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!
Holy crap that stinks. I just sold my Boston Acoustic surround system today and I am planning to buy in walls for very similar reasons...I too am moving, etc. I have nothing to offer you but I am very interested in the responses you get. I heard Boston Acoustic made excellent in walls but they are pricey.
ok here is the deal with in-walls. not as good as towers but technology is gettin damn close. we carry 2 main brands... speakercraft and b&w. both have low level in-walls but their high end series sounds really good. speakercraft has a series called the AIM series and you can mount them in the ceiling but still aim the speaker in the direction you wish. and they pound pretty hard too. the b&w's are like lexus of in-walls they have better drivers and are very flat i love them personally. but with either of these just like anything else you have to pay to play!