Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater In-wall or in-ceiling speakers

A while back I asked if anyone had heard the Boston Acoustics VRi 595 in-ceiling speakers because a friend of mine had just bought them (very heavy wife influence in speaker selection). He has a Denon 3805 and a Def Tech sub. I got the opportunity to listen to the system briefly yesterday - and while the sound from the individual speakers was pretty decent compared to my very average in-ceiling Proficent C610s, it was nowhere near the sound I get from my Axioms or Polks - plus it was all coming from up in a 10 foot ceiling so it sounded very directionally artificial (for lack of a better term). So this leads to my ultimate question - Is it possible to make an in-wall or in-ceiling speaker that comes close to what one can achieve with standard bookshelf or floorstanders? And what about outdoor speakers? And if it is possible, has anyone done it - because another friend of mine is considering putting a home theater in the new house he is building and his wife likes the in-ceiling, in-wall idea... Thanks.

Hi Foghorn,

To answer your question in a word, No. The wall or ceiling becomes, in effect, the front baffle of the speaker, and severely compromises sound quality. I've never heard any in-wall or in-ceiling models that are better than mediocre.

If Axiom finds a way to build high-quality in-wall speakers, we'll build them.

Regards,

I have two in-ceiling speakers for surrounds. This is paired with a set of BW 704s up front, no center and no sub. A HK AVR 430 does the signal processing and amplification.

In the future, I'll get a sub and BW ceilings -- in that order.

The ceiling speakers are not a well-known or great brand I'm sure but they came with the house. I was happy to get them calibrated to reference level which I was unable to do with a pair of JBL bookshelves I had laying around.

From an astethics point of view I like having them on the ceiling out of the way. This is a family room and not a home theater room so to speak. If I were building a true home theater for only that purpose I would not use ceiling mounted speakers.

I have no desire for 5 channel music -- so my surrounds are for movies and regular TV programming. For sporting events and your standard Dolby 2.0 broadcasts I enjoy the sound using Logic 7 Stereo or some form of 2->5 channel conversion.

I watched the Matrix yesterday on HBO (broadcast in DD 5.1) and I enjoyed what I was hearing.

If you want 5 channel music I don't recommend this setup. I like my music from the fronts only.

Comparing my setup to my parents which have a Sony HTIB application it isn't even close which I would rather listen to.

If you do get ceiling mount speakers I'd recommend an adjustable tweeter so you can give a bit of direction to adjust the sound.

If you've got someone you know who uses them go have a listen to your type of music/video.

Alan...just curious but have your heard either of these?

Snell in-wall
Veritas in-walls

I realize these are very pricey. But I just wonder if it's simply not possible to make a really great sounding in-wall speaker, or is it simply not possible to make one that's truly affordable.

Spiffnme, I couldn't find prices on those links. How much are they?

Also, if the house is wired for ceiling speakers, would a ceiling mounted (in other words speaker hanging down from the ceiling on a mounting bracket - the overall effect of which would leave a very negative aesthetic impression and may not meet WAF) Epic Master package have good enough sound to justify the trouble/looks?

Hi Spiff,

No, I haven't heard them, but the three engineers i know at Energy/Mirage/Athena are talented so there's a possiblility that if an in-ceiling/in-wall design were to sound better, it could come from one of them.

Regards,

Foghorn,

Sure, if you have a quality speaker and suspend it away from the ceiling with a bracket, it could be excellent. Some Axiom customers have used such a scheme to suspend QS8s or bookshelf models from the ceiling with a specialized bracket.

Regards,

Thanks Alan. That's what I figured. I guess we'll have to see what my friend's wife allows. Currently she likes the directionality and size of the Bose systems and since they have a Bose stereo system that they like very much it will be hard to get her to go to anything bigger....

When the AMC800 debuted in 2001 it was $2000/pair

The Veritas...$2250 per pair.

Ouch. They'd better sound amazing.

"Ouch. They'd better sound amazing."

No....sh...er...kidding