Inwalls

[weinerschizel]

I'm having a house built. Pretty fixed on the inwall setup though I'm sure it suffers a performance hit.

Haven't been able to find much in the way of these speakers though. Best Buy has a handful but I'm doubtful they're the best deal and or best quality.

However, I listened to their speaker craft setup for $330 - $430 and it sounded decent.

What do you guys recommend for in-walls? I'm going to shop around for a decent deal while they're building.

 

[mperfct]

I have RBH Signature SI-760's for l/c/r, and RBH MC6-DB for surrounds. I don't think they suffer a performance hit at all. There are tons of brands out there. I listened to Sonance, DefTech, Atlantic Tech, Phase Tech, Elan, Focal, B&W, and a few others. My favorites were the Sonance, AT's, but I got too good of a deal here on AH to pass up on the RBH's. They were heads above the rest.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

These are the two that I was most impressed with.

http://www.atlantictechnology.com/default.asp?NodeId=134

http://www.josephaudio.com/JosephAudio/Insider.html

 

[AVRat]

More info about your room & budget would help. SpeakerCraft make good quality in-walls.

 

[mperfct]

These are the two that I was most impressed with.

http://www.atlantictechnology.com/default.asp?NodeId=134

http://www.josephaudio.com/JosephAudio/Insider.html

I think those were the AT's I listened too. They were THX-certified, I remember that. One of the reasons I liked their design was that the surrounds in this line had both the tweeters and mid-woofer setup for dispersion, rather than just 2 tweeters and a forward firing mid-woofer. Those are some bad-arse speakers.

Whatever you buy, make sure you get back-boxes with them.

 

[fast1]

These are the two that I was most impressed with.

http://www.atlantictechnology.com/default.asp?NodeId=134

http://www.josephaudio.com/JosephAudio/Insider.html

i think the second one from josephaudio is good...

 

[walter duque]

These are the two that I was most impressed with.

http://www.atlantictechnology.com/default.asp?NodeId=134

http://www.josephaudio.com/JosephAudio/Insider.html

I see you're hooked on Josephaudio, they are great speakers are'nt they. IMO way above the rest, top notch. It's that crossover.

 

[weinerschizel]

I think those were the AT's I listened too. They were THX-certified, I remember that. One of the reasons I liked their design was that the surrounds in this line had both the tweeters and mid-woofer setup for dispersion, rather than just 2 tweeters and a forward firing mid-woofer. Those are some bad-arse speakers.

Whatever you buy, make sure you get back-boxes with them.

How do you get the back-boxes? Are they sold separately? I inquired about these at best buy and the guy had no idea what I was talking about.

I would think they would almost have to be installed lest your wall vibrate like mad and or you muck up all your insulation etc.

 

[weinerschizel]

More info about your room & budget would help. SpeakerCraft make good quality in-walls.

I'm actually doing 3 rooms

Room 1:
Game room will have two in ceiling speakers

Room 2:
Deck will have two in ceiling speakers

Room 3:
Theater / living room... 5 in wall speakers, one sub in room, and two in ceiling speakers.

My goal is to get a good idea on what the decent speakers are. Then I'm going to scavenge while they are building the house. Hopefully I can find a few good deals in the next 6 months or so.

One thing I like are the speakers with tweaters you can reposition and also having 2 cones + tweater; one for low range, medium range, and tweater for high range.

 

[mperfct]

How do you get the back-boxes? Are they sold separately? I inquired about these at best buy and the guy had no idea what I was talking about.

I would think they would almost have to be installed lest your wall vibrate like mad and or you muck up all your insulation etc.

That's too bad about the guy at BB. Back boxes are so that your speakers have a definite amount of volume to work with. If they don't have those, then how is a speaker manufacturer going to create something with any kind of accuracy when dealing with a variable such as the volume of the cavity between the sheetrock and studs?

It'd be almost like dangling the drivers in mid-air for a freestanding speaker. (Which I'm sure some esoteric company has tried before.)

 

[weinerschizel]

That's too bad about the guy at BB. Back boxes are so that your speakers have a definite amount of volume to work with. If they don't have those, then how is a speaker manufacturer going to create something with any kind of accuracy when dealing with a variable such as the volume of the cavity between the sheetrock and studs?

It'd be almost like dangling the drivers in mid-air for a freestanding speaker. (Which I'm sure some esoteric company has tried before.)

Exactly... That makes since to me. However, 99% of the speakers I've been seeing, including the speaker craft had no back box. So I'm curious where you get the back box from if they aren't included.

 

[mperfct]

Exactly... That makes since to me. However, 99% of the speakers I've been seeing, including the speaker craft had no back box. So I'm curious where you get the back box from if they aren't included.

Some speakers come with them, and some you have to buy separately. They are made by the manufacturer of the speaker and are speaker specific. It's not like a generic add on. For your HT, I'd shop elsewhere than Best Buy. For your ambient/non-critical speakers, I think you'd be fine with a greater percentage of in-ceiling/wall speakers.

Go to some high-end stores, and figure out what you like. FWIW, it's really hard demo-ing in-wall speakers because it's a lot tougher for stores to set that up than just lugging in and hooking up the latest and greatest tower.

