound type comparisons.

These speakers have to fit in a wall cavity created by a standard 2 x 4 wall construction with 16" on center spacing. This means the speaker must fit in a space that is about 14" wide and about 3.5" deep, a significant design restriction. This restriction impacts both the volume and the shape of the interior cavity of the speaker which impacts the performance of the speaker. A relatively flush mounting speaker which fits in a space that is only 3.5" deep including the enclosure leaves a pretty shallow space for a driver which I assume adds a significant engineering challenge. And if people are pushing extra decibels because the speaker is a little further from the listening position then more substantial bracing and thicker enclosure walls needed to cope with the requirement for extra power handling is only going to compound the issue.

Optimal placement is also potentially a much more significant challenge than illustrated. What do you do if you open up the wall and discover that the stud spacing isn't right or that there is significant runs of plumbing, electrical, ventilation, central vac or who knows what else forcing a non-optimal placement or a significant renovation to install the speakers. If you thought your spouse was unhappy about speakers killing the ch'i in the room before, wait until you see how happy they are when you have to rip into and redirect some utilities to make your speakers fit where you want them!

 

[Steve Pitbull Potenziano]

This article is right up my street! Ty Gene Love it.

 

[Tumara Baap]

It can be argued a well designed in-wall can be superior to a freestanding speaker. Freestanding speakers exhibit baffle step loss. With small speakers this occurs at higher bass frequencies. On the other hand an in-wall can have better constant directivity. This has a bearing on the tonal balance and depth of soundstage. A well designed in-wall will also be seamless with the room walls, eliminating any edge diffraction. These benefits are in addition to the elimination of low frequency anomalies caused by bass bouncing off nearby hard surfaces and imposing itself on the speaker's output. The inherent increase in gain of in-walls can allow use of smaller drivers with smoother dispersion of a greater range of frequencies, especially in the horizontal plane.

The reflections-are-a-problem meme continues unabated. Actually a spectrally accurate and well timed reflection can improve intelligibility and pleasantly enrich and expand the soundstage.

All in all, there is much about a well designed in-wall that makes it superior to standalone speaker. Indeed some recording monitors like Genelec are intentionally designed to accommodate soffit mounting and are at their best in that configuration.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I just installed Emotiva UAW6.2 for my side surrounds... I guess they are the cheap plastic 6.5" one mentioned. I haven't given them a good workout yet. They were cheaper than I thought, as I bought two pair thinking they were $135 ea, but they came in pairs. They are rated for 150W so they can take some power. As far as bass, a 6.5" woofer in a wall cavity stuffed with the pink stuff, might not be so bad, especially after having Audyssey correction applied. And of course they are rolled off at 80Hz. If anyone has experience with these, please sound off.

 

[FABIO SAMU]

How to construct a back box for in ceiling speakers? Is it good for the sound? Is there a video?

 

[Archaeologist77]

Nice article. I'm just renovating a basement and partitioning half of the open space into a home theater and I was wondering today if I could adapt FULL-SIZE free-standing speakers and subwoofer for an in-wall installation into a baffle wall exactly as recommended in the THX article by A. Grimani.

The question I have:

How do I calculate the ideal curve for the three baffle walls?

Any ideas, let me know.

 

[fmw]

I've never heard in wall speakers and can't really comment on performance. I tend to side with the comment that they represent a design compromise but that is just opinion. I would have a problem with the hassle involved in moving them should they need to be moved. That and cutting big holes in the wall are enough to cause my lack of interest.

 

[awdio]

Actually an in-wall speaker will reduce depth not increase it. With that said, at least with movies. this is not a major concern. A larger concern would be with sound leakage. Designing a home theater properly with serious regard to keeping all noise within the room is difficult enough without introducing more cavities in the walls. Extra measures and care will be needed to minimize leakage of sound from the room. Of course if the home theater is nothing more than a living room then in-walls can be a viable alternative for the obvious reasons mentioned in the article.

 

[nathan_h]

Glad to see audiophile grade in walls getting their due. Given the choice, I now choose such speakers when possible.

In addition to all the good points here, just the fact that the designer knows exactly where the closest boundary is, and can tune the speaker to take that into account, is a big advantage.

But I cannot blame people for not liking the added expense and inconvenience of installation.

 

[rramacha]

Thanks for the article. How about on-wall speakers with AT Screen dropping down in front of them?

 

[DigitalDawn]

As many of you probably know, I've been a Triad dealer for over 17 years, and to me, there's no better in-wall speaker manufacturer. Triad's feature significant internal bracing with sound deadening materials inside the cabinet. Also, all of the in-wall speakers they make here in the U.S. have sealed cabinets.

In addition, Triad speakers within a series (Bronze, Silver, Gold etc) are designed to sound the same -- cabinet characteristics, driver placement, and crossovers are all adjusted to make each speaker sonically identical. So, for example, InRoom, InWall, OnWall, and even InCeiling speakers should match one another acoustically.

The company hand builds speakers in just about every configuration you can imagine. They will even color match the speakers and grills to match the paint on your walls. In addition to InRoom speakers, Triad has In-Wall and angled InCeiling speakers and subwoofers that work amazingly well for spaces in which you have no floor space, or when you wish to hide the speakers from view. The company has speakers in many different price ranges, starting at $300 per speaker.

While not a household name, Triad is a favorite of custom installers and has won numerous industry awards. The company is also a prototype partner for Dolby, helping to design speaker systems for immersive audio. Most recently, Triad Gold Monitor speakers won Best of Show at the 2019 CEDIA Expo in Denver. How Triad's Are Built: