On-wall/Flat Panel Speaker Thread: - Page 4

The best center channel speaker for plasma or LCD's is a directional MA-5 from Dakota Audio. The center channel needs to be directional and most center channel sound is lost (ask most people if the center channel is on or off and they usually can't tell the difference either way.

I heard it at the Digital Signage Expo in Philadelphia last year, completely awesome - move a step or two to either side (at lower volumes) and it drops off significantly - this is what a center channel speaker was always supposed to do in my opinion...http://barspeakers.com.

Actually, the best center channel speaker is one that timbre matches the main L/R being used. It makes little sense to use a center, no matter how good it may be, if it does not match the mains. That just provides an irritating change in the sonic timbre as the sound pans across the front speakers.
When trying to decide between a number of speaker systems, one should always pay particular attention to how good the center speaker handles dialogue, before buying.

I use Focal SibXL's (five of them). Three are mounted around a Pioneer Kuro 4280 plasma, two sides, in a bedroom setup. They sound and look great. I use a ML Dynamo for the bottom end. The room is small roughly 12' x 11'.

I have listened to and really like the Energy Take FPS series. The cheapest I can find these speakers in black is $365 each online. I ended up ordering a pair in silver earlier today as the color is discontinued and they are being cleared out. I got a pair for $230 including shipping.

I called Energy and ordered black speaker grills for $33.68 each and plan on painting the speakers black when they arrive. This way I will end up getting the pair with black covers for less than one speaker in black. Throw in a can of spray paint and I am still at about 40% of the price in black.

If anyone is interested I will take pictures of the before and after and post here.

Let me know.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations on what type of paint to use?

Sure, would definitely be interested in seeing some pics of your speakers. Always interested to see what other setups look like!

OK, I received the silver Take FPS speakers (2) last week. I will be using these as wall mounted main speakers for my 5.1 set-up. Here are a few pics of the speakers out of the box.









The speakers cabinets are constructed of aluminum with (1) 1 inch dome tweeter, (2) 4.5 inch woofers and (2) 4.4" passive radiators per speaker. Very solidly constructed and very nice looking.

Even though my TV is black and I wanted black speakers for my wallmounts, I could not get my self to pay about $250 more per speaker just to get black. So I bought the silver on clearance and painted them black. After spending $6.00 on spray paint and $33.68 each for (2) new black grills directly from Energy I am saving about $213 (60%) per speaker.

First I dissassembled the speakers. Here are a few pics of the various components making up the speakers. Everything came apart easily with a 3mm allen wrench and phillips screw driver.

Cabinet:



Woofers:



Passive Radiator:



Tweeter:



Tweeter:



Crossover:



Cabinet Close Up:



Internal Dampening Material:



Spring Loaded Connectors:

Next I prepped and painted. I used Krylon Fusion spray paint in black satin and prepped by wiping all surfaces with paint thinner and then cleaned lint off with a microfiber towel once the thinner was evaporated.

I chose the Krylon Fusion paint because it bonds well to plastics (the ends of each speaker cabinet are capped with a dense plastic plate...see 'Cabinet Close Up' pic in my previous post) and I have had success with this product in the past.

The painting went well and the finished product turned out even better than expected. After letting the paint cure for 24 hours, I reassembled the components and here are some pics of the finished product ready for mounting.





I have not yet received the new black grills from Energy, nor have I mounted the speakers (although I did audition them before painting and they sound great). I will post more pics when the project is complete.

Sweet job! Nice way to save a couple hundred.

eddie501, i am speechless. Great job!! So, have you auditioned other on-walls before buying these....and are able to give a comparison? Does it perform well under 100hz??

It looks factory fresh. Awesome!

Thanks troublefan and deepstang.

deepstang - Energy claims that the Take FPS can handle frequencies down to 60Hz. I have not had enough listening time yet to answer your question related to performance under 100Hz, but after the speakers are mounted and broken in I will get back to you.

I did not audition many other alternates when deciding on the Take FPS, so I can not offer a good comparison. I have always liked the smooth sound from Energy speakers and the FPS does not dissappoint.

If I get a chance later I will audition some other speakers in store and give a comprison after I get everything up and running here.