 

[weinerschizel]

Some speakers come with them, and some you have to buy separately. They are made by the manufacturer of the speaker and are speaker specific. It's not like a generic add on. For your HT, I'd shop elsewhere than Best Buy. For your ambient/non-critical speakers, I think you'd be fine with a greater percentage of in-ceiling/wall speakers.

Go to some high-end stores, and figure out what you like. FWIW, it's really hard demo-ing in-wall speakers because it's a lot tougher for stores to set that up than just lugging in and hooking up the latest and greatest tower.

What does "HT" stand for? I'm thinking of picking up some decent speakers for the in ceiling, and rear channels. Then going with high quality stuff for the front channels.

Just spotted a set new of NXG speakers (803i 8" 3 way speaker) for $200 on craigs list. Perhaps those would suffice for a rear channel? Although I have no way to tell about the back box. I think it seems silly anyone would even try to sell you a speaker without the back box.

 

[mperfct]

What does "HT" stand for? I'm thinking of picking up some decent speakers for the in ceiling, and rear channels. Then going with high quality stuff for the front channels.

Just spotted a set new of NXG speakers (803i 8" 3 way speaker) for $200 on craigs list. Perhaps those would suffice for a rear channel? Although I have no way to tell about the back box. I think it seems silly anyone would even try to sell you a speaker without the back box.

HT= home theater.

What kind of room are you working with for your HT? I'm a proponent of spending $1000 (or whatever your budget it) on 5 speakers than spending $1k on 7 speakers, if you get my drift. Unless you *have* to have 7.1, I'd just wire it for 7.1 until you get some more cash and 7.1 is more pervasive than it is now. That's my two cents, and a handful of people might disagree, but it's worth mulling over.

 

[weinerschizel]

HT= home theater.

What kind of room are you working with for your HT? I'm a proponent of spending $1000 (or whatever your budget it) on 5 speakers than spending $1k on 7 speakers, if you get my drift. Unless you *have* to have 7.1, I'd just wire it for 7.1 until you get some more cash and 7.1 is more pervasive than it is now. That's my two cents, and a handful of people might disagree, but it's worth mulling over.

Yeah great point. I hear most stuff isn't even encoded for 7.1 yet. However, I'm having the builder prewire for it. I'm curious abou this NXG speakers. If they're quality or not. It's so damn hard to buy anything w/o hearing it.

I'd pick them up for my rears if they're a decent speaker. he want's $200 for the pair which seems reasonible.

 

[mperfct]

Yeah great point. I hear most stuff isn't even encoded for 7.1 yet. However, I'm having the builder prewire for it. I'm curious abou this NXG speakers. If they're quality or not. It's so damn hard to buy anything w/o hearing it.

I'd pick them up for my rears if they're a decent speaker. he want's $200 for the pair which seems reasonible.

I think you should probably hold out for something else. I've never heard of NXG. I keep thinking of Titleist NXTs.

 

[m_vanmeter]

one of the top American manufacturer's of in-wall speakers is Triad. Their Omni line has a series of excellent in-wall speakers, as does their Surround line

http://www.triadspeakers.com/

 

[mperfct]

^^agreed, Triads are terrific speakers. I didn't a chance to hear their in-walls, but I heard some towers and they were pretty nice. The dealer was supposed to bring some Bronze LCR's (I think that's the right model) over to my theater so I could hook them up, but he never showed. Oh well, no sale for him.

I think there used to be one of the Triad VP's on this forum, but I haven't seen him in awhile.

 

[ozmedia]

I'm having a house built. Pretty fixed on the inwall setup though I'm sure it suffers a performance hit.

Haven't been able to find much in the way of these speakers though. Best Buy has a handful but I'm doubtful they're the best deal and or best quality.

However, I listened to their speaker craft setup for $330 - $430 and it sounded decent.

What do you guys recommend for in-walls? I'm going to shop around for a decent deal while they're building.

I'd definitely go for RBH. I've worked with most brands,including Speaker Craft (which are but you can find much better value for your money out there ) and find RBH has it nailed with their MC series inwalls. Signature series inwalls are the ultimate but they are pretty pricey compared to your stated price range. The RBH TK-6's are very impressive too if you can find them, being phased out due to a close price point with their entry level inwalls.

As mentioned in another post the MC's are excellent. They have a new MC-553, three 5.25" woofers and 2 tweeters. Two sets of crossovers and binding posts per speaker allow you to install JUST a left and right front speaker, no centre channel, you can run the centre channel outputs from the receiver to the bottom woofer and tweeter on each speaker which is designed to work as an independent centre channel. This is EXCELLENT for people with a brick fireplace or no chocie but to mount a centre channel high over the TV.
It also gives you great panning, a wider soundstage and tighter imaging.

If you want to use a separate centre channel, you can still bridge the connections on each 553's to act as just left and right channels, utilizing all three woofers and both tweeters per side. An incredible concept!

http://rbhsound.com/product_detail.php?id=MC-553

One thing that remains standard with all RBH products, yo'd be VERY hard pressed to find better sound for a more reasonable price.

 

[biffbyun]

I second the triad suggestion. I have installed a couple of theaters with their in walls (surrounds only though) and the end users have been quite satisfied. Another contender that hasn't been mentioned is the Dali Ikon series inwalls if you like a touch more energetic top end. I would definitely stay away from open baffle designs for the most part since their performance would vary significantly dependent on their interaction with the wall cavity they're in.
Best of luck.
Rob