Monoprice Amber in-wall speakers.

[panteragstk]

Hey guys. This is a bit of a db question, but how can a ribbon in-wall this cheap sound good?

I'm considering a few in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for my theater and came across these. $50 each seems too good to be true.

Is there anyone here that has heard them or can maybe give some insight into how they can be this cheap and sound good at all? Specs look good, but we know that isn't the whole story.

 

[panteragstk]

I ordered two. Going to make cabinets for them to test. I'm not going to cut up my walls just to see if these sound good. If they don't, they go back.

I just can't see how a $50 in-wall ribbon can sound good. Curiosity got the best of me.

 

[zieglj01]

Have fun

 

[lovinthehd]

I ordered two. Going to make cabinets for them to test. I'm not going to cut up my walls just to see if these sound good. If they don't, they go back.

I just can't see how a $50 in-wall ribbon can sound good. Curiosity got the best of me.

Will a box tell you what an in-wall installation will sound like, though?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I'm interested.

 

[panteragstk]

Will a box tell you what an in-wall installation will sound like, though?

It'll be as close as I can get without installing them permanently. I'm going to mount the boxes on the wall the speakers will be installed in so it will tell me enough. Honestly it should be pretty obvious if they sound good or not. Basically turning them into cabinet speakers.

If someone can tell me a better way to test I'm all ears.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If your experiment works, are you gonna build back boxes for them for the final install?

 

[panteragstk]

If your experiment works, are you gonna build back boxes for them for the final install?

No. The walls are all insulated with blown in insulation so there really shouldn't be a need. I will probably do it for the ceiling speakers though. That is regardless of whether I keep these or go with something else.

 

[lovinthehd]

It'll be as close as I can get without installing them permanently. I'm going to mount the boxes on the wall the speakers will be installed in so it will tell me enough. Honestly it should be pretty obvious if they sound good or not. Basically turning them into cabinet speakers.

If someone can tell me a better way to test I'm all ears.

I'm just curious as to what differences an infinite baffle vs the box would make....I did some searches but came up with nothing useful, mostly the subject of building back boxes came up.

 

[panteragstk]

I'm just curious as to what differences an infinite baffle vs the box would make....I did some searches but came up with nothing useful, mostly the subject of building back boxes came up.

Well, the thing is with the insulation there is a backing holding it in on the walls that aren't exterior so it won't be IB. At most it will have 16"x8'x4" cavity. Even then it is densely packed insulation so the actual air volume will be even less than that. Once I build the boxes I may just recess them into the wall. No point in wasting a cabinet.

 

[panteragstk]

So I got them. Initial impressions are that these are a steal at $50 each. I can't believe how good they actually are. I go more in depth below.

So I got the box and in typical UPS fashion the box was in less than perfect condition. Considering how much Monoprice charges for shipping this is a little annoying.

Anyway I got the two boxes out and they were fine. Monoprice apparently is fully aware of their shipping partner and their ways. Solid packaging. There is another layer under that to protect the speaker.

Overall it is a nice solid unit and pretty heavy. Not unexpected due to the mid/woofer size of 8"

There is a switch for the crossover. Settings are 0db, -3db, -6db. This is not noted in the documentation anywhere.

Removing the grill and you have a paint shield underneath. Grill comes off with the provided hook.

Nice looking speaker. Ribbon and aluminum woofer.

Crappy testing conditions, but I was eager to get a sense of the tweeter. Whether the ribbon sounded as good as it should is the main reason for purchasing these. I unplugged the pioneers and sat the Monoprice in front. Initial impression was not enough bass, but that was expected. Tweeters sound very nice though.

Tried to simulate in-wall a bit more by putting them into the provided boxes. It helped quite a bit, but the sound was still oddly thin. The default position of the crossover switch is -3db. I moved it to 0db and noticed a large improvement. Not sure what is changing, but I did notice an improvement.

Full Specs

Speaker Type 2-way in-wall
Woofer 8" aluminum cone with rubber surround
Tweeter 4.5" x 3" ribbon
Frequency Response 50Hz ~ 20kHz
Crossover Frequency 3.7kHz
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Power Handling Capacity (RMS) 80 watts
Power Handling Capacity (Peak) 160 watts
Sensitivity (2.83V) 89dB
Overall Dimensions 14.1" x 10.0" x 4.0" (358 x 255 x 103 mm)
Cutout Dimensions 12.71" x 8.66" x 3.54" (323 x 220 x 90 mm)
Weight (each) 6.9 lbs. (3.15kg)

Listening impressions:

Well, I put on some of the tracks I usually use for this sort of thing and realized that these tweeters are much more revealing than anything I currently own.

I noticed a slight hiss that wasn't present before in my copy of Best of Beethoven (FLAC). I listened to Fur Elise and excerpt from Symphony #7 which sound great, but now I'm fully aware of how bad that recording is with the annoying hiss. Great. I need a new Beethoven album.

I also listened to Reflection by Tool. This is a great recording (FLAC). It has a lot of emphasis on Danny Carey's drums, especially the symbols. His slight taps are nice and clean on these speakers. I've missed this clarity with my Pioneer towers (which I still really like). Sounds great.

