texana1 Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Hi, I am building a dedicated home theater (room size 17x18) and would like to consider all in-wall speakers in a 7.1 configuration. I have been looking at the RCW-5's, however I am not sure if those would work for the Center channel as well as L&R, or whether I need something else. Would you perhaps recommend a combination of RCW-3's and 5's? Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Cheers! Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 never mind. Check "My Profile". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 IMHO, most in-wall speakers are not really intended for high fidelity or high quality home theater sound reproduction (there are $ exceptions). Most of these kinds of products are intended for things like background music. And determining the best placement prior to making lots of holes in the wall to achieve the best sound quality is problematic at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowjoe24 Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 I love my new RCR-5's "In-ceiling" speakers! I'm using them as my surrounds and so far I think they sound great!! Good luck with your setup. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 ---------------- On 3/17/2004 7:26:19 PM artto wrote: IMHO, most ‘in-wall’ speakers are not really intended for high fidelity or high quality home theater sound reproduction (there are $ exceptions). Most of these kinds of products are intended for things like background music. And determining the best placement prior to making lots of holes in the wall to achieve the best sound quality is problematic at best. ---------------- Triad In-wall speakers are specifically designed for high fidelity reproduction in home theater applications - by using sealed enclosures that do not depend on the "sound quality" of the wall for their reproductive integrity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I'd have to agree with artto... Inwalls (in ceiling) speakers are a frequent question on this forum, and if you search this forum, you'll find many similar responces. They are a compromise from many aspects. Placement, imaging, sound transmission (between rooms), imperfect enclosures of varying volume, etc... limit their accuracy when compared to free standing speakers. In-ceiling speakers are indented for ambient music such as "musak" and aren't for attentive music/movie listening. On the other hand, built in's will outperform most Bo$e speakers if that is what your decor limits your choices to. Because i'm lazy, i'll just quote myself from a previous reply: ---------------- Because of placement and orientation, overhead speakers won't be able to create much of a soundstage (stereo imaging), and are best suited to musak. They will reproduce most of the frequencies for ambient music, but the directional higher frequencies will probably be lost due to room effects and the bass extension will be limited due to the small driver size. Given this, I also understand the decorating advantages to making the speakers disappear and giving you the option of having music in every room. You will not be doing critical listening in any of these environments; so don't over spend in most of your rooms. Dome tweeters will give you better dispersion if you ceiling mount, but is less critical for wall units. You may consider adding a small subwoofer to the some rooms to enhance the bass reproduction. For home theatre, the three main channels produce the bulk of the sound and spending the most money there will give you the greatest paybacks. I don't know what you are currently using but you will be disappointed with builtins in the long run. I would strongly suggest getting floorstanding units for these three channels or at least a mix of bookshelf units and full size units. Freestanding units benefit from good cabinet construction which will be pretty resonant free, and be of exacting interior volume (essential to design for bass reproduction). It will also provide you with some flexibility for placement to avoid any serious in-room cancellations and control primary reflections (artto can really fill you in on this). Once you've chosen your mains, the rear channels should match them to avoid having them stand out due to a different timbre. Ceiling placement also adds the additional shortcoming of sound effects traveling from the front channels UP to the rears. If you must go with built in units for your rear HT, I would suggest getting matching (to your main speakers) in-wall units if possible. Otherwise I'd go for non-built-ins again. Given that the speakers influence the sound more than any other component other than the room itself and that you mentioned that you have top of the line receiver, dvd player, tv , etc... I would recommend you do similar with the speakers. Skip the Synergy series and look at the Klipsch Reference series for your mains and surrounds and you won't be disappointed... without spending alot and giving up substantial room for the top of the line Heritage Series. ---------------- Let us know what you choose... Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texana1 Posted March 18, 2004 Author Share Posted March 18, 2004 Thank you for the great information! Eventhough I feel that the floor standing speakers will probably be best in terms of sound, etc, I am limited to having hidden speakers given the wife approval factor. Excuse my newness on this topic, however I would like your suggestion on whether I can use the RCW-5's in the LCR as well as surrounds and perhaps 2 RCW-3's for the rear speakers (in 7.1 configuration)? I am unsure what makes a 'surround' or 'center' speaker. I looked at several brands like Atlantic Technology which makes the THX Ultra 20 in-wall system (5 speakers) with matching LCR, but specially configured Surrounds. Another vendor specifies that the center channel should not be the same as the L&R. As you can image for a newbie, I got confused rather quickly and not sure what to choose. I like Klipsch and would like to use them, provided I can achieve the desired HT in-wall 7.1 configuration. Thanks! Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 ---------------- On 3/18/2004 8:58:01 AM texana1 wrote: Another vendor specifies that the center channel should not be the same as the L&R. Thanks! Al ---------------- That's silly. Precise timbre matching using 7 center channels is the most ideal surround setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowjoe24 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Nothing beats your ear? Listen to several and then choose what your ears say! My ears could tell that the RF-7's and the matching RC-7 were the best I had heard for the $$ Good Luck! Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 ---------------- On 3/18/2004 9:34:46 AM Griffinator wrote: That's silly. Precise timbre matching using 7 center channels is the most ideal surround setup. ---------------- Grif's right about that... and a center which is identical to your left and right works best for imaging. There has been many discussions in the past between diffuse vs- direct surrounds but I think that this has become a mute point now, given the use of discreet channels for surround sound. Ideally should force your mate (ok, maybe beg would be a better word ) to allow full size speakers at least for the three up front... but if you have to use inwalls... the RCW-5 is a good choice for your all your channels. Rob PS: Dolby Pro-logic was optimised for diffuse surrond channels but matching LCR channels... but most of my movie watching is in AC3 (same as DD) and DTS now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.