In walls

[CWH&R]

OK, A buddy of mine is in the stages of planning his theater room, and his wife wants the speakers to be in the walls. What are his options? He is looking @ 5.1 all in walls.

[---k---]

In-Khan_Neatos

Zaph ZA5.3 In-Walls

ModulaMT/NatP In-wall.

Those are the best ones that I know of. I'm sure there are others. I'm partial to mine.

[joeybutts]

I think nearly all designs can be put in wall, respecting port placement, BSC, and a few other things. Obviously these things require slight crossover changes or reconfigurations, but it can work. Obviously it is easier to just use something already designed for it.

I used LouC's C-Killas as is in the wall fro my dad and they sound quite good. Not amazing, but just under it.

[cjd]

Speakers tend to get bloated and difficult to understand (dialogue in particular) if not designed for in-wall. While many people might like the bass-heavy presentation, it's not so good for things like movies.

[impulse]

Speakers tend to get bloated and difficult to understand (dialogue in particular) if not designed for in-wall. While many people might like the bass-heavy presentation, it's not so good for things like movies.

Before I start to strip down my livingroom wall, I wonder: Does in-walls sound as good as normal floorstanders (given they are deisgned for in-wall use)? I plan to use Zap ZA 5.3 in an in-wall version, but have actually never heard in-walls before. Can in-walls reproduce the "depth" of a soundstage as a proper positioned floorstander or will they sound "flat"? In general, what are the disadvantages with a in-wall?

Sorry for hi-jacking this thread...

[CWH&R]

In-walls

For the front L&R he will be using In-Khan-Neatos and for the center the Khancenter. Are their any MT in walls that he could use as L&R rears as he heard my speakers and wants the sound that they produce, but must all be in-walls.

[cjd]

The in-khans took me by surprise. Awesome sound. Definitely can compete with sitting out in the room.

Not sure on full in wall tm options.

[madmac]

Before I start to strip down my livingroom wall, I wonder: Does in-walls sound as good as normal floorstanders (given they are deisgned for in-wall use)? I plan to use Zap ZA 5.3 in an in-wall version, but have actually never heard in-walls before. Can in-walls reproduce the "depth" of a soundstage as a proper positioned floorstander or will they sound "flat"? In general, what are the disadvantages with a in-wall?

Sorry for hi-jacking this thread...

The answer is obviously NO....it will not sound as good as properly positioned floorstanders.....Period!!. It is a trade off of appearance vs. sound quality. Sadly as above, it usually comes down to a female influence :roll:

Men!!!! TAKE BACK YOUR LIVINGROOMS and put the damn speakers where they sound GOOOOOOD!!!! :B

[impulse]

The answer is obviously NO....it will not sound as good as properly positioned floorstanders.....Period!!. It is a trade off of appearance vs. sound quality. Sadly as above, it usually comes down to a female influence :roll:

Men!!!! TAKE BACK YOUR LIVINGROOMS and put the damn speakers where they sound GOOOOOOD!!!! :B

You may have a point, but I wonder how big a difference it is. Would the in-khan neatos sound much worse then a full BSC version of the same speaker? My guess is that is has a lot to do with how it would be placed in the room (distance to backwall, sidewalls and other obstacles. An in-wall speaker has some advantages to a normal speaker regarding the dip-peak combo on FR due to box-size/distance to backwall.

Regarding TM: ZA5.2 is awailable in a in-wall version (but they don't go so deep as the Khans).

[---k---]

The in-khans took me by surprise. Awesome sound. Definitely can compete with sitting out in the room.

Ditto! The depth of the soundstage surprised me the most and really challenged my preconceived notions about in-walls. I could be very happy with them at all five locations.

I also find CJD's setup with three front inwalls behind an AT screen extremely impressive, so obviously I disagree with those who say that in-walls can't sound as good as floor standing speakers.

[madmac]

Ditto! The depth of the soundstage surprised me the most and really challenged my preconceived notions about in-walls. I could be very happy with them at all five locations.

I also find CJD's setup with three front inwalls behind an AT screen extremely impressive, so obviously I disagree with those who say that in-walls can't sound as good as floor standing speakers.

They cannot sound as good because obviously :

A: You cannot adjust the toe in at all....they are where they are...period!.

B: You cannot experiment with moving them to achieve optimal, accurate sound reproduction. You can only hear them once they are in the wall and installed. At that point, you get what you get right??.

[cjd]

They cannot sound as good because obviously :

A: You cannot adjust the toe in at all....they are where they are...period!.

B: You cannot experiment with moving them to achieve optimal, accurate sound reproduction. You can only hear them once they are in the wall and installed. At that point, you get what you get right??.

There are other ways to manage reflections than by adjusting toe and placement. And you lose all the oddities of reflection introduced by the shift in directionality when a speaker is in-room and moves from 2pi to 4pi.

IF you are willing and able to take the necessary steps to manage the salient reflections, I think it is actually easier done with quality in-wall - or, if we want to think of it another way, quality infinite baffle.

On the other hand, a poor choice in placement can indeed be more permanent - though you can certainly listen to stuff on-wall before cutting holes.

Of course, there are certain audiophile qualities that shouldn't be included in "optimal, accurate reproduction" that often are, and those are many times things that ARE easier to tweak with speakers in-room where you can play with reflection timings and such.

Note that concert halls that use electronic reinforcement to overcome poor acoustics almost exclusively (at least, to the best of my knowledge - I've not extensively researched this...) use in-wall... and in those situations, it's absolutely critical that the listener can not tell they're hearing anything from a speaker, and not from the performers on-stage...

C