FYI. I was also considering the the Monitor Audio Radius R250 and Paradigm Cinema 330 before purchasing (based mostly on comments from this thread)....but once I saw the price on the 'silver' FPS I couldn't pass it up and decided not to track down a place to audition the others.

That is exactly the top 3 i have been debating between....the Energy FPS, MA Radius R250 and the Cinema 330. I find the Energy and Monitor Audio models look the best. I was a bit hesitant of the performance of the FPS (in comparison with the Radius 250) because of its compact size (which looks great!). I actually have a sliver Sony 52" XBR2 LCD, so the cheaper sliver Radius 250 and Energy FPS were at the top of the list with value. I REALLY appreciate you sharing all this info!!

eddie501 -

Those look great! I would not have the nerve to take everything apart myself like that. I have always wondered how people get such great finishes with spray paint - my (limited) uses have always resulted in drips, uneven application, etc. I would surely ruin the speakers.

It looks like the square Energy label on the back is still silver - did you remove it and then reapply after painting, or just work around it somehow?

Anyway, congrats on a job well done! Definitely worth the time to save a few hundred $, especially in this economy.

Thanks bswiz. They key to success with spray paint is several thin coats and consistent motions with the can for even application...plus patience. Don't try to put it on all at once or you will get drips etc.

I left the Energy label in place and covered it with blue painting tape while painting.

Hello,

I need some advice for on/in wall speakers for the rear surrounds in a 7.1 set up. My other speakers are Salk home theaters. Jim says that the best way requires the same drivers in similar volume enclosures. I don't have the space for enclosures. All the current speakers use a ribbon tweeter if that is significant. I need to make a decision shortly before I enclose the back side of the wall that the speakers mount to. It would be nice to not have to spend quite as much money. Thanks.

Ok, thanks to this thread and members like eddie501 I just pulled the trigger and orderd 3 Energy Take FPSs, and 2 Energy Take LCRs from the SoundDistributors. I had a bit of doubt because the guy that sold them to me told me they have a good deal on the silver Energy Take TWR......which would make a great Center channel or even sweeter L-C-R...but it may not be worth the extra money as I am on a wife limited budget

I have never researched or considered the TWR, but was wondering if it was really worth the extra money. The thing that does impress me with the TWR is their well increased efficiency because of the ported design. The downfall with some ported speakers is the potential to loose accuracy. I will post the links from their website that gives all the specs and prices.

Energy Take LCR

Energy Take FPS

Energy Take TWR

Thanks again AVS Forum family.

*update: I just bought the 3 FPS, and 2 LCR last month.

I'd say if you can swing the floor standers, do it. I went to TWRs myself but upgraded from LCRs (not the FPS) in the front and the difference is amazing to me. I still have the FPS as a center. If you could do three TWRs in front I think that would be a bitchin' front soundstage! I don't think they lose anything being ported, they have a fuller sound (of course, compared to the LCRs), and quite a bit more low end, although a sub is still essential (especially for HT).
I think the biggest reason, though, is that I don't have the fronts mounted on the wall anymore. The LCRs were and I think pulling most any speaker away from the wall and corners will help it sound better.

There are some great prices out there on the silver models, just have to search. Klipsch outlet on ebay has them all the time.

Any speaker, even ones designed to be wall mounted, will sound different wall mounted, compared to being free standing. When free standing the soundstage becomes deeper, depending on how far out from the wall they are.
But any LCR that has the guts to deliver good mid-bass will be just as good as floorstanding towers, as long as one has a couple of good subs.

And in either case, you still want them away from the corners, as you say, at least for the mains. The further away from the side walls the better, giving a much wider soundstage.

If I had to have the surrounds mounted, or standing in corners, due to space limitations, I'd set them on a 45* angle in the corners, which will change the angle of the first reflections.

Did you guys know the Energy Take TWR in black is only $200 each at WWS?

Pardon my ignorance, but what's WWS?

World Wide Stereo.com

OK guys/gals, I did buy the silver Energy FPS (3 for the front L-C-R, and 2 LCRs for the surrounds). I have been breaking in the front 3 via a mix CD; however, I have been pretty dissapointed with the sound. I guess you can't turn lead into gold, and expect 4.5" speakers to sound like 6"...even if the name and quality is supposedly there. I have my Audyssey (on my Onkyo 605) set to Full Range for the break in period. The break in period has taught me what I should already know....that these speakers can not accurately preform below 120hz.... even though MFR claims a freq response down to 60hz (+/- 3dB). I will run Audyssey tomorrow to see what it thinks.

