In-Wall Speakers

[Parsonsk]

I'm going to be finishing my basement (aka - home theater room) and want to install in wall and in ceiling speakers, the problem is that I will not be buying them for about a year and by that time I’m hoping the basement will be done.
I don't know what kind of speakers to buy yet so I don't know how to frame for them. Do any of you have any suggestions for future proofing this installation? The good thing is that I have not started so I can do pretty much anything I need to.

My next question is if any of you have had good or bad experience with in wall speakers? Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Kevin D]

99% of all in-walls are designed to fit in a standard 16" stud cavity. You will need to make sure those 16" cavities fall where you actually want the speakers. It's usually the center channel that winds up with a stud right in the middle.

Basically figure out where you want the speakers and give yourself 7" on each side of center-line. In-ceilings are easier to place, usually only needing 5" around center.

We use Klipsch, Polk, and B&W in-walls. All have cheap and expensive lines. For a theater I would stay in the expensive line..

Kevin D.

[Parsonsk]

I guess it's safe to say that most center speakers are rectangular, let’s say 8" to 10" high and up to 24" long. With this being said I should provide a space for this as I install the studs. GOOD POINT!
Now for the right and left channels, the vertical studs can either be at at 12" or 16" on center. I can brace back to these but what about bracing above and below the speakers as per the user manual for the B&W CWM800. On average, how tall are these speakers?

How deep should the wall be? Should I plan for 2x6 or 2x8 studs?

I’m not too concerned with the rear channels as they will be mounted in the ceiling and will be round and 8" to 10" in diameter.

[Kevin D]

I guess it's safe to say that most center speakers are rectangular, let’s say 8" to 10" high and up to 24" long. With this being said I should provide a space for this as I install the studs. GOOD POINT!

Most centers are like this do to space restraints, not what sounds the best. If you are going with in-walls, go with the same in-wall all the way across the front. This leaves the same 16" width on all three. Even the taller in-walls are not designed to be mounted sideways.

Now for the right and left channels, the vertical studs can either be at at 12" or 16" on center. I can brace back to these but what about bracing above and below the speakers as per the user manual for the B&W CWM800. On average, how tall are these speakers?
How deep should the wall be? Should I plan for 2x6 or 2x8 studs?

You want enough air-space, so how tall of a space will depend on on how much depth you have. On average I would say most are going to be either 12-15" or 24-30" tall (depending on the number of drivers).

Most are designed to fit in 2x4 spaces, but I would go with 2x6. No need for 2x8's.

Kevin D.

[Chris D]

I have a 5-room all-home audio system in my house using all JBL in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. The bedroom has a 5.0 system using 3 in-walls across the front wall and 2 in-ceilings for surrounds over the bed. Works great. The one problem I ran into is with the center channel, I couldn't raise my wall-mounted plasma up as high on the wall as I wanted to. If I had it to do over again, I'd actually mount my center channel sideways to accommodate this, even though it's not optimal for the speaker itself. Not a huge deal, though.

I'm about to buy a new house, and if possible, I'd like to do the same things in it. Not too cosmic, if you keep it simple. Adding features like wall source controls adds to it. Basically, all I'm doing is running 14/4 cable from the house source (my theater right now) to a wall-mounted volume control in each room. Then a 14/2 cable from each volume control to each speaker.

[Ralph]

I have been using B&W signature 7's for my rear speakers (in wall not ceiling) for a few years & they work just fine. The wall is well insulated & there are no rattling pictures or any thing else to make noise when they are in use. Watch out for pictures ect. hanging on opposite walls.

[Parsonsk]

i've been looking around there really don't seem to be a LOT of in wall speakers (compare to the free standing)
Any recommendations as to what brand of in wall speakers i should be looking at?

B&W?
Sonance ?
NHT?
Polks?

[David Meek]

Look at PSB, too.

[Snap]

I have Jamo in my house. The 6.521K4 are awesome speakers. The whole speaker is tilted inside to aim right at the sofa. (In my case my master bed.) Niles Audio also make a really sweet in wall and in ceiling speaker. Those would be my recomendations.

Jamo also can out with the 6.521A2 the version below the K4 and they are much more $$ friendly than the K4 series. 199 each is the MAP on the 6.521A2 speaker. I have used them both and they are very nice.

Though I have never used Polk in wall and in ceiling speakers they have a THX certified in ceiling speaker that they just came out with. Not sure how good they are but it looks pretty cool.

[dyazdani]

I just had the chance to scheck out B&Ws line of in-walls last week. My dad bought 3 LCR7s for the front and 2 CCM80s for the ceiling in the rear.

They didn't have the LCRs on display, but man, the CCM80s sounded great. I can't wait to check out the whole system.

[BobD207s]

Hi - we have used a lot of the psb in-walls in our installations and they are excellent . Depending on your budget another nice line of in-walls are now available from Aperion audio - we have used these with very good results.

[Bruce]

I think the Dynaudio inwalls would be something to consider. Something I'm considering by the way.

Dyn inwalls

[slayer]

If you are on a budget, look at Truaudio. They have serious bang for the buck. They also have the back-boxes for all their speakers and they are very cheap in price. Decide on the speakers you want to go with, get the back-boxes and mount them between the studs, run your wire to them, then rock over them. A year later, cut out the rock over the openings of the back-boxes and mount the speakers. Done. I use the Truaudio stuff on almost every job I do now that uses in-walls or in-ceilings. They offer a Lifetime warranty and they perform very well for the price. I have yet to have a customer say they don't like them. You owe it to yourself to check out some reviews on them as you could save some serious cash by going with Truaudio. That's what I'm going with in my bedroom system I'm about to start working on. I also just used all their outdoor speakers in my yard and patio. Good stuff.

[Snap]

do the back boxes come with the speaker or is that extra? We do not use back boxes for Jamo. If we need them we make them ourselves using the channel that they are in. Just wondering about the back boxes.

Also ever had them rattle?