Looking for advice with Audio... 5.2.4 In Wall/Ceiling for under $2500

M

mrd05d

Audiophyte
The last time I bought a surround sound system was 15 years ago and it was a Sony kit I believe. Obviously a lot has changed since then. I just bought a new house and am looking to make the living room into a really nice place to watch movies.

The couch will be on the rear wall unfortunately which is why I am going to do the 5.2.4 instead of say a 7.x.x (I was told that would be a waste considering the couch placement).

The room is 16 x 20 but has vaulted ceilings and open concept flows into the foyer and kitchen so pretty spacious.

I would like to keep it under $2500 if possible.

Any Advice/Ideas for in-wall/in-ceiling product would be awesome.
 

Attachments

mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
Whatever you get you NEED drivers that Aim or Pivots to the Listening Position.
 
M

mrd05d

Audiophyte
Nice I'll put Aimable/Pivots on the requirements list.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Are you intending to do IW/IC for the whole installation? What are your listening habits? 2500 will be tough when you consider adding subs and an AVR. The placement of .4 tops will be tricky, performance wise due to the couch being on the wall but will be fine. Aimable tweeters aren’t something I’ve found successful but an angled baffle, or moveable baffle I find useful. Another option for the tops would be to use something like SVS prime elevation as “heights” vs tops. This would go against a cleaner IW installation though. I used RSL c34e’s in my ceiling which is angled by about the same angle as the speaker baffle(15°).
In any case, a little more info would help. Do you have any gear at all?
 
M

mrd05d

Audiophyte
I listen to Classic Rock, Country, Blues, HipHop. (In that order). I am more worried about The Movie aspect (Pairing this with an 85" Sony x900h).

The in Wall In Ceiling thing is wife's spec not mine. She wants no wires and no boxes in the open.

The couch is against the wall but ears will be about a foot and a half to two feet away from it. Hopefully that makes it a little better.

Should I be looking at 6" or 8" cones?

Maybe i could do one sub now and add a second down the road...
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I listen to Classic Rock, Country, Blues, HipHop. (In that order). I am more worried about The Movie aspect (Pairing this with an 85" Sony x900h).

The in Wall In Ceiling thing is wife's spec not mine. She wants no wires and no boxes in the open.

The couch is against the wall but ears will be about a foot and a half to two feet away from it. Hopefully that makes it a little better.

Should I be looking at 6" or 8" cones?

Maybe i could do one sub now and add a second down the road...
What is behind that wall where the TV is now?
 
M

mrd05d

Audiophyte
The Guest bedroom is behind that wall. Right now my Son and and Grandson are staying in there. In a month or so though they will be moving out and it will just be an empty Guest room.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
The Guest bedroom is behind that wall. Right now my Son and and Grandson are staying in there. In a month or so though they will be moving out and it will just be an empty Guest room.
Can you post a picture of what the wall, or what ever is behind the TV looks like from the other side?
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Not sure what you are looking for there?
This is what I was thinking.







In other words if it was a standard stud wall, or deeper. And if it was not deep whether it could be extended a little on the other side.

That is a very potent high power in wall system. It sounds excellent and measures very well.

All the parts are still in the C & C machine's computer.

I was wondering if it is something that could work for you. It gives up very little for being in wall. That system is driven by 1000 watts, and fills that very large space.
The transmission line sub makes it unique. I made sure it could be easily duplicated if anybody wanted a state of the art in wall system. Speech clarity is excellent, especially as the mid range driver of the center, covers the whole of the speech discrimination band.
It was designed and built at the request of my wife, who absolutely loved what she calls "her system."
 
M

mrd05d

Audiophyte
I understand what you are saying. I am not sure if I would want to do a false wall extension like that. If I can, I was hoping to just use in walls off the shelf and run the wires. I just don't know enough about the $ vs performance of current speakers, what vendors are decent and which to stay away from, cone size for the in walls (6 vs 8 inch), etc. Here is what my mock up looked like. The subs i was going to do freestanding in front of the electrical currently on the wall. :

1597493445311.png

TV stand below will look something like this:
1597493653613.png
 
M

mrd05d

Audiophyte
Are any of the following speakers okay? I may add the ceilings later to keep cost down.