Yes, I do have a sub...yes, they may be fine with HT...and yes, I already had a feeling that these speakers would not work well for music listening. I am glad 95% of their use will be for HT in my application. So far, I kind of liked the sound of my affordable Polk TC615i in-walls.

MFR claims:

"Deep bass from two 4.5-inch woofers bring the power of movie effects to life

Clear, accurate highs from aluminum dome tweeter help you hear details you’ve never before noticed"

Bass...i don't think so. I actually like the tweeters on the Polks a bit more

Hey guys, starting to look into this and I could use some heads up as to which models from various brands would fit in my budget.

Right now I am finishing the basement, the floorstanding Paradigms from the living room will go down there and the rest of the 7.1 system will come back out of boxed storage to complete that setup.

However, that leaves the 42 plasma upstairs without speakers. What the wife and I want up there are a pair of wall mounted speakers that will serve for regular TV watching and maybe a light movie. I don't need solid, deep, hard hitting bass or anything like that as this is not what these are for (that will take place in the basement theater.) My main concern is solid midrange, clear highs and at least a little bit of bass to make the audio track believable.

So in a nutshell, what are some options for a pair of on-wall (not in-wall) speakers in the $200 (for the pair) range that will serve as solid TV speakers (not surround sound/music speakers.) I do like Paradigms, but I am open to any other brand.

-Suntan

About to pull the trigger on one of these two systems to go with my Pioneer 151HD and Denon 3808CI. Comments welcome based on your experience, auditions, etc.

PARADIGM:
------------------------
(2) Millenia 20's for L/R
(1) Millenia 30 for C
(2) Millenia ADP for surrounds
(1) Seismic 12 sub

Definitive Technology
------------------------
(3) Mythos 10s [1 as the center]
(2) Gem XLs [surrounds]
(1) SuperCube II (or maybe the SuperCube 1)

The Paradigm set is around $4 grand. The Def Tech set is around $3800ish.

Thread necrophilia in the house, as it seemed like the best place.

Any thoughts on wall-mounted TWRs? I'm moving into a new house soon, and replacing my floor-standers with some sort of wall-mounted setup seems like my best bet given the room layout. With new appliances, bedroom furniture, and countless other house/wife-mandated expenses, cost is a significant factor. My rears will work for now, but I'd like to replace the front end to match, so I'm considering 2 wall-mounted TWRs as L/R, an FPS as C, and an ESWV10 sub. I can get that package for $747 delivered, which makes it attractive, but will the sound be there?

I'm personally thinking about getting a set of Atlantic Technology FS-3200 for the front LCR. Then I might get the 2400 SR speakers to operate as dipoles in the rear. Most reviews are pretty positive but I've not gotten a chance to test them out. I think I have a place that has a good return policy incase they're not up to snuff. I used to have Boston Acoustics P450s at my old house and I liked those as well. I paired those with the Bravo II's for my surrounds.

As the previous owner of FPS speakers, I would not recommend them as a center channel. Audyssey would cross them at 120hz, and I think that is pretty acurate to its frequency capability. IMO, with its performance, the FPS can not accurately reproduce the male voice. Yes, a sub can help with the low end; however, IMO the center channel has to be able to competently play frequencies down to 80hz for dialouge to be clear and the experience to sound believable. Energy was misleading in their stated frequency response for these speakers.

Ouch...thanks for the reply. Have you heard the TWRs? Do you think 3 of them as L, C, and R would work, with the ESW-V10 crossed somewhere around 90-100 (hoping to keep it reasonably non-directional)?

Sorry for being so blatant with my opinions. I have not heard the TWRs; however, maybe the larger volume and ports may help. I have read other FPS owner's comments and most of them seem happy. I guess everyone has different expectations and likes. The FPS may be sufficient for your needs. I am sure 3 TWRs would be a better option if you can fit that long/tall speaker as a center. BTW, it is not always necessary to have the center positioned horizontal.