Best In-Wall/Ceiling Speakers

Thebass

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Hi, Guys

I am building a home cinema room & plan to have all speakers in-wall/ceiling for 5.1 surround.

Any advice on models/brands to look for?

(the attached image shows how the room will be layed out, however all speakers will be built-in wall/ceiling).
 

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I like the diagram. :)

If you are creating a dedicated home cinema room, then why compromise with in-wall speakers? They just don't perform as well as standard monkey coffin speakers.

Having said that, I am looking for ceiling speakers for use in a kitchen so I will be following this thread with interest.
 
I like the diagram. :)

If you are creating a dedicated home cinema room, then why compromise with in-wall speakers? They just don't perform as well as standard monkey coffin speakers.

Having said that, I am looking for ceiling speakers for use in a kitchen so I will be following this thread with interest.

Hi,

I'm looking for a quality built-in speaker that can rival a floor standing speaker.

Also the budget I am looking to keep to is £400-£500.
 
There is no way you are going to get an in wall speaker for that budget that will rival a floorstanding speaker. In wall speakers in general suffer from a lack of bass extension hence you will need a sub to make up the difference. Is the budget for all 5.1 speakers? If so again you are going to find it hard to get anything of any great quality as in walls. This is because they tend to be more expensive than conventional speakers.
What reciever do you have or plan to get?
Another option could be to get some speakers you could mount on the wall i.e. Monitor Audio Radius R225/250.
 
There is no way you are going to get an in wall speaker for that budget that will rival a floorstanding speaker. In wall speakers in general suffer from a lack of bass extension hence you will need a sub to make up the difference. Is the budget for all 5.1 speakers? If so again you are going to find it hard to get anything of any great quality as in walls. This is because they tend to be more expensive than conventional speakers.
What reciever do you have or plan to get?
Another option could be to get some speakers you could mount on the wall i.e. Monitor Audio Radius R225/250.

Thanks for the reply, I mean what sort of budget am I looking at for getting some quality in wall speakers? & does the subwoofer have to be a floor stander to compensate for the lack in bass.

Peace
 
I believe you can get in wall subs but do not know much about them. The best option would be to get a standalone sub although there is normally some flexibility on where in the room they can be place since they have non directional sound. If you want great in wall speakers then look at the PMC Wafer range but be warned they are not cheap!!!!
 
Just want to share my 2 cents, as i have just installed two flush mounting in-wall speakers after searching various forums for help the past weeks.
Bottom line is, to my ears they sound phenomenal. They are a couple of Sonance Visual Performance 65. They are matched with a solid subwoofer and two surround speakers from SVS, but the sound (and look) is phenomenal when i listen to music alone using only L-R channel (+ sub). I have a rather large living room (like 60 square meters), and can literally rock it down without no problems or distortions.

Now, am i an audiophile or mega-expert? Absolutely not, and i am sure these rather "cheap" shallow speakers can't match the figures of mega floorstanding speakers. But i am certainly more than the average Joe: i have solid music background and consequent ear, and i do listen to music a lot, and i can tell you i am totally happy. For perspective, my mother has in her house two mega meridian speakers (i think they cost like 10x mines), is a classic music maniac, and can't tell any obvious difference.

Don't worry too much for audio you in theory cant get from in wall speakers, unless you are an audiophile you'll be absolutely happy.

Hope my experience helps, as i've gone through similar doubts for months :)
 
Just want to share my 2 cents, as i have just installed two flush mounting in-wall speakers after searching various forums for help the past weeks.
Bottom line is, to my ears they sound phenomenal. They are a couple of Sonance Visual Performance 65. They are matched with a solid subwoofer and two surround speakers from SVS, but the sound (and look) is phenomenal when i listen to music alone using only L-R channel (+ sub). I have a rather large living room (like 60 square meters), and can literally rock it down without no problems or distortions.

Now, am i an audiophile or mega-expert? Absolutely not, and i am sure these rather "cheap" shallow speakers can't match the figures of mega floorstanding speakers. But i am certainly more than the average Joe: i have solid music background and consequent ear, and i do listen to music a lot, and i can tell you i am totally happy. For perspective, my mother has in her house two mega meridian speakers (i think they cost like 10x mines), is a classic music maniac, and can't tell any obvious difference.

Don't worry too much for audio you in theory cant get from in wall speakers, unless you are an audiophile you'll be absolutely happy.

Hope my experience helps, as i've gone through similar doubts for months :)

Hi,

Thanks for the replies

Any more brand recommendations, how about the polk audio speakers below;

Polk Audio RC60i RC 60i In Ceiling Speakers on eBay (end time 04-Jan-11 20:00:21 GMT)

Peace
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
Hello,

I've got some b&w ccm65 in ceiling speakers that I use as rears.

