In-Wall Speakers High on Wall

I'm going through some of the same issues. I was originally going to put a pair of in wall speakers in the family room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I decided that I might as well put in additional speakers in the family room while my basement is being finished (and before the basement ceiling goes in).

I went all in-walls and didn't focus/worry too much about placement. Both front speakers are technically too high. The center is going to go above the TV, which means about about 6'3" high. The rears are also about that height.

What I ultimately concluded was that this set up was still going to be far superior to relying on just my TV speakers. And if I want a truer movie experience, I can go down to the movie area in my basement where I have much, much better gear and speaker placement.

I'm not sure I really helped answer your question. But as far as resale, I think the majority of buyers won't know the details of what is good and what is not. They'll just think it's great that your house as a whole house audio set up.

I just completed my own in-wall 5.1 setup, integrated with a multi-room system. My house is actually of similar age to yours.

First off, if you happen to have plaster walls/ceilings like I do, I strongly recommend a Rotozip tool. It's basically a Dremel on steroids, and trust me it's invaluable for speaker installs if you have plaster walls.

As far as placement is concerned, you have a little more flexibility on the surround speakers, since these generally aren't doing the bulk of the work. Some speakers have pivoting tweeters as well to account for actual listening positions. Placement of your front 3 is more critical. There's quite a few threads on here regarding speaker placement so you can see what's worked for others. There are also general guidelines set forth on the Dolby & Crutchfield websites. Many people including myself use in-ceilings for their surround speakers, with good results.

The forum consensus for in-walls/in-ceilings is to use speakers with an enclosure. Search the in-wall speaker threads for recommendations. Be warned that the enclosed models tend to be less budget-friendly. I have both enclosed and open-back in my house, and both sound great for how they are being used. That said, my open-back in-ceilings do allow sound to bleed into upper rooms, whereas the enclosed in-walls do a great job at keeping the sound where it should be.

The tricky part with an in-wall setup is trying to gauge actual performance in your room. For obvious reasons there's more risk involved than with a floor-standing or bookshelf setup, where speakers can easily be moved (or returned). Not a bad idea to demo speakers locally if possible. To answer your question, I feel you can get very good performance out of an in-wall setup, especially if you go with an enclosed model.

To answer your other questions...many speakers can be mounted to the wall with the right bracketry and/or carpentry skills. Although, you may want to look into on-wall speakers, which have a low-profile and offer some of the benefits of a typical boxed speaker (without having to cut into your walls). Do a search on timbre matching to find out about mixing speakers. My best advice if you can't do a listening test is to post what models you want to mix, and someone here can probably offer some insight on the setup.

Some helpful info on speaker placement:

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/lea...placement.html

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/...ide/index.html

In-walls speakers come in many varieties. Most are designed to use the wall as the speaker's enclosure and front baffle. For HT use, these types of designs should be avoided. You should look for in-walls with integral enclosures. The following article explains why this is crucial to good sound:
http://www.cepro.com/article/how_to_...er_systems/D1/

If you use in-walls with integral enclosures, you can certainly duplicate the sound quality of free-standing speakers, (assuming you use a subwoofer for the deep bass.) Placement of the front 3 speakers should be dictated by the display device used. The CC should be as close to the display as possible, either above or below it. The LR's should be to either side, with consideration given for soundstage width vs. the size of the display. You don't want to place the speakers so wide that they no longer "lock up" with the video image.

Here are some examples of in-walls with integral enclosures:
http://www.speakercraft.com/#Product...%20IW7%20Three
http://www.sonance.com/products/speakers/detail/534
http://www.thespeakercompany.com/NTI...akers-C39.aspx
http://www.rbhsound.com/si760.shtml
http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/product...-thx-overview/

The surrounds can certainly be placed high up on the side and rear walls. They should be placed to mimic the recommended placements as closely as possibly:



(If using 5.1, eliminate the rear speakers, not the side speakers.)

Craig