I also listened to Hey You by Pink Floyd (FLAC) and again the clarity was very pleasant. Great track and the speakers sounded nice and full just as they did in the other recordings. This is very surprising since my ghetto way of testing is hampering the bass output considerably I'm sure.

I also listened to Shesmovedon and How is your life today? by Porcupine Tree (FLAC) and again they sounded fantastic. The stereo image on these tracks is wonderful. Some of the best I've got IMHO.

I also listened to some of the Radiohead and Sepultura (when Max was with the band) and it sounded a bit bright. Not sure if this is due to the MP3 (320kbps) or the tracks themselves. Radiohead's Paraniod Android was especially bright. The only track that sounded that way so I'm not sure if it really counts since it's an mp3. Sepultura's Roots Bloody Roots sounded like it should. Heavy. Not really a track for testing speakers, but I am and always will be a metalhead so it was a necessary inclusion.

I also listened to Black Sabbath's Solitude which is a very mellow track. It also had the hiss, but I'm not surprised as I've heard this track on multiple mediums and it has always been present. I like this one as a test because there is a background triangle, chime, thumb cymbal or something that has a very sparkly sound to it and it is a great test for tweeters. The speakers did not disappoint.

I played a few blu-rays with HD audio to get a sense of how they'll handle dialog since that is going to be a major part of their job and was satisfied. I'll have to get them in room and calibrated with the subs to get a full picture, but overall I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with them.

In conclusion I thin Monoprice has outdone themselves with these. I can't believe they sound as good as the do for $50 each. I now wish my Pioneer AJ speakers had tweeters this good.

I'll do another review (if you can call my ramblings above a review) when they get installed in the theater as that will be a much tougher test since they will be around 7 feet apart. I'm really eager to see how the bass/midrange sounds since it was only OK in my tests (shocking since they were sat in boxes). The stereo imaging is also something I'm eager to hear as well sine it is already very good.

I'll be outfitting my theater with these little guys since funds are tight and they are honestly better than anything I've ever heard in or above their price range up to $100 each. I really want the HSU in-walls, but that will wait till later.

Thanks for letting me drone on. Hope it wasn't too painful.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

hey, thanks for that. I'm in the middle of searching for some in wall speakers for surround/atmos duty. My wife is requesting my "big black boxes" go away. So, as part of the negotiation, I've put atmos on the table. I was looking at Martin Logan IW's but at 1400ea, I'm not ready to go there. Gonna look at the HSU's you just mentioned.

 

[lovinthehd]

Well, the thing is with the insulation there is a backing holding it in on the walls that aren't exterior so it won't be IB. At most it will have 16"x8'x4" cavity. Even then it is densely packed insulation so the actual air volume will be even less than that. Once I build the boxes I may just recess them into the wall. No point in wasting a cabinet.

I was thinking more of the wall as baffle effect.

 

[panteragstk]

I was thinking more of the wall as baffle effect.

Yeah, that is true. I'll find out what difference it makes once I get time to get them in the wall. I did make sure that the cutout dimensions for these are compatible or very close to other in walls I'm considering if these turn out to be duds. I doubt they will, but playing music at a moderate level and playing a movie back at reference level are two different things.

The manual did mention a 50 hour break in period, but I don't really believe in that so much. I'll still give them a moderate break in, but I'm not sure how necessary that really is.

 

[Pogre]

I also listened to Reflection by Tool. This is a great recording (FLAC). It has a lot of emphasis on Danny Carey's drums, especially the symbols. His slight taps are nice and clean on these speakers. I've missed this clarity with my Pioneer towers (which I still really like). Sounds great.

That's one of the songs I like to play when listening to speakers too, for the same reasons. Plus I know it inside and out. Sepultura, huh? I liked them better when Max was there too.

And thanks for the impressions. I know diddly squat about in wall speakers.

 

[panteragstk]

I'm learning. I sold them in the past and have heard some installs, but always came away with the impression that they sucked. Granted it was lower end models from the likes of Polk, Boston Acoustics, and Klipsch. I've heard some Kef, but it a terrible setting so it didn't do the speakers justice at all.

 

[lovinthehd]

So I got them. Initial impressions are that these are a steal at $50 each. I can't believe how good they actually are. I go more in depth below.

So I got the box and in typical UPS fashion the box was in less than perfect condition. Considering how much Monoprice charges for shipping this is a little annoying.

Anyway I got the two boxes out and they were fine. Monoprice apparently is fully aware of their shipping partner and their ways. Solid packaging. There is another layer under that to protect the speaker.

Overall it is a nice solid unit and pretty heavy. Not unexpected due to the mid/woofer size of 8"

There is a switch for the crossover. Settings are 0db, -3db, -6db. This is not noted in the documentation anywhere.

Removing the grill and you have a paint shield underneath. Grill comes off with the provided hook.

Nice looking speaker. Ribbon and aluminum woofer.

Crappy testing conditions, but I was eager to get a sense of the tweeter. Whether the ribbon sounded as good as it should is the main reason for purchasing these. I unplugged the pioneers and sat the Monoprice in front. Initial impression was not enough bass, but that was expected. Tweeters sound very nice though.

