Opinion on Yamaha in wall / ceiling speakers sought. (1 Viewer)

[JasonSmith]

Firstly I'd like to start my initial post on this site by saying that this forum is an absolute haven of advice for beginning Home Theater enthusiasts such as myself! The current predicament I find myself in is my fiance and I just bought a new home. On the second floor is a room designated at a "media room." From my old house I brought with me my 108" retractable screen and InFocus X2 DLP projector. The old sound system had to go. It was weak for the 10' x 8' theater in the old house, and it would be too sad to hear the wimpy sound it would cast in the 15x20 media room!

That brings me to my current dilemma... I need new speakers and a sub! I have a budget of about $1,200 for left center, center, right center speakers. Left and right surround speakers and a subwoofer. (All preferably in wall / ceiling). I attempted to research speakers by making the rounds to Best Buy, Circuit City, and H.H. Gregg. After browsing their somewhat limited selection, my top choices are:
2 Yamaha NS-IW760 in wall speakers (For L and R Center)
2 Yamaha NS-IW360c in ceiling speakers (For L and R surround)
1 JBL E-Series 12" 250 watt subwoofer
And as for a center speaker... I have no clue

My main questions are what would be a good choice for a center speaker? I have been unable to find reviews (good or bad) for the above mentioned Yamaha speakers, so I ask for you opinions please. Is having your L and R surround speakers in-ceiling a bad idea? Will it have a diminished sound quality over in-wall L and R surround speakers? And finally, will having one 12" 250 watt subwoofer give me sufficient bass to enrich my movie going experience?

I want to thank everyone, whether they post or not, for taking the time to read this. For anyone offering advice I add an extra thank you in advance.

Jason Smith

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Hi Jason, first congrat's on moving into a new house with such a great media room! My media room is only 12' wide and I'd love to add a couple extra feet to get to 15 like you have :b Anyway I sent you an email about the inwalls etc but honestly you can do a lot better then Yamaha for speakers. The JBL subwoofer isn't that bad though.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I generally like Yamaha's electronics, but to be perfectly honest, their speakers suck, IMO.

There are several companies that make good, budget in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. I'd look at the Paradigm CS or AMS lines, NHT Built-In, the Athena Architectural Series, Monitor Audio CP, etc.

FWIW, I would also recommend that you direct all of your current budget towards the front/rear/center speakers, and buy a subwoofer later. In the long run you will have a much better system and be happier with the performance.

BTW, since you own the house and seem to prefer in-wall speakers, you might also want to consider building an IB (Infinite Baffle) subwoofer into your media room. It will sound better than most box subs and you can build it yourself for less than what a quality box sub would cost.