In-Cabinet Speaker Options. (1 Viewer)

[bobNo]

I am in the process of building my home theatre. My son will destroy any free standing speakers, so I am having a wall of cabinets built to hold the components, 70 inch TV and R/L/C/ speakers. I am leaning toward a Def Tech. Set-up, with 3 CLR 2300's as the L/R/C speakers, some built in surrounds, and a dual channel ceiling. Will the CLR 2300's do well in a cabinets behind a screen as my main speakers. My budget for speakers is aroung 4-5,000 dollars. Any advice would be great. Any other brand suggestions appreciated as well. I am worried about getting speakers that will sound good in the cabinets.

 

[John Garcia]

Suffing a speaker in a cabinet is just about the worst thing you can do, especially with something like that which has a side firing bass driver. You will literally hear them sound as if they are boxed in, because they are.

I have seen this done, but it is a big compromise at best, and then you are somewhat stuck with the speaker locations once you build the unit - make sure you spend the time to get the locations correct for your seating position/room. There is something called a boundary effect, which occurs when you place a speaker close to a wall or large surface, that affects the overall response of the speaker.

My friend that did this, used Paradigm Studio 40s and a CC470. These speakers are all front ported so there is less interaction with the cabinet they sit in and you don't have to worry about leaving about a foot or more behind the speakers for air movement. Acoustically transparent covers are not 100% transparent - they do drop the highs down just a bit if you also leave the included grilles on.

 

[bobNo]

Thanks for the response. Building the cabinets is about my only option. The only other idea would be to use good inwall speakers for my L/R channels. Any advice on this dillemna would be helpfull. I know that a lot of new home theatres use this type of set-up with cabinets, so what is thier solution?

 

[John Garcia]

I understand that this is the best option. I would probably choose in cabinet vs in wall because you are at least not limited to leaving the speakers where they are down the road. The main reason so many people do a built in system is for aesthetic reasons, with correct sound generally being a secondary consideration (or in some cases not much consideration at all). I'm coming from the standpoint that the sound is more important, but I don't have other considerations like small, curious children and WAF is not a problem. I guess I'm just trying to let you know that it can work, but that there are some compromises soundwise you need to be aware of as well as the fact that your design should try to balance the sound aspect with the aesthetic/protective aspect. You will want to make sure you actually test the locations of the front speakers before you nail down the final design of the cabinets.

 

[bobNo]

John, I guess I'm in a tight spot. I suppose I fall into that category of aesthetics being more important than sound quality. I do want goo sound though. I've noticed a few companies have created speakers specifically for in-cabinet use. PSB, Boston Acoustics, Snell, Sonance. I have read lot's of good things about the PSB line, but don't know much about the others. Anybody have any thoughts about these in-cabinet speaker lines, or the company's reputation. They are are pretty comparable in price 1K-1500$ a piece. Thanks again for all your help.