Any recommendations for in-wall speakers? Fronts and centre?

Phate

Phate

Phate

Caporegime
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
35,691
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Hi all,

Home cinema setup will be going through a bit of a revamp in the near future including replacing my ageing floorstanders.

I want to go the in-wall route on a floating wall as my cats like to use my current floorstanders as platforms to sit and jump from, which as more than once resulted in the speakers toppling over...man they make a large bang when that happens :p

Anyway, i'd like to start looking into in-wall speakers. Can anyone recommend any to be used in a 5.1 setup primarily for movies?

I don't have a specific budget in mind. But I would be willing to spend up to maybe €1k for the fronts.

Centre wise would be to match the look and setup of flush/hidden speakers - despite owning a decent centre already, but I can soon sell that.

Thanks very much!

TIA
Jake
 
*thumbs up*

I had a quick look on their website and they look pretty nice. :)

I went to view an apartment yesterday and put an offer in. Currently looking at photos to figure out the living room layout including said proposed floating wall and in wall speakers. I might make a seperate thread on that one.

Those with experience, is there anything to be particularly aware of when planning in-wall speakers? like do they need a certain amount of space around them inside the wall to breath etc. Any guidance and info would be appreciated
 
linford said:
If you are building a false partition wall why not form open alcoves and buy quality bookshelf speakers to fit/size ?
Click to expand...

Won't that require the false wall to come even further out from the actual wall to incorporate them? Therefore losing floor space?
 
Thats excellent, thank you Lucid :) - Really really useful. Especially when considering what is on the other side of the wall.

I believe in my case it will be the elevator shaft of the building but I'll double check before acting upon anything.
 
An update on this.

I'll be in my new place within a month or so, so I began to look into this more seriously and found the one and only Dali authorised reseller here in Lisbon (who happens to be about 10mins away in the car) and also went to another home theatre company here as well.

I went to the other one first called "Life Emotions" and their store was huge and very impressive. They don't sell Dali but they had in-wall options, they offered Martin Logan and some others. Got a demo of the ML and was very very impressed with them. I got talking to one of their guys and they confirmed they could offer what I was looking for. The guy was a bit robotic though. He was talking prices of 3 grand per speaker, 3 grand for an amp etc...I got the impression that their sort of clientale typically do not talk about prices and just tell their staff to come around and get the job done then see & pay the bill at the end. Anyway all food for thought.

Next up I went to the Dali guy, initially I couldn't find his place, I was at the address and couldn't see it...then I saw this almost like hole in the wall, with a door and the name of the company, gave a knock and poked my head in. Got talking to the guy...MUCH more friendlier. Sat down with him in what felt like a basement. He had 3 or so rooms available mostly full of gear for customers and I explained the in-wall speaker idea and he had a better one. Dali's on-wall speakers. I had no idea these existed...he had plenty there, showed me them and I was utterly gobsmacked by it...couple of inches in thickness, attachment to the wall like you would a heavy picture. Too small for any cat to jump onto, no construction work or other considerations needed. Seems perfect! Also he demo'd them to me. I was really impressed. They sounded fantastic.

Also this guy seemed way more human...I much preferred Mr one man band vs the other place.

So, when I've got the keys to the place he will come around and take a look and we'll figure out the finer details such as installation points. But in the meantime he will send me a quote in the next few days for 3 Opticon on-wall speakers (2 fronts and centre), 2 Oberon on-wall for the rears, 2 atmos speakers, subwoofer or 2, amplifier and a rack/cabinet to chew over :)
 
Got a quote through from Mr Dali, seems very well priced :)

Hes quoted me for either of these AV Receivers

Receiver Marantz SR6013---------------------------------------------------€1300
or
Receiver Marantz SR7013---------------------------------------------------€1690

Any thoughts/comments on either of these @lucid ?

TIA
 
Amazing Lucid, thank you! Lots to take in and incredibly informative as always.

I might as well hijack my own thread whilst we are here. Fixed frame projector screens, any recommendations? Probably looking for something around the 80-90 inch size. I haven't started googling any yet.
 
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Hi Lucid,

Thanks again, I have not seen or heard of Screenline but will check them out. One I had seen was the Elite screens range. For me I am kind of guessing wall sizes based on photos from my new apartment so I don't know final sizes yet. I *think* its a 3m wall space, so if we take the Dali Opteron LCR On Walls and give them a 5-10cm boarder for spacing this gives room for about 190cm of screen. Depending on the screen this is somewhere approximately in the 84-92" range. But its fun to look online and day dream :p :D - I get the keys on the 25th so I don't have long to wait until I can get in with a measuring tape and figure out my layout.

With the Elite Screens I need to look up the difference between the CineWhite which I can get for €450 and the CineGrey 5D for €699 (both from Amazon.es on an initial look)

What projector do you plan to use, what will the lighting conditions be like, and have you a budget in mind for the screen?
Click to expand...

I still have my Optoma HD30 which is functioning fine. I plan to use this until the bulb goes or it malfunctions then I will replace it with (from what I've seen so far) an Optoma UHD60 - Light conditions, well the apartment (like all in Portugal) has blackout fixed shutters so I can pitch black the room at any time for full on movie experience. I plan on painting the projecting wall a matt colour as like a feature wall plus to reduce reflections also. I'll have some Philips Hue lamps and things around the room for ambient lighting so its fully controllable environment.

Budget wise....well, no honestly not. I guess from your previous post I would be looking at more the mid-range. €2500 on a screen at this stage would take some time to save up and purchase, whereas a mid-range for less than €1000 is doable more or less straight away. I currently own an electronic Sapphire 92" dropdown screen which I could fit on a temporary basis if I decide to save up for something in the higher range. But at the same time I imagine one of these Elite Screens (as an example) would be a nice upgrade, and to add, I was never disappointed with the Sapphires image. Apologies that this does not answer your question very well. I will take a look at the other brands you mentioned and see what they have.
 