Tried to simulate in-wall a bit more by putting them into the provided boxes. It helped quite a bit, but the sound was still oddly thin. The default position of the crossover switch is -3db. I moved it to 0db and noticed a large improvement. Not sure what is changing, but I did notice an improvement.

Full Specs

Speaker Type 2-way in-wall
Woofer 8" aluminum cone with rubber surround
Tweeter 4.5" x 3" ribbon
Frequency Response 50Hz ~ 20kHz
Crossover Frequency 3.7kHz
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Power Handling Capacity (RMS) 80 watts
Power Handling Capacity (Peak) 160 watts
Sensitivity (2.83V) 89dB
Overall Dimensions 14.1" x 10.0" x 4.0" (358 x 255 x 103 mm)
Cutout Dimensions 12.71" x 8.66" x 3.54" (323 x 220 x 90 mm)
Weight (each) 6.9 lbs. (3.15kg)

Listening impressions:

Well, I put on some of the tracks I usually use for this sort of thing and realized that these tweeters are much more revealing than anything I currently own.

I noticed a slight hiss that wasn't present before in my copy of Best of Beethoven (FLAC). I listened to Fur Elise and excerpt from Symphony #7 which sound great, but now I'm fully aware of how bad that recording is with the annoying hiss. Great. I need a new Beethoven album.

I also listened to Reflection by Tool. This is a great recording (FLAC). It has a lot of emphasis on Danny Carey's drums, especially the symbols. His slight taps are nice and clean on these speakers. I've missed this clarity with my Pioneer towers (which I still really like). Sounds great.

I also listened to Hey You by Pink Floyd (FLAC) and again the clarity was very pleasant. Great track and the speakers sounded nice and full just as they did in the other recordings. This is very surprising since my ghetto way of testing is hampering the bass output considerably I'm sure.

I also listened to Shesmovedon and How is your life today? by Porcupine Tree (FLAC) and again they sounded fantastic. The stereo image on these tracks is wonderful. Some of the best I've got IMHO.

I also listened to some of the Radiohead and Sepultura (when Max was with the band) and it sounded a bit bright. Not sure if this is due to the MP3 (320kbps) or the tracks themselves. Radiohead's Paraniod Android was especially bright. The only track that sounded that way so I'm not sure if it really counts since it's an mp3. Sepultura's Roots Bloody Roots sounded like it should. Heavy. Not really a track for testing speakers, but I am and always will be a metalhead so it was a necessary inclusion.

I also listened to Black Sabbath's Solitude which is a very mellow track. It also had the hiss, but I'm not surprised as I've heard this track on multiple mediums and it has always been present. I like this one as a test because there is a background triangle, chime, thumb cymbal or something that has a very sparkly sound to it and it is a great test for tweeters. The speakers did not disappoint.

I played a few blu-rays with HD audio to get a sense of how they'll handle dialog since that is going to be a major part of their job and was satisfied. I'll have to get them in room and calibrated with the subs to get a full picture, but overall I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with them.

In conclusion I thin Monoprice has outdone themselves with these. I can't believe they sound as good as the do for $50 each. I now wish my Pioneer AJ speakers had tweeters this good.

I'll do another review (if you can call my ramblings above a review) when they get installed in the theater as that will be a much tougher test since they will be around 7 feet apart. I'm really eager to see how the bass/midrange sounds since it was only OK in my tests (shocking since they were sat in boxes). The stereo imaging is also something I'm eager to hear as well sine it is already very good.

I'll be outfitting my theater with these little guys since funds are tight and they are honestly better than anything I've ever heard in or above their price range up to $100 each. I really want the HSU in-walls, but that will wait till later.

Thanks for letting me drone on. Hope it wasn't too painful.

Curious of the connection you're making between recording quality and FLAC....are these FLACs you've made from CD issues or some other source recorded/downloaded in FLAC format?

 

[panteragstk]

They are high quality FLAC files made from the original discs. The mp3s are downloaded.

For the Beethoven album I'm not the only one that noticed the hiss. On right the Amazon reviews mention it too.

I forgot to mention that i did listen to NIN right where it belongs v2 as well as hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. Both have very pronounced electric guitar without distortion that sounded very good. Buckley's voice came through in detail I've been missing from my lesser tweeters.

 

[Pogre]

You're really making me want to get a set of BMR's. That's gonna take some saving and scheming though...

 

[panteragstk]

You're really making me want to get a set of BMR's. That's gonna take some saving and scheming though...

This while in wall thing has got me wanting to research them more. They are obviously not the same as cabinet speakers.

Putting them in the wall is what will really tell me if they are a good all around speaker or not. Right now I'm just surprised that a ribbon in such a cheap speaker sounds as good as it does. I still have no clue if the mid/bass is any good so the final test will be their installed position.

I do want to clarify something though. I had very low expectations for this speaker due to the price. I think that is a big factor in why I'm so based that they sound so good. I'm very much a ribbon tweeter guy though so that bias can't be ignored.

I'd really like to see some measurements on these to see if they are actually decent. Bias removed. I won't be doing that since I don't have the time and equipment.