Should I build a box for in-wall speakers?

[j_garcia]

"Not necessary" is not the right term, is not "required" to have a box, but I would still prefer a back box personally. I would say they are not designed with a box being required, as mentioned, not for performance but out of lack of consumer level knowledge. I think the reason most do not have them is their use case isn't designed around bass extension and back wave control. The main criteria being: fits in a typical wall/ceiling and not including a box means the cost is not passed on to the customer, though you would think these companies might want to offer it as an add-on for additional $$

 

[Eppie]

I would not trust all manufacturers to take the wall cavity volume into consideration but I would expect reputable firms like Focal and Paradigm to take the typical 2.72 cubic ft volume into account when designing their in-walls. I realize that it's still a compromise. You choose the drivers first and design the cabinet to match the drivers. In-walls are a backward approach in that the cabinet volume is basically predetermined. That doesn't automatically mean that the drivers are inappropriate for the wall cavity volume. You just need to stick to bass/mid drivers that are designed for that typical volume.

The wall cavity will also not be as air tight as a speaker box. There may be holes in the studs for electrical, for example, and only part of the cavity may have damping material / insulation. I would expect a well designed in-wall with factory back box to perform better as you then have properly quality control and remove some of those variables, but for many people what a decent in-wall offers is more than enough.

 

[TLS Guy]

I would not trust all manufacturers to take the wall cavity volume into consideration but I would expect reputable firms like Focal and Paradigm to take the typical 2.72 cubic ft volume into account when designing their in-walls. I realize that it's still a compromise. You choose the drivers first and design the cabinet to match the drivers. In-walls are a backward approach in that the cabinet volume is basically predetermined. That doesn't automatically mean that the drivers are inappropriate for the wall cavity volume. You just need to stick to bass/mid drivers that are designed for that typical volume.

The wall cavity will also not be as air tight as a speaker box. There may be holes in the studs for electrical, for example, and only part of the cavity may have damping material / insulation. I would expect a well designed in-wall with factory back box to perform better as you then have properly quality control and remove some of those variables, but for many people what a decent in-wall offers is more than enough.

I highly doubt most of these in wall designs are much good, I suspect a few may be done correctly. I suspect most are thrown together for the non discerning.

In general I think in wall speakers are something you should build and design yourself more then any other speaker.

 

[Eppie]

I highly doubt most of these in wall designs are much good, I suspect a few may be done correctly. I suspect most are thrown together for the non discerning.

In general I think in wall speakers are something you should build and design yourself more then any other speaker.

I suspect that for many consumers in-walls get purchased for a finished room. To design your own, you need access to an unfinished wall like in your living room in order to install proper enclosures and damping material, or you have to open up the wall and refinish again. For your typical open back in-wall sold on BestBuy or Crutchfield you are probably correct. The higher end in-walls that I have read up on, like KEF, RBH, Paradigm and Focal usually come with back boxes, although I remember reading a comment from ShadyJ recently that the Focal didn't measure very well.

Cramming 4 drivers into a slim enclosure will lead to some compromises. KEF has an in-wall that is THX Select2 certified, but if you look at the specs, the FR is +/- 6dB. I'm not a fan of those long skinny in-walls. My Paradigms are a simple 2-way open back design but those are rated +/- 2dB. Only down to 60Hz mind you, but with extension down to 40Hz they sound pretty decent.

 

[highfigh]

"Not necessary" is not the right term, is not "required" to have a box, but I would still prefer a back box personally. I would say they are not designed with a box being required, as mentioned, not for performance but out of lack of consumer level knowledge. I think the reason most do not have them is their use case isn't designed around bass extension and back wave control. The main criteria being: fits in a typical wall/ceiling and not including a box means the cost is not passed on to the customer, though you would think these companies might want to offer it as an add-on for additional $$

These are designed to be convenient, not perfect. For those who want to go the extra distance, a box can be built or cobbled together but the drivers are made for infinite baffle mounting unless otherwise specified. Some end users or integrators won't bother, some will and for them, it's not hard to come up with something that isolates one side from the other but for those who want better, speakers that come with a back box is another option. Focal makes good speakers, Dynaudio is another brand whose speakers have a really good reputation and even their in-wall and in-ceiling speakers come without a back box but the main reason is that it's expensive to ship with it, so they leave it to someone else. I only installed one pair of Dynaudio in-ceiling speakers because most people won't spend that much, but I did build back-boxes because these produce fairly strong bass and if that had intruded into the living space above, it would have been a problem. I will say, though- they're the best sounding in ceiling speakers I have heard, bar none. OTOH, the best in wall were from Triad and they DO come with a back box, at least the ones we installed.

I'm not sure the manufacturers would be interested in offering back boxes, but they could experiment and find a good size, then make the diagrams available. Not knowing the correct volume is one thing, not making it available is a disservice, IMO.

 

[DigitalDawn]

Yes, all Triads built in Portland, are sealed cabinet designs.