In wall speakers for my dedicated home theater (1 Viewer)

I love the clean look and idea of in wall speakers for my dedicated home theater. Room is about 25x15. I want to spend a good amt to get good quality. Went to a local home theater store and they rec. Todem speakers priced at $850 each. That's too much. Can anybody rec a good quality in wall speaker?

Unfortunately good-quality in-wall speakers are not cheap. It’s pretty difficult to build a first class speaker when the only “cabinet” you have to work with is something that resonates and vibrates like sheetrock. (In case you didn’t know, vibrating /resonating cabinets unduly color the sound.) All things being equal, and starting with a good-quality speaker (let’s say bookshelf), it takes probably 2-3 times as much, if not more, to make an in-wall speaker that will have the same sound quality.


Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

How much, realistically, do you want to invest in speakers that are going to be in the wall for the next 25+ years?

alrighty.....so sound is more important obviously....That being said, what would you rec. for a 7.2 speaker system? i can spend about $2k on speakers.

Do you have a frame of reference...

Canadian sound?
British sound?

Bright?
Laid back?

Nope. I'm very inexperienced. Just finishing my basement and we have an area that has no windows and we are making it a theater. Just want a really good sound. I know that good sound is subjective. Looking for some great ideas.

A good all around speaker is Polk. Polk runs the gamut from bargain basement to mid-high level($1500 a piece).

I'd peruse Polk(including the ebay store as product choice varies greatly day to day) on their website.

Will you need pivoting/aimable tweeters?
Will you need ones that come with a box to build it in?

Other things you might want...

Some DynaMat fill in(there are other brands and generic equivalent, but everybody has heard of DynaMat's Dynil and En-wall).

What kind of sheetrock was used? You can add a 2nd layer(right and left walls are most important, since you are doing in-wall...you can add sound reinforcement at the speaker points) of acoustic drywall(yes, there is a specific subset of acoustic drywall).

Ironically, the automotive people at Best Buy are the ones to talk to about in-wall speakers...not the Magnaidiots.

The stuff used to keep a car from sounding like a rattle can...is the same stuff used at home to keep undesirable sound reflections at bay.

There are many great brands around with various options. Two independent brands that sell direct, and have complete 7.1 packages, are Hsu Research and SVS. Have read many reviews of the SVS that praised their quality and value for money. Should be able to get all the speakers you want in your budget. One reason to look at them seriously is the quality of the subwoofers they include, and the ability to add a second, matching sub (for a 7.2 system) if needed.

Ok cool. So I have done a lot of internet research and called SVS and I think I will go with them. I have an old Polk RM8 system that I thought I would use use the side and back speakers for and just put either floor SVS floor standing speakers and a Prime SVS bookshelf as my fronts and center or 2 Ulra SVS bookshelf and an Ultra center. Will this work? I want to get a few of their subs so with price this is how I can do it. Just don't know if I mix the 2.... (SVS and Polk) if it will be ok until I can upgrade the RM8's at a later date.



Thoughts? I really appreciate everyone's help here!

Using SVS across the front and the Polks for surrounds (for now) is a decent way to go. Better to use the Polks now as you save for better/matching surrounds. You say you want to get "a few" SVS subs. It's much better to spend more on a better, single sub than multiple inferior subs. A good sub will make the system. Several bad ones will ruin it.

I didn't think there was such a thing as a bad SVS sub.

Clinton McClure said:

I didn't think there was such a thing as a bad SVS sub.

Click to expand...

I'm guessing this was in jest but for the OP... Any sub can be "bad" if used improperly (bad location, not enough power/size for the room, etc).


My basic rule is you can never buy too much sub, but you can absolutely buy too little. Always get the most sub you can afford.