building speaker boxes for "in wall" speakers (1 Viewer)

[xtmasonx]

I'm new to this site, I luckily came across this site searching for speakers. I found that MONOPRICE.COM was a popular site. I ordered over $500 of stuff from them. Anyway, I bought the 8" "In wall" speakers (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10837&cs_id=1083703&p_id=4101&seq=1&format=2) for my living room surround sound. My walls are open right now and I figured it would sound (especially mid range) a lot better if I built a "box" inside the wall. I was planning to use mdf, I was just wandering how much ci to make the box? Also, do I need to put speaker insulation inside the box? Any Help would be appreciated ! Any ideas on a good 7.1 surround reciever?

 

[Robert_J]

Originally Posted by xtmasonx

I figured it would sound (especially mid range) a lot better if I built a "box" inside the wall.

In-wall speakers are designed to use an enclosure that is the average sized wall cavity. That would be 96" tall (8 feet), 3.5" deep (wide part of a 2x4) and 14.5" wide (distance between wall studs that are 16" on center). Without Thiele/Small parameters of your speakers, you have no way of predicting how they will sound with an enclosure that is smaller. By choosing in-wall speakers you are already making a compromise in audio quality. Building an enclosure will probably be a bad idea as well unless you have the proper testing equipment.

 

[xtmasonx]

My walls are made of cinder block, I built a 2x4 against the block so I could put insulation in. I was trying to save space by using in wall and in ceiling speakers. But since the 2x4 wall isn't air tight against the block I wanted to build a box inside the wall cavity... I guess I will build a box that will fit in between the studs, make the bottom movable to see what size sounds better. I know this isn't the best way but better than nothing right?

 

[Robert_J]

Based on the dimensions above, the wall creates an enclosure that is 2.8 cubic feet. For a 6.5" or 8" woofer, that is MASSIVE. I've put 12" subs in much smaller enclosures. Depending on the speaker, you are approaching infinite baffle size. That is where the enclosure is 10 times as large as the Vas parameter of the bass driver. Once you are there, it doesn't matter a bit if your 2x4 wall isn't air tight against the block. Building an enclosure is a waste of time.

 

[xtmasonx]

I built a few test boxes, it didn't seem to make a difference. You were right Robert, it was a waste of time. I did however, build a box for the ceiling speakers only because I have "blown in insulation", its the consistency of lint lol. Just to keep that out of the cross over and driver. The speakers sounded pretty good, especially with the sub helping out! Wasn't as good as my polk book shelf speakers though, but looks better than speakers hanging on the wall in the living room. Thanks for your help!

 

[NobleSoundlab]

Sorry if this thread is too old and outdated to warrant any new feedback. Hopefully this will be of some help.

Our company supplies cables to an installer that just put together a beautiful, multi-room seventeen speaker set-up in a custom home in NC. Check out their solution to speaker boxes here. They are about as dialed in as they come, and needless to say we were impressed.

 

[xtmasonx]

That looks awesome! I like the very neat and organized wiring.