In wall selection - help, help, help (1 Viewer)

[mrluckiest]

This is my first post as a newbie to the board (so bear with me and my fairly long story). I am very frustrated. Due to (WAF), as I'm understanding it's termed, the family room will require in-wall speakers. (the Martin logans are going upstairs for the main HT room). Unlike non-in-wall speakers, auditioning in-wall speakers is pretty much next to impossible. So, how do I decide which in-wall speakers to buy (sound unheard at home)? I will be putting a 50" plasma on a brick fireplace. There are narrow windows on each side of the fireplace. The front in-wall speakers will be on each side of the windows (11' apart). The room is 23 wide, 18 deep. They will be powered by a B&K AVR 202 (5.1). I will also need a matching center channel to to be mounted below the tv to be compatible with the in-walls (WAF dictates black only). My price range is about $1k for the front's, $500 for the center and hopefully a bit less for the rears (give or take a couple hundred for each). I have found very little on the internet on how to decide or compare from independent reviewers. Did each of you just take a chance and bought within the price range you had? Are there (non-biased) sites you have found that rate the best sounding/performing speakers by price? All the home theater stores/retailers all carry their own brands (and naturally that's what they recommend). I'm stumped!!! I'm not wanting to beat this to death, just want to make a good decision. Thanks very much in advance for your input. Tim.

 

[Alon Goldberg]

Hi Tim, here's a system you may want to consider:

In-Wall Front Speakers: Axiom W22, $650
In-Wall Center: Axiom W150, $495 (or VP150 if you'd like a regular center)
Surrounds: QS8, $530 + brackets $78

Total: $1,753 + free shipping

Axiom has a 30-day money back guarantee (so that you can audition the speakers in your own home), and offer exceptional service. Available in black, in order to keep the wife happy.

 

[kryten_tl]

I have the Polk TC615i's as my rear surrounds and I am quite happy with them. I believe that I got them for about $179 each. I originally had them paired up with some Polk RTi10's, but I've recently changed out my mains to Paradigm Studio 100 v.4's. They still blend in with them quite nice.

 

[mrluckiest]

Thanks guys for the input. I guess I still have to ask... how did you decide on your in-wall speakers? Alon, I looked at the Axiom site and also read further to the reviews and they look intriquing. (kudos to your impressive backround!!! - I think a lot of Sound and Vision) The return policy appears great, but without some alternate comparisons or evaluations to go on, I'm not sure at this point I'm ready to accept the return shipping issue if they're not want I want. Also, without installing them, how do I figure out whether I'm going to be happy with them once I do? Perhaps the fifty-thousand dollar answer is... it's subjective. Still... there has to be a better way to come to a conclusion. Are there any internet sites that have reviewed a substantial amount of in-wall speakers and provided "independent" ratings based upon price? Like an indepth review of the top 10 contenders by price? Kryten, thanks for you input too. I have read positive things about Polk & Paradigm. Appreciate your post. Question still thown out there... How did you decide on what you bought?????

 

[kryten_tl]

For me the decision was simple, I had already decided on the Polk RTi10's for my mains, and the Polk website listed the TC615i's as "timber matched" with the RTi series. Beyond that there was not much info that went into the decision. I wanted a speaker that was somewhat full range, ~90Hz - 20k Hz, and would be used only as a surround speaker. Since the surrounds don't have to carry too much of the overall sound stage, I didn't want to spend too much on them, so cost was a big part of the decision. But I was able to listen to several different in-wall speakers at the local Tweeter store, so it wasn't completely site-unseen. The Polks sounded the best to me at the store, so that is what I went with.