Polk Audio RC85i
Monoprice Alpha In-Wall Speakers 8" 3 Way
JBL SP8II 2-way, 8-Inch
BIC America HT8W 8-Inch 3-Way
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I understand what you are saying. I am not sure if I would want to do a false wall extension like that. If I can, I was hoping to just use in walls off the shelf and run the wires. I just don't know enough about the $ vs performance of current speakers, what vendors are decent and which to stay away from, cone size for the in walls (6 vs 8 inch), etc. Here is what my mock up looked like. The subs i was going to do freestanding in front of the electrical currently on the wall. :

View attachment 38857
TV stand below will look something like this:
View attachment 38858
The tweeters on the mains should be 36" above the floor. I just have a concern the mains may be too high on your drawing.

Don't get hung up on cone size. It is the motor system that counts. The in wall I showed has 6" drivers with 2.5" VCs. The motor system is bigger than on a lot of large woofers. Those drivers can take a lot of power without distress. You can see the details here.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Are any of the following speakers okay? I may add the ceilings later to keep cost down.

Polk Audio RC85i
Monoprice Alpha In-Wall Speakers 8" 3 Way
JBL SP8II 2-way, 8-Inch
BIC America HT8W 8-Inch 3-Way
I have the rc85i in one of my rooms. They’re pretty good for the price. Mark is right about motor structure but in general with the kinds of speakers you’re looking at, I’d err with the bigger driver. On your list, I’m a bigger fan of JBL.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Are any of the following speakers okay? I may add the ceilings later to keep cost down.

Polk Audio RC85i
Monoprice Alpha In-Wall Speakers 8" 3 Way
JBL SP8II 2-way, 8-Inch
BIC America HT8W 8-Inch 3-Way
I really can't comment,on those units you are interested in. However, I have heard in wall systems commercially available and not been impressed.

What I would say is you do not want open backed in walls. All speakers need to be properly loaded by a box. You can not have a speaker loaded to the house wall space and expect it to be any good. Another issue is you do not want all that audio being released into the home's wall space. I certainly would not.

So I strongly advise that you pick a system where the speakers have their own enclosure.

I designed the system I highlighted to exceed anything currently available. The issue that really sets it apart is that TL sub. My wife insisted there be no boxes in the room of any kind. So the sub had to be in wall. That sub even though it is a 10" driver fills that whole space with deep bass at really good spl. I have driven it hard with heavy bass and never had the driver bottom. Audyseey sets it 10 db below the other speakers which measures correctly. So it takes little power.

I think anyone who replicated it would be very happy.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
What I would say is you do not want open backed in walls. All speakers need to be properly loaded by a box. You can not have a speaker loaded to the house wall space and expect it to be any good. Another issue is you do not want all that audio being released into the home's wall space. I certainly would not.

So I strongly advise that you pick a system where the speakers have their own enclosure.
And that is where your budge is going to be extremely limited. In-Wall and In-Ceiling systems cost money to do them right. You'll just be throwing your $2500 away
 
NINaudio

NINaudio

Audioholic Samurai
I understand what you are saying. I am not sure if I would want to do a false wall extension like that. If I can, I was hoping to just use in walls off the shelf and run the wires. I just don't know enough about the $ vs performance of current speakers, what vendors are decent and which to stay away from, cone size for the in walls (6 vs 8 inch), etc. Here is what my mock up looked like. The subs i was going to do freestanding in front of the electrical currently on the wall. :

View attachment 38857
TV stand below will look something like this:
View attachment 38858
If you're going to be putting the subs right up front as well, why not get a couple of decent bookshelf speakers and place them on top of the subs? That will allow you to get some better speakers for the money than you'd get with in walls.

I mean, if the wife is OK with subs being out in the room, why not bookshelf speakers on top of them?
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
If you're going to be putting the subs right up front as well, why not get a couple of decent bookshelf speakers and place them on top of the subs? That will allow you to get some better speakers for the money than you'd get with in walls.

I mean, if the wife is OK with subs being out in the room, why not bookshelf speakers on top of them?
Yep, then the next thing ya know...

“I said ONE damn subwoofer!!!!!” Now just look... “Don’t you dare ask for a puppy!l
 

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