Dedicated room considering move to AT screen, questions/advice wanted

1196 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by BobbyColtrane, Jul 19, 2021

BobbyColtrane

Discussion Starter · Jul 17, 2021 (Edited)

Greetings.

I have a dedicated room that's about 20x13x8.

I set it up last summer, and used the speakers I had - 2 towers and a center from a defunct company called The Speaker Company that you can read about here.

At this point they're about 12 years old, the towers have two 5.25" aluminum drivers, a 1" dome tweeter and a 10" side firing woofer.

The towers sit on either side of the screen and the center just below it, as you can see in this pic.

I am happy with the sound quality but I am considering changing to an AT screen and putting in-walls behind it. I don't have room to add a false wall, so I'm limited to staying with this setup or doing in-walls behind the screen.

I don't want to lose a ton of sound quality my questions for the vets are -

What sort of in-walls would make a good LCR for this application?

Would something like a Polk RC85i suffice for all 3, oriented vertically, or do I need something bigger?

I'm trying to stay at or under $800 or so, can I get away with that budget?

Any input/guidance is appreciated.

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Charles Collins

· #2 · Jul 17, 2021

I have seen the Monoprice in-wall speakers recommended here before. And it looks like they are currently having a sale.

Speakers

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BobbyColtrane

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 17, 2021

Charles Collins said:
I have seen the Monoprice in-wall speakers recommended here before. And it looks like they are currently having a sale.

Speakers

thanks man!

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thrillcat

· #4 · Jul 17, 2021

Watch eBay for a used set of Triads. They come up there for pennies on the dollar (not much market for used inwall speakers), and they’ll blow any mass market in wall out of the wall.

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OJ Bartley

· #5 · Jul 17, 2021

thrillcat said:
Watch eBay for a used set of Triads. They come up there for pennies on the dollar (not much market for used inwall speakers), and they’ll blow any mass market in wall out of the wall.

This is probably the best idea. If you aren't in a rush to buy something immediately, you have the luxury of waiting for a good deal on a great product. I don't think the "regular" Monoprice speakers would be an upgrade, although I am still very curious about their higher end Monolith models that look like they'd be good (but $399 each). I think if you want to move to in-walls, the best would be to follow thrillcat's advice and then you should have very good sound. Will you be going to a larger screen size as well?

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sirjaymz

· #6 · Jul 17, 2021

+1
Find a deal for Triads if you have the time.

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BobbyColtrane

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 17, 2021

OJ Bartley said:
This is probably the best idea. If you aren't in a rush to buy something immediately, you have the luxury of waiting for a good deal on a great product. I don't think the "regular" Monoprice speakers would be an upgrade, although I am still very curious about their higher end Monolith models that look like they'd be good (but $399 each). I think if you want to move to in-walls, the best would be to follow thrillcat's advice and then you should have very good sound. Will you be going to a larger screen size as well?

yeah the Monolith speakers may be an option. over my budget but i might be able to make it work.

i was thinking about going from 120" to 135" on that wall. I'm not sure because I don't have a lot of space to move everything back and I have been happy with 120" at my viewing distance. your thoughts?

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squared80

· #8 · Jul 17, 2021

I would also suggest some fabric/velvet on the ceiling from the at least the screen to that soffit/crossbeam. Maybe another meter or so out from the sides, as well, especially if you're getting a bigger screen,

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RayGuy

· #9 · Jul 17, 2021

Monolith 365 ...

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DoctorCyclops

· #10 · Jul 17, 2021

Maybe consider putting your center channel behind the screen and using what you already have for left and right at the sides of the screen.
The wider distance between your L/R the better your separation and imaging should be.

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PixelPusher15

· #11 · Jul 18, 2021

I'd only get something that either has a built-in enclosure, an enclosure you can buy specifically for it, or speakers that you can build your own enclosure that matches the speaker's specs. Throwing a speaker in a wall without considering what would effectively be its enclosure is a bad idea IMO.

Most Triads have built-in enclosures and I think it is directly related to their praise (not the only reason though).

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Silva741

· #12 · Jul 18, 2021

Looking at the photo of the room the first thing that comes to my mind is ''why are the acoustic panels closest to the screen so high?''. They are supposed to be covering the first reflection points. Moving them down would surely improve the sound.

squared80 said:
I would also suggest some fabric/velvet on the ceiling from the at least the screen to that soffit/crossbeam. Maybe another meter or so out from the sides, as well, especially if you're getting a bigger screen,

+1. That would be a great upgrade, and quite cheap.

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DougUSMC

· #13 · Jul 18, 2021

I'm all about GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), but my first question would be "why?" If you're looking for something different, that's cool. If you don't like your speakers, that's cool too. If you just want a cleaner look where the speakers don't distract you from the screen, also cool.

For any or all of those reasons, I say "go for it"!! I just think it might help you narrow down your solution...

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BobbyColtrane

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 19, 2021

Silva741 said:
Looking at the photo of the room the first thing that comes to my mind is ''why are the acoustic panels closest to the screen so high?''. They are supposed to be covering the first reflection points. Moving them down would surely improve the sound.

+1. That would be a great upgrade, and quite cheap.

Because I am a hack that just tries to read here and emulate what the pros are doing! Haha I'll move em down and see how it changes things.

DougUSMC said:
I'm all about GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), but my first question would be "why?" If you're looking for something different, that's cool. If you don't like your speakers, that's cool too. If you just want a cleaner look where the speakers don't distract you from the screen, also cool.

For any or all of those reasons, I say "go for it"!! I just think it might help you narrow down your solution...

ha!!! I'm happy with the sound, but I feel like it would cleaner and more "theater-like" with the speakers hidden away.

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