I'm working on finishing my basement, and decided I needed to test speakers prior to permanently closing the walls. I started with a pair of
BIC America HT8W's. I figured they were designed with the "assistance of the Hsu Research team", so they were worth a try. I mounted them in a stud bay, closed it up, connected the speakers to a Russound CAV6.6, and listened. First impression was that they extended low enough, and detail was pretty good--although certainly not as clear as the Zaph ZA5.3's I have upstairs. As I listened some more, I heard a bit more distortion than I liked. So back they went.
I considered ordering some of the
Mordaunt Short Avant Architect in-walls from Accessories4Less based on recommendations I've seen in other threads. Built by (or for) a company with an excellent reputation, I figured they might be worth a try, even if they were a bit more expensive than the BIC America's. But I searched the web for quite a while, and couldn't find any actual reviews: they were recommended, but I couldn't find any experience reports.
So I decided to take a chance with the Monoprice speakers. I ordered 6 pairs. Two pairs of
7604's for LCR. Two pairs of
6816's for surround. And two pairs of
4104's to finish up my multi-room audio installation.
How do they sound? Excellent. Especially for the price. I like the 7604's (LCR). They don't go very low, but they have excellent detail and excellent distortion. The 4104's sound good, but I like the 6816's better for music. So I will probably switch them around. We'll see over the next few weeks.
My only concern is that they aren't sealed. Has anyone actually created an enclosure for any of these models?