Advice on building stud wall & speaker choice

[calvind123]

I currently have a 5.1.2 system with wall mounted KEF LS50s and a r200c centre speaker on a unit in from, as you can see from the picture below. I'm really happy with the sound but I'm not keen on how things look, I am aware that wall mounting the KEFs is far from ideal as well but trying to keep them out of the wall of a young child. I have some Cambridge Audio Minx 22 as surrounds which sound OK but I feel they are a bit small compared to everything else so I eventually plan to upgrade them to something like the Monitor Audio Apex A10s as I can't have anything much bigger.

What I was thinking was to build a stud wall and mount some in wall speakers in it for the front 3, and move all of my devices into the storage cupboard under the stairs, which is the other side of the wall to the TV. I have attached a plan of the downstairs. What I am debating is rather to have a full height wall with speakers either side of the TV and the centre underneath with the TV recessed into the wall, or to have a shorter wall with 3 identical speakers underneath. My wife is OK with either. I have a couple of people that would be able to help me with the work so the costs are just going to be materials. Total budget is probably going to be about £1000 - £1200 for everything including the new speakers (front 3 only, upgrading the rears is a future purchase).

My question is which of two layouts is likely to sound better, or would there be a difference at all? I am aware of the limitations of the wall, it's quite narrow and the right speaker is very close to the wall which is far from ideal but unfortunately there isn't much I can do about that I don't think.

Speakers wise I like the look of the KEF Ci4100QL-THX if I was to go with the full wall option, or something like the KEF Ci200QS or Dali Phantom H-60 if it was the shorter wall option.

Has anyone got any idea what might be best layout wise or any other options for speakers? My issue with any of the Dali speakers is they only seem to be purchasable in pairs, I've not found anywhere selling them individually.

If I was going for a shorter wall it could have a depth of up to around 15cm which I think would allow me a good choice of speakers, if it was a full wall it would probably be a maximum of 10cm depth which I don't think is still too much of an issue as most speakers seem to be at most 10cm depth.

I have attached some photos of the room and a rough plan of what I think the two possible layouts could be. My subwoofer is a SVS SB2000 which is located in the corner under the table. The Atmos speakers are B&W CCM664 but they are potentially faulty so may need to be replaced at some point as well.

Edit: Forgot to say one of my concerns is the difference in sound quality between what I've got currently and the in-wall speakers that are within my budget. I don't really know how in-walls compare but based purely on price what I've currently got cost quite a bit more new than what I'm looking at buying but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of second hand in wall speakers for sale.

 

[Deleted member 161415]

I would go for a floating stud wall.

I assume you ceiling height is about 230cm. Which means you could start the wall 60cm of the floor and build it to 60cm from the ceiling. By having stud wall not on the floor or ceiling it will still make the room feel spacious, indeed by removing the cabinet the room will feel bigger.

If you ceiling is 230cm the stud wall will then be 110cm In heigh. Depending on the size of TV you may need to adjust the size of the wall to accommodate an in wall centre speaker. I’d also see if the new wall can be started 20cm from the edge of one side and finish 20cm from the edge of the other.

As for speakers, I don’t know the cost but would look at the Kef range on in wall speakers, from memory they only need a 10cm voice.

You could get very fancy and build in lights in the wall or Philips hue strip as well.

not saying this is what you should do but its an idea

wall speakers, the Kefs are a bit over budget

In Wall / Ceiling Speakers - Hi-Fi Speakers - Hi-Fi

Speaker Type 768

www.richersounds.com

 

[calvind123]

I would go for a floating stud wall.

I assume you ceiling height is about 230cm. Which means you could start the wall 60cm of the floor and build it to 60cm from the ceiling. By having stud wall not on the floor or ceiling it will still make the room feel spacious, indeed by removing the cabinet the room will feel bigger.

If you ceiling is 230cm the stud wall will then be 110cm In heigh. Depending on the size of TV you may need to adjust the size of the wall to accommodate an in wall centre speaker. I’d also see if the new wall can be started 20cm from the edge of one side and finish 20cm from the edge of the other.

As for speakers, I don’t know the cost but would look at the Kef range on in wall speakers, from memory they only need a 10cm voice.

You could get very fancy and build in lights in the wall or Philips hue strip as well.
g this is what you should do but its an idea

The ceilings are 253cm high.

A floating stud wall isn't something I had considered, the only issue with that is I wanted to cover up the existing plug sockets but I could just start it lower. Benefits of a not full height wall are slightly lower material costs.

 

[Deleted member 161415]

The ceilings are 253cm high.

A floating stud wall isn't something I had considered, the only issue with that is I wanted to cover up the existing plug sockets but I could just start it lower. Benefits of a not full height wall are slightly lower material costs.

Excellent re the ceilings, I’d say a floating wall 10cm deep will look even better due to extra heigh. As above, I do think a floating wall and removal of that cabinet will make your room feel more spacious v the other options.

Just move the sockets up, then turn them round so you can access them from the store area behind and your going to need a plasterer anyway and at the same time, maybe, have a new double socket installed so you have 6 sockets

Plastering may cost more though, depends if plasterer charges hourly or daily. If hourly then you’ll pay more, if daily then I suspect not.

 

[calvind123]

I have will a go at 3d modelling the options and see what they look like, it'll be up to my wife deciding what she likes the look of.

The person helping me is an electrician and I'm sure he's able to plaster so hopefully won't be too much of an issue.