They sound very good indeed and I sometimes listen to them on there own but would they worry a pair of stand mounts at the same price? No!

If your going to the trouble and expense of building a dedicated home cinema then please please buy "normal" box speakers you will get much more for your money and a much better sound.

Mark
 
Hello,

I've got some b&w ccm65 in ceiling speakers that I use as rears.

They sound very good indeed and I sometimes listen to them on there own but would they worry a pair of stand mounts at the same price? No!

If your going to the trouble and expense of building a dedicated home cinema then please please buy "normal" box speakers you will get much more for your money and a much better sound.

Mark

Thanks, for the advice, however we are definitely going to have built-in speakers.

Just need a couple more recommendations.

Peace
 
I have 5 of the Monitor Audio CPC Radius ceiling speakers in my bedroom. They have a directional tweeter and come in a backbox. I think they're great.:thumbsup:
 
Most of the standard speaker manufacturers also make in-wall/in-ceiling speakers. Here is a pretty comprehensive list -

In Ceiling/In Wall - Loudspeakers

You can view specific brands by selecting the links on the Left.

Notice that SpeakerCraft has the largest selection of speakers, but none of these speakers are going to be cheap. These B&W CCM616 at £150/pr are about as cheap as you can go. Though you can easily climb near a £1000 per speaker.

In SpeakerCraft, I think these are about the cheapest -

SpeakerCraft AccuFit DT7 One

SpeakerCraft AIM7 MT One

And I'm pretty sure that price is EACH.

When you buy in-wall/in-ceiling speakers, you have to just view them as speakers. They are not going to be any less expensive than buying 'box' speakers, but they do have the added cost of installation and wiring. If the interior walls of you room have already been ripped out, then putting the wiring and speakers in is no big deal. But if you have to tear up the walls specifically to install the speakers and wiring, it can get expensive.

While some people are down on in-wall/in-ceiling speakers, as with everything else, you get what you pay for. If you look at the specs, they are very similar to that of more common 'box' speakers. And, yes, you can get floorstanding performance, if you are willing to pay for it.

Case in point -

B&W CWM LCR 7 in-wall speaker

B&W CWM LCR 8 IN WALL SPEAKER

SpeakerCraft AIM Cinema Five

SpeakerCraft AIM Cinema Three

The list at HiFiGear is not comprehensive, and there are speaker sellers that specialize in in-wall/in-ceiling speakers, and they may have more brands.

Since you haven't given us a working budget, there is not much we can say or recommend, other than, you need to spends as much or more on these speakers as you would spend on 'box' speakers.

Steve/bluewizard
 
I'm looking at a B&W 7 speaker in-wall/in-ceiling set (with a freestanding sub). Cost is going to be around £1500 for the set, not including the sub, which will be carried over from my existing system. And this is before factoring in installation costs. Floorstanders have zero installation costs (assuming that floorstander speaker cable costs equal in-wall speaker cable costs), whereas you're in for a lot of effort of a reasonable slug of cash to install in-walls.
 
without doubt the one speaker that hasn`t been mentioned so far are the MK inwalls/inceilings.

for me these are THE best inwall speaker I have heard so far and beat even the best floorstanding ones i`ve been recommended/told to have a listen to.

you need a sub of course to back them up but so does every inwall speaker as far as I know

so for saying that inwalls are`nt as good as floorstanders then you ought to have a listen to some MK`s, I think some of you could well change your mind ;)
 
Interesting, have you got a good source for MK speakers in the UK? Thanks.
 
Interesting, have you got a good source for MK speakers in the UK? Thanks.


you could just google or try these guys as you asked for a good source [ link deleted ]
 
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The Focal IC108 8" in-ceilings are some of the best sounding speakers of their type available, and I have fitted hundreds of ceiling speakers from many different manufacturers.
go for 8" drivers to get the extra bass extension.
 
I've tried quiet a few in wall speakers including M&K SW85/95's SW150's, B&W Signatures, Sonance THX, Linn Sekrits and many others.

Without a doubt the M&K in wall speakers are the best for movie or 2 channel audio reproduction.

If your HT is on the first floor and you fancy cutting a hole in your ceiling to accommodate a bass speaker then check out Thomas's site which is the reference source for IB Subs. These DIY subs out perform even the s****iest of in room subs that cost many times more, I'd urge shrewd bass freaks to check this site out.

M&K in wall speakers paired with a DIY in ceiling IB sub are very difficult to beat for price, performance and aesthetics.
 

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