In wall to on wall conversion (1 Viewer)

[JeffCar]

In a moment of insanity, I bought a pair of in wall rear channel speakers - Klipsch RCW-5. Not that it is a bad speaker by any means. I bought it before I had decided to build a dedicated theater in the basement; when I was planning on putting it in the family room upstairs.

The basement is a different approach.... keep the sound inside the room. Doing so requires as little break in a continuous envelope as possible, and certainly you don't want to put a speaker in the midst of the sound barrier. The rest of the speakers I own are perfectly suitable (RF-5 left and right, RC-7 center, RS-35 surrounds and KSW-12 sub) but the in walls aren't going to cut it. My plan for the RCW-5s is to build enclosures and hang them at the rear of the room. Problem is, I am not sure about the construction of the enclosures. Any advice or guidance would be very much appreciated!

Jeff

 

[Ed Jr]

I have a similar situtation. Basement set-up. Concern for keeping the sound within the basement made me lean towards an on-wall speaker versus in-wall. I have not made a decision on brand yet. I am interested in Canton. Not sure it Kilpsch makes a wall-mounted product. Doesn't look like it. Any thoughts?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Well, you need to determine what the size of the box should be. Infinite baffle speakers (which is what in-walls are) will get the best bass response in a large enclosure, but obviously you don’t want that for on-wall use. Using them as rear speakers you don’t need deep extension, only down to about 100 Hz or so, so you’ll be able to get away with a smaller box than if you were trying to get full-range response from them. I suggest contacting Klipsch for recommendations on a box size (read internal volume).

You can build the box any dimensions you like, as long as you end up with the correct internal volume. IMO a shallow box will look best on the wall – i.e., only a few inches deep. Of course, this will give you a box with a largish front baffle, which is the opposite of accepted speaker cabinet building these days because of diffraction issues. However, I don’t see this as an issue with rear speakers, since they’re for ambience.

Construction of the box isn’t a big deal. MDF or HDF is typically used; I’d suggest the front baffle panel be at least 5/8” thick. You’ll want no smaller than 1/2” panels for the sides and rear, although thicker never hurts. Typically sheet rock screws are used to secure the panels together, recessed a bit to allow for veneer. Use pilot holes to prevent splitting the wood. Liberal amounts of wood glue should be used where the panels overlap and are screwed together – this insures the box will be air-tight. You’ll probably want to recess the rear connection panel.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt