Need help in building an entertainment wall (1 Viewer)

[Sedona Rider]

We just moved into a pre-owned house and we are looking at building an entertainment wall in the living room. The wall is 22 feet by 12 feet. We will get an 82 or 85 inch TV, since we will sit about 18 feet back. I have talked to stereo stores and wall designers, but neither offer good advice on speaker placement. I have a B&W HTM72 center channel speaker and will be purchasing some floor speakers. Have not decided which ones yet, and I will probably dedicate another post to help me decide on those later. I building an entertainment wall, what are the major considerations? Right now I am planning on putting the center channel, floor speakers, and subwoofer in cabinets with material for doors. Are there minimum space requirements around these speakers? I noticed a lot of floor speakers have a speaker in the rear. Will these speakers work well enclosed in a cabinet? We are looking to finish the wall with wood, brick, or stone, or a combination of these. Does anyone have any pictures of an entertainment wall they have that works well with the home theater?

 

[Bryan Pape]

Are you talking about doing a bookcase/built in type of unit?

 

[JohnRice]

If you are going to enclose the speakers and subwoofer, I would only use speakers that are either sealed or ported in the front. You asked about speakers with rear (probably) passive radiators. NO, those will not work well. Ones with side woofers won't either. This applies to the subwoofer even more. Bottom line, if you plan to enclose the speakers, there should be no drivers or ports anywhere but in the front.

 

[JohnRice]

Your B&W center speaker is ported in the back. Honestly, if that is the only speaker you have, I'd just start over, because you ideally want the speakers matched, or at least the front three. There are several speakers that are front ported or sealed. I know some of Polk's floorstanding speakers are ported in the front, and they have some nice, inexpensive models, like the Monitor line. The ELAC Debut v2.0 line is all front ported or sealed (Oops, correction, not the floor standing models). They're also exceptional speakers, and a great value. For a sub, you want a front firing one, again either sealed (plenty to choose from) or front ported (several to choose from). SVS has good, sealed ones starting at $500.