I suppose with a floating wall I could have either of the speaker layouts, so it comes down to which is like to sound better, 3 in a row or the centre under the TV.

 

[calvind123]

I would go for a floating stud wall.

I assume you ceiling height is about 230cm. Which means you could start the wall 60cm of the floor and build it to 60cm from the ceiling. By having stud wall not on the floor or ceiling it will still make the room feel spacious, indeed by removing the cabinet the room will feel bigger.

If you ceiling is 230cm the stud wall will then be 110cm In heigh. Depending on the size of TV you may need to adjust the size of the wall to accommodate an in wall centre speaker. I’d also see if the new wall can be started 20cm from the edge of one side and finish 20cm from the edge of the other.

As for speakers, I don’t know the cost but would look at the Kef range on in wall speakers, from memory they only need a 10cm voice.

You could get very fancy and build in lights in the wall or Philips hue strip as well.

not saying this is what you should do but its an idea View attachment 1643920

wall speakers, the Kefs are a bit over budget

In Wall / Ceiling Speakers - Hi-Fi Speakers - Hi-Fi

Speaker Type 768

www.richersounds.com

I spoke to my wife about the idea of a floating wall and she approved.

Unfortunately the actual wall is not very wide so it's hard to get a decent separation of the speakers. I have decided to go for 3 identical speakers underneath.

My thoughts are a 5x2 frame, boarded with 18mm MDF and then covered in acoustic fabric, do you think that would work?

I've made a mock up in Photoshop which I have attached.

 

[Deleted member 161415]

Hi, from a structural point of view that will work a treat, I don’t feel expert enough to say if the acoustic fibre would work but I can see an issue although my preference would be to use purpose built I wall speakers that are covered with the manufactures own grill.

The placing of the L/R surrounds below the TV would make me a bit nervous, the best placement Surround is the same heigh as your ears (when sat).

I appreciate the space you have to play with causes an issue. Ultimately, can you live with the fact that sound will technically not be a good as it can be. It would not bother me, I’d go with what you suggest and take heart from the fact that no one else will ever notice the difference e in sound.

 

[calvind123]

Hi, from a structural point of view that will work a treat, I don’t feel expert enough to say if the acoustic fibre would work but I can see an issue although my preference would be to use purpose built I wall speakers that are covered with the manufactures own grill.

Yeah sorry the diagram isn't very clear, it does look like I've just stuck some bookshelf speakers in.

I've bought some Monitor Audio in wall speakers ( 2x CP-WT380IDC for L/R & a CP-WT380 for the center) from the classifieds. These will have the grilles on and then the whole thing will be covered in the acoustic fabric.

The placing of the L/R surrounds below the TV would make me a bit nervous, the best placement Surround is the same heigh as your ears (when sat).

I appreciate the space you have to play with causes an issue. Ultimately, can you live with the fact that sound will technically not be a good as it can be. It would not bother me, I’d go with what you suggest and take heart from the fact that no one else will ever notice the difference e in sound.

The tweeters on each speaker shouldn't be too far off ear height when sat down and all of them have pivotable tweeters so I should be able to point them at ear height, so I'd expect to be in a better position than I am now with the centre below ear height and the L&R quite a bit above it.

Unfortunately the size of the wall is leading to a lot of compromises.

 

[Deleted member 161415]

I've bought some Monitor Audio in wall speakers ( 2x CP-WT380IDC for L/R & a CP-WT380 for the center) from the classifieds. These will have the grilles on and then the whole thing will be covered in the acoustic fabric.

Sounds ideal.

The tweeters on each speaker shouldn't be too far off ear height when sat down and all of them have pivotable tweeters so I should be able to point them at ear height, so I'd expect to be in a better position than I am now with the centre below ear height and the L&R quite a bit above it.

Again, sounds ideal with no issues.

Unfortunately the size of the wall is leading to a lot of compromises.

Everyone has to work with what they have (Space, Budget, Wife!!!!) I’d say you have maximised your space and will have a very clean & high performance set up.

Are you going for lights around the floating wall?
Will the floating wall be painted the same colour and the main wall or different?
When done would you post a picture? (I’m particularly keen to see how you are using the acoustic fabric and it’s not something i would have thought of)

 

[calvind123]

Are you going for lights around the floating wall?

Yes, I've bought 10m of LED lightstrip and a controller that should be compatible with Philips Hue for about £60 all in. The Hue light strips were going to be too expensive. I've found some aluminium channels and diffusers that aren't too expensive either, so I'm thinking that I will attach them to the frame on the side, as you can see in the attached picture, hopefully that'll work. The diffuser is about 17mm wide.

Will the floating wall be painted the same colour and the main wall or different?

It's all going to be covered in the fabric so won't see any of the actual wall, it going to be wrapped round the corners and go back to the LED channel.

When done would you post a picture? (I’m particularly keen to see how you are using the acoustic fabric and it’s not something i would have thought of)

I will definitely take photos through the construction, I might even create a thread on it if it goes OK.

 

[Deleted member 161415]

Now I understand the acoustic fibre and how it will be fitted, yes it’s makes total sense and I that’s a really great idea.

Its going to look really different to how it does now and, (it’s only my opinion) I’m sure it will look really sleek and clean

 

[N1ck]

How is it going?

 

[calvind123]

How is it going?

I created a separate thread on it here, but the finished project looked like this.

 

[N1ck]

Very nice work. Looks so much better. Well worth the effort.

 

[calvind123]

Cheers. Definitely a big improvement.