You were the one to recommend me the HD30 in the first place :) - its been a spectacular projector. I always intended to get it professionally calibrated but didn't get around to it. In the end I googled and found some recommended calibration settings from AVForums I believe and it made a really nice difference.

I did drop it a while back so it can artifact at times but generally providing it remains undisturbed its fine. Which obviously for the majority of its time, it is.

I'll check the reviews and let you know what I find!
 
Hey Lucid,

Little update on this. I have the keys to the apartment and the installer is coming to take a look on Wednesday whilst the place is empty so we can look at the layout and figure out whats best. I've got 2 potential ideas in my head in terms of layout but I'll see what he thinks also.

I have been looking at screens, it seems not many brands are easy to get in Portugal, but from what is available I really like the look of the Elite-Screens Aeon Edge Free in Cinegrey. Reviews seem to be very positive over it. I can get a 100" for around €599 + shipping which seems pretty good. Also its totally edgeless which seems very modern and appealing to me. Plus I have read that the grey can help with improving contrast levels as well? either way, this is the screen that is waving at me.

I REALLY liked the look of the Screenline options, but again, difficult to find a seller, although I did email them directly asking for a distributor in Portugal.

Lets see what develops. Its going to be a very busy/crazy couple of weeks as my new places gets transformed, but I'll be sure to photograph as it goes!
 
Makes sense. I read that the screens come with a black felt border to attached if I want so I get either option really.

Colour wise behind it will be a very dark hopefully non reflective colour. What you say does (as always) make sense. I get carried away by the borderless aspect of it.
 
Further update. I have found a Portuguese distributor for Screenline - which brings me back to this manufacturer based on your comments on the previous page. After tomorrow I will know what size screen I can go for and then explore the options with Screenline, decide and get it ordered. Also as its already based in Portugal the shipping should be much more reasonable.

I need to look into their materials. Still favouring a grey vs a white for asthetic reasons. Also pricing wise seems very reasonable as you mentioned:

I was quoted this on their "only white with diamond surface"

Format 16:9

90” (200x113cm) - NO200HDI – 390,00€ + IVA

113” (250x140cm) - NO250HDI – 480,00€ + IVA
 
Richeh said:
Sorry if you have already picked your speakers but if you are still looking at inwall for movie use have a look at MK speakers, idealAV has them and they come highly recommended.
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Thanks for the recommendation. However already picked now. I'm going for Dali On-Wall speakers :-)
 
Further update from me.

Installer came around and we figured out the layout, screen size etc. He gave me the final quote inc installation and I green lit it. He should it could be installed "next week" - I have ordered the screen seperately and asked him if he would prefer to wait until that is here. Waiting on his reply, if so, then that will push everything by 2-3 weeks.

It's going to be a beast of a setup when its done.

Screen wise I went with a Screenlite, 92" fixed frame with RGB kit in a grey high contrast fabric on a fashion velvet frame. It will be an amazing upgrade from my previous screen.

My next job is to get the projector installed, which is fine, nothing I haven't done before but running the cables could be a potential pig of a job, I am in need of suggestions of how to run the cable over coving, will post pics tomorrow.
 
I looked at many options and decided I wanted a fixed frame. For me I think and feel (and partially visualize) that it will be part of the feature wall when its switched off. Its grey high contrast so it will be more subtle when not in use. Then I also don't need to wait for it to drop down, worry about ceiling mount etc, less to go wrong. Also like you say a drop down & tab tensioned screen means there is more capital going towards those components. Having in fixed frame means more money can go toward improved quality of fabric :)

Initially i wanted borderless, but like Lucid mentions above, they do an important job in controlling ambient light reflection outside of the image and help with dealing with any overlap also.

I can't wait for it all to arrive now!
 
Small update on this...

- All speakers installed, they sound incredible. Atmos is one of the most surreal things to experience at first. Can't wait to listen to more content in this. Also the dual sub setup is immense...the subs are only tiny but you can feel the bass to make your hairs stand on edge. Its amazing
- The installers were fantastic. Really pleased I went with a company to handle all this. Did they a much better job than I could.
- They're coming back Wednesday to finish off the cabling. They ran out of conduit whilst they were here. They're also going to mount my projector and run the cables for that as well.

---

After this on my todo list it

- Paint conduit to match wall colours.
- Get screen installed, due to be delivered in a week and a half or so

Pic, don't lose your marbles over the cables. Remember it is NOT finished. :p

JLE21000.jpg


JLE21001.jpg


JLE21002.jpg


Rears

JLE21003.jpg



Overall I am chuffed with the whole result. The sound quality is absolutely incredible. The amp has taken a little bit of getting used to when it comes to user interface but it's early days.
 
Kol said:
Going to be epic, looking forward to seeing the progress. I hope you get on with your neighbours with those dual subs :D
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TBH the noise insulation in my apartment is WAY better than I realised. I have 2 friends staying and they were asleep yesterday whilst I was messing around with it and downloading things like atmos test videos and there was a section of "powerful bass" and the subs went bonkers. I could feel my skin tingling....I was actually paranoid I had woken my friends sleeping. They came into the room an hour later and said they heard/felt nothing. Either they sleep like the dead or my insulation/build is really good!

Anyway, apologies I don't own a seperate microphone. But here is a recording from my camera on a tripod. Amp is set to 50% volume. Cannot feel the bass whatsoever but you get a small hint of what its like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S7e66xk0p8&feature=youtu.be
 
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