In Wall vs. On Wall vs. Away From Wall

[cray54]

I'd like to learn more about the benefits / drawbacks of in-wall, on-wall and away from wall speaker design and mounting. I have tried to find good information but tend to only find bits and pieces.

I'd like suggestions for good books, online documents or threads that would help.

Thanks,
Chris

[Paul W]

Floyd Toole's "Sound Reproduction" at Amazon.com. He goes into good detail on that specific subject. (and a whole lot of other stuff you'll find very useful)

[ThomasW]

baffle step compensation

[fbov]

+1 to Toole's book. Not cheap, but a career's worth of audio information at a very accessible but fully technical level.

[cray54]

Paul W / fbov - Thank you for the recommendation, it should now be on its way to my local Barnes and Noble. The reviews like to mention how the concepts are “[explained] in an easy way” in this book. Does Dr. Toole get into the math and physics associated with acoustic performance? If not, are there particular acoustics books you’d recommend as a supplement?

ThomasW - “Search” posts are usually the least helpful, but I thought I’d give this one a shot. I read [thoroughly] the first 10 hits (a few of which I had already read), and found that I learned nothing new that correlated with my question.

-Chris

[wigginjs]

baffle step compensation

The difference is more than just that though, isn't it? I think polar radiation would have a lot to do with the difference in sound (2pi instead of 4pi, right?) as well as the fact that there is no edge diffraction for in-wall speakers mounted on blank wall. I'm stabbing in the dark a little because I haven't studied this intensely.

[ThomasW]

The difference is more than just that though, isn't it?

Yes there are multiple factors involved. And the best way to know what's happening is to build a test baffles and start measuring.

None of the placements (in-wall/on-wall/free-standing) are inherently better or worse, they're just different, and all involve performance compromises.

Toole's book is certainly a good read even though it's primary focus is multi-channel systems. It does not contain mathematical models/formulas for different kinds of loudspeaker designs or placements. Section 12.2 contains a brief discussion illustrating boundary loading effects on in-wall/on-wall/free-standing speakers.

[cray54]

None of the placements (in-wall/on-wall/free-standing) are inherently better or worse, they're just different, and all involve performance compromises.

Excellent! That's good news for me. The performance compromises are what I’d like to learn about initially.

Toole's book is certainly a good read even though it's primary focus is multi-channel systems. It does not contain mathematical models/formulas for different kinds of loudspeaker designs or placements. Section 12.2 contains a brief discussion illustrating boundary loading effects on in-wall/on-wall/free-standing speakers.

Thanks. I'll start looking for a good engineering book as a supplement.

-Chris