[bootman]

Have any Head-fiers with a HT setup tried any in-wall (or ceiling) speakers?

 

[apropos]

Yes, please.... Does anyone have any recommendations regarding in-wall/ceiling speakers?

So far I looked at Dynaudio's IP-24 in-wall speaker. Has anyone tested it? Thanks a lot.

Apropos.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

Stay away from ceiling speakers, these create hot spots and have poor imaging.

In wall speakers can be a mixed blessing.

The good is that they integrate into your decor.

The bads can be numerous, but minimized by doing a careful install and choosing the right speakers for your needs. Seek help at avsforum.com, hometheaterforum.com, or hometheaterspot.com.

 

[apropos]

Sol_Zhen,

What do you mean by "hot spots" and by "poor imaging"? Have you heard anything about Dynaudio-brand? Some people here say that they are one of the best speaker companies. Do you know if it is true?

Thank you for your reply!
A.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

Quote:

Originally posted by apropos Sol_Zhen, What do you mean by "hot spots" and by "poor imaging"? Have you heard anything about Dynaudio-brand? Some people here say that they are one of the best speaker companies. Do you know if it is true? Thank you for your reply! A.

Here, I'm talking about ceiling speakers and not in-wall: Think of how a speaker images. Now, put it in the ceiling. Think of how it images now. You’ll get “hot spots” of treble directly under the speakers and there is no way for them to image and present a good sound stage. Some brands, like NHT, try to minimize this by employing novel tweeter designs that spread out the sound a bit more to minimize the hot spot effect. However, ceiling speakers will never be good for anything other than low-volume, background music because of their inherent positioning faults.

 

[Wmcmanus]

SOl_Zehn is right on! With ceiling speakers, there is no way to get around the "inherent positioning problems" that he describes if you want to any serious 2 channel listening. The websites he has provided are also excellent places to start.

For ceiling speakers, I've done a whole house installation with a total of 24 mid-fi Polk Audio in-ceiling speakers specifically for the low level background listening that Sol_Zehn describes, but find that I rarely use it. At first, it was 16 speakers, and then I went back and added 8 more here and there to tame the hot spots. In large open areas the speaker pairs are set to mono rather than stereo to eliminate the left-right directionality, but in a small bedroom the stereo effect is pretty cool since it's right above the bed. I'm using the Niles Audio IntelliControl system, in-wall keypads, and a pair of Niles 12-channel amps. The felxibility of this system is nice and it impresses visitors, but overall, it was a very disappointing experience in terms of sonics. For this system, I ended up using an old Onkyo receiver and a Sony 200 disc CD changer and relatively cheap Kimber Kwik 12 speaker wire.

For in-walls. it all depends on your application, your budget, and how much you are willing to sacrifice in sound reproduction relative to the convenience gained in terms of having a low-profile, high WAF (wife acceptance factor) design to your HT. I've used 2 pairs of B&W Signature 7 in-wall speakers (retail for about $1,200 per pair but can be had for less on eBay every now and then) and do not find them lacking in any significant way other than the inherent limitation of their fixed positioning. I've been surprised at how well they handle complex musical passages in certain movies and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for serious in-walls. There are several other high-end in-walls (Niles has several well designed models, as does Triad and some other companies as well). When placed properly, there is very little sacrificed in HT sonics relative to comparably priced monitors. I have not heard anything about the Dynaudio in-walls.