In wall speakers (5 speakers) that don't break the bank?

[leeland]

Building a new home and have one room (living room) that we are mounting a TV on the wall and I was 'thinking' about wiring in wall speakers around the tv (L / C / R) and two cone speakers in the ceiling for 5.1 surround.

I was browsing Amazon and newegg and found some polk audio speakers that seemed to have high ratings and ran not too expensive...but I could not find a center channel that wasn't over 300 dollars...

I am looking for something nice (better than LCD TV speakers) but something that isn't going to cost me a grand in the end...

Any middle ground?

I plan on running the speaker wire regardless before the walls are drywalled obviously...is 16 gauge speaker wire enough or should I go to a larger wire?

The system isn't going to be a home theater but something to just enhance the living room...

Thanks in advance,

Lee

 

[s44]

Monoprice or HTD

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I did an install a couple of years ago that involved in-wall speakers. Had the same problem as you until I ran across the JBLs. Used SP6II's for LR mains and the HTI-55 as the center along with SP6CII's in the ceiling and the dual 8-inch sub. The HTI-55 can be had on Amazon for $169.

To tell the truth I wasn't expecting much from in-wall speakers. I initially advised against them but the customer wanted in-wall. The end result was a big surprise though. I have to admit they sounded pretty amazing.

 

[richardycc]

audioadvisor.com has some starting at ~$70, also Emotiva.com has some on sale right now.
if this was my install, I'd get the parasound c280v2 and c65 from audioadvisor.com.

 

[leeland]

Monoprice or HTD

The monoprice speakers look to fit the bill nicely! Thank for the link

 

[Corn]

You don't need a center speaker for in-walls. Sonically, it would be better to just use 5 of the same speakers all around. The monoprice speakers are cheap, but they are junk. You would be better off just using your TV speakers and adding a subwoofer.

 

[leeland]

You don't need a center speaker for in-walls. Sonically, it would be better to just use 5 of the same speakers all around. The monoprice speakers are cheap, but they are junk. You would be better off just using your TV speakers and adding a subwoofer.

have you purchased speakers from monoprice before? I don't know a TON about how to evaluate speakers and general and look for advice on line...

a thread on AVS forums seem to think they are decent for peeps on a budget

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=991046

 

[BTA]

Dayton in-walls sound pretty good for the money. http://www.partsexpress.com

 

[MagickMan]

the Monoprice speakers aren't bad at all for movies. For music, well, they're kinda poor, but what do you expect for the price?

 

[vi edit]

For $45-50 a pair it's tough to beat monoprice. I've got 4 pairs of the 8" in ceiling ones around my house. They work for background music, which was their purpose. They are decently well constructed, with a beefy magnet and weigh double what other similarly priced speakers do. Tweeters are little harsh, but they work for their needs.

Part of the problem with in-walls/celings is that they are used in greatly variable conditions and even the best speakers can be gimped by poor placement, acoustics, and installation. I built backer boxes and stuffed them for mine and the bass response is good. My biggest complaint is that the screws that you turn to engage the dogears are made of butter. They'll strip out if you even look at them funny. I've got a couple speakers that probably are never comingback out without a lot of work.

That said...my $50 a pair Monoprice have nothing on my $1100 a piece Phase Technology in-walls. I picked up three of them on Ebay for $400 combined. These things pack a friggen whollup...easily put out more midbass than many tower speakers I've owned. Excellent ring radiating tweeter on them too that's fully adjustable. Weigh in at over 20 pounds each with solid aluminum mounting bracket.

 

[leeland]

the Monoprice speakers aren't bad at all for movies. For music, well, they're kinda poor, but what do you expect for the price?

When you say they are poor for movies are you expecting the less expensive in-wall speakers to sound like a THX set you hear at the theater or in a high end set up?

This is not my intent...I am looking for something inexpensive that will beat the shit out of what it would normally sound like from a 20 watt LCD tv speaker...

If it gives a little better movie quality for an action flick I am happy with that and wouldn't expect it to sound like Days of Thunder or anything...but a little kick would be nice.

Maybe a football game in surround sound off broadcast TV...

 

[BurnItDwn]

If you just want "a little kick" then get yourself a subwoofer.
If you want slightly better quality and range, then cheapo ceiling speakers will almost certainly be a nice upgrade vs your LCD tv speakers (Most LCD TVs have HORRIBLE speakers built in.)
Be aware that you will need a home theater Receiver as well (or something that can receive the audio signal and amplify it to all the speakers.)

Personally... I tend to like full sized 3 way speakers... but that's just me...

 

[MagickMan]

When you say they are poor for movies are you expecting the less expensive in-wall speakers to sound like a THX set you hear at the theater or in a high end set up?

This is not my intent...I am looking for something inexpensive that will beat the shit out of what it would normally sound like from a 20 watt LCD tv speaker...

If it gives a little better movie quality for an action flick I am happy with that and wouldn't expect it to sound like Days of Thunder or anything...but a little kick would be nice.

Maybe a football game in surround sound off broadcast TV...

I said they're good for movies, they're fine for most HT stuff. They're just lacking for music.

 

[leeland]

I said they're good for movies, they're fine for most HT stuff. They're just lacking for music.

I think I read your original post wrong...thanks for the clarifications...I think I thought you said they were just poor...

sorry