Hi Everyone, I just moved to a new house and have a family room that is 15x24. In my old house I had Def. Tech. and Harmon intermediate+ system. The speakers and sub were all free standing speakers and I really enjoyed the system. I use the system 99% for HDTV, movies and HDSports. In addition to the new house I have two small boys (2&4). They loved to kick, knock and crush my speakers. So now in the new house I was considering going with In-wall speakers. From all I have read, the in-walls are nearly as good as free standing speakers. I was thinking of in-wall Def Tech. speakers and an external sub. So yesterday, I took a ride to electronics expo (they bought the wiz). They had Sonance CIN.5SUR in-wall speakers for $1,100. I always do a blind test when listening to speakers but this was unbeleiveable. These speakers sounded soooo bad. Sounded like the free computer speakers you get from dell. Just for giggles, I blind tested again $200 Polk books shelf speakers. No comparison - polk sounded like Logans in comparison. The sales guy told me no in-wall speakers sounded good. The speakers seemed to be installed properly (I am no expert) at the store. Driving home depressed, I wondered about all the rave reviews I read about in-wall speakers and even the Sonance (rated 94). I was listening to music and not a movie. So the questions is; are any in-wall speakers any good in comparison to free standing - was it the setup?, are the on-wall speakers as bad as in-wall, if I want a very good surround system do I have to go with free standing speakers without spending a fortune. Thanks!
most in wall speakers use lower grade components from what i've seen eg. audax's cheapest "plastic cone" tweeter which you only see on the cheapest box speakers.
second, in wall speakers don't have as optimal a speaker enclosure. woofers like airspace to do their job best.
i imagine that most of those favorable reviews that you're quoting aren't in dedicated audio magazines, but are instead in newspapers etc. where novices are impressed by anything that sounds better than their little shelf system.
free standing speakers are better for at least one reason... they image better. the closer you place a speaker to the wall, the worse it sounds usually. when you bring a speaker into the room, it "opens up" sonically.
it isn't impossible to get good sound out of wall mounted speakers. recording studios spend $20,000 on their ATC (PMC?) in wall monitors, but those speakers have full size cabinets in the wall and not 3-4 inch deep slabs.
there's probably a respected home audio maker that offeres better quality in wall speakers. otherwise, you could probably do ALOT better than a typical in wall unit by building one yourself with better quality components.
there are many manufacturers that make great little bookshelf speakers that are every bit as good sounding as larger more expensive speakers except in bass extension.
i would fully expect polk bookshelfs to spank any of the cheap looking in wall speakers that i've seen in catalogues. polk's soft domes are way better than audax plastic cones. audax makes "real tweeters" that are nice though.
all of the in wall speakers i've seen have plastic cabinets too... when was the last time you saw a serious home speaker made out of lightweight plastic?
by the way... good job going out and listening for yourself!
any claim is just that a claim. saying something is so doesn't make it so.
nothing can beat your own listening skills as you know better whay kind of sound you like than anyone else in the world.
there are heated debates in the audio world from people who like different things. tubes vs. solid state acoustic suspension vs. ported digital vs. analogue large full range speakers vs. minimonitors
and so on. only you know what sort of sound you like (or don't) and listening for yourself will train your ears for the most satisfying sound for you. you've already eliminated one particular speaker from your search. ;)
the very first critic you should listen to will always be YOU! no matter how "high rated" a piece of gear is, if it sounds like crap to you, it is.
i hope that you get the chance to hear a wide enough variety of gear to find exactly what floats your boat.
i spent 20 years in one audio camp that was close to my heart only to totally throw those old priorities away with a NEW piece of gear that i hadn't bothered to give the time of day to before.
listening to gear is free... it's the buying part that hurts. LOL definately look before you leap.