Dayton in-wall speakers (1 Viewer)

[Sheldon-m]

I was wondering if anybody has heard the dayton in-wall speakers. i have just been informed that my surrounds have to go. WAF is not very high for them . I came across them(dayton) on parts express's site. I know them from there subs and there great quality, but I was wondering about their in-wall series. These will be use as surrounds in a 6.1 setup . THX

 

[Sheldon-m]

how about other wall speakers in the 150 price range. THX

 

[Robert_J]

I use the contractor series 6 1/2" in-ceiling speakers for surrounds and I've used the regular (more expensive) 6 1/2" in-ceiling speakers at another house for surrounds. Both sounded really good for surrounds. Actully better than some cheap JBL bookshelf speakers I had used earlier.

I'm confident enough in the Daytons that I may use the in-wall speakers as surrounds in my theater. I don't want people bumping into surrounds hanging from the wall. It would also make for a much cleaner install when I paint the grills to match the wall.

-Robert

 

[Brian Bunge]

We did an install using the contractor's series 6.5" 2-way Daytons as surrounds and I think they really sound great for the money. It's hard to argue with under $100 in-walls that sound this good.

If I were using them for the front 3 mains I'd probably go with the higher end Dayton in-walls but even they are pretty reasonably priced.

 

[Sheldon-m]

see i was looking at 300-429( PE part #) for my left and right surrounds. Now could i use them in the ceiling or do i have to use the round? these have a pivoting tweeter.
would you have to put some kind of damping material in the wall for these to work? THX

 

[Philip Hamm]

Daytons are relatively low end in-walls for the most part. They're probably great for what they are, but if you're looking at in-wall solutions, why limit yourself? There are a lot of options, and nice inwall speakers may surprise you. I have four in-ceiling speakers from Proficient Audio in my house and they sound better than I expected.

You can put those rectangular speakers in the ceiling, they'll work fine. They'll probably sound better than round speakers. However, round speakers will look much better. I've seen square speakers in the ceiling and rounds are much more attractive. If you're doing this for WAF compromise reasons I'd say go with the square ones. They'll be out of the way, but not quite as elegant as the round would be.

Most good in-wall and in in-ceiling speakers are specifically designed to use the channels of the house as an enclosure (or as infinite baffle it the area is very large). The more high end in-walls can have encluosures built with them, and there are enclosures you can buy for in-wall that are optional for a lot of the manufacturers. You'll get huge amount of bleed into the adjoining rooms, maybe damping will help. There's no damping in my house for my main "living area" music speakers, and the two I have as bedroom surrounds have the attic above them.

You might be surprised at how nice it is to have in-walls once you have them. They most definitely will look much better than boxes do. They will look really slick like a custom install. And they don't have to be a big compromise in sound if you're willing to shop around a little. Proficient, who made my speakers, specializes in in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, and they really sound surprisingly good. May turn that into a .

 

[Sheldon-m]

I'm gonig to look into them. How do they do with movies say Pearl Harbor. This movie has alot of pans from left to right. Are they really smooth in the transition? i'm not worried about bass extention but what i'm looking for is mids and highs. these well be the surrounds. the only concern i have is the localization of the speaker. how does the speaker disappear when in use? Thanks philip

 

[Brian Bunge]

The lower end 6.5" two-ways are the only Daytons I have exprience with and they seemed to do fine for surround use so I'd expect the ones you are looking at to do well also. I can't comment on the Proficients as I've never heard them but I have seen them in one of my distributor's catalogs. I'd assume they were good quality seeing as how much Philip likes them.

Another alternative would be the ACI B-flat in-walls. I've had a pair of the 8" coaxials as surrounds for 4-5 years now and have been extremely pleased with them. You can get them with either square or round frames. And the price is pretty good too.

 

[Russell _T]

Home Theater Direct has some nice in-walls that are reasonably priced.

 

[Roy C.]

Sheldon,

I've used a couple of the 6.5" models from PE and I would strongly recommend the ones with enclosures. They give you the very good response, and you don't have to worry about "crap(insulation)" falling in them. Also, they have a nice port on the front side. I also found 8" speakers from AudioSource for a great price, with aimable tweeter that seems to do a good job, however, they do not have the enclosures. I was actually thinking of installing a sonotube (surrounding them) in the attic to "vent/port" them and also to keep them "crap" free...

As always, YMMV...
Roy C.

 

[Sheldon-m]

Hey Roy would you know which ones have a enclosure? Do you have the round ones are the retangle ones? Are yours in the ceiling or wall? How is the transition when mobies pan?
THX

 

[Wayne Ernst]

I have experience with the 8" 3-way Dayton in-wall speakers. The tweeter is on a swivel, which allows you to direct it towards your listening area. They have a good low-end on them - 35Hz according to the specs. I thought they were pretty good sounding and I only replaced them because I had to find a setup with a matching center channel for proper timbre matching.

At $158.00 a pair, they are a good buy if you don't plan on using a sub, but desire a fair amount of bass.

Dayton 8" 3-way In-wall Speakers