Good in-wall HT speakers < $1000? (1 Viewer)

[RichardJ]

Hey -

I'm trying to help a coworker who is buying some in wall speakers for his den. He is building the room as an addition, so he is prewiring the walls. The custom audio company he has a quote from lists Speakercraft CRS One speakers in all four corners, and a LCR center, for about $900 total (not including labor), plus a Speakercraft X10 sub for $425.

Can anyone recommend anything better in this price range, or give me opinions on this setup? I'm clueless when it comes to in-wall speakers! The usage will be about 50/50 music/HT, powered by a low end receiver (maybe 60-75 watts a channel).

I'd try to talk him into Paradigms and an SVS, but I don't know what would fit in the budget...

Thanks!
Richard

 

[RichardJ]

Anyone?

 

[Kevin Co]

It's always difficult to get opinions about a particular model of inwall on this forum. I don't think too many of us actually own them. It's even more difficult to find reviews on the web. Anyway, having recently gone through this myself, I'll try to help. The Speakercraft CRS One, if I'm not mistaken, is an in-ceiling speaker (round coaxial design). I can't imagine why your coworker's installer would use these for an inwall application. They also can be had for about $220 a pair with some quick web searches. If it were my $900 to spend on 4 inwalls and a center, I would try to score some Paradigm AMS-250's and a CC-370 off of Ebay. Since my budget was more limited, I ended up with Boston Acoustics 361 inwalls for 180/pr. off Ebay. These are a discontinued model. If your coworker is pressed for time or is leery of buying via auction, their replacement model is the DSI460 and they retail for $450/pr. I also purchased the Boston CRC center channel and a Velodyne VX-10 sub for

 

[RichardJ]

Kevin - you have no idea how much that helps! Thanks a ton!

Richard

 

[Doug Brewster]

This is a little out of the budget but the company has a great reputation for sound quality. You didn't mention what he'd be driving the speakers with and these like good electronics, but Harmon Kardon, NAD, Rotel should do fine, as well as higher end Denon.

http://audioc.com/speakers/Emonwall/index.htm

Same company and completely different idea.

http://www.audioc.com/speakers/BFlat/bflat.htm

Doug

 

[RichardJ]

Thanks, Doug, for the suggestions. The first is too far out of the price range to be an option, unfortunately. The receiver driving the system will probably be a Denon, Yamaha, or HK low end model. I figure 70-75 watts into 5 channels is probably a safe bet.

Thanks again,
Richard