[mrice123]

I posted this in the audio forum but didn't get any answers so I thought I'd try here.


I am getting ready to build a new home and was wondering about this. I have a Jamo Sat/sub system and was considering dropping the speakers into small cut outs in the the wall (WAF). How will this affect the sound? I didn't really want to have to buy 5 new in-wall speakers for this if I could get by with my Jamos. Any experience w/ this or any ideas?

 

[settopguy]

I think placing speakers in the wall leads to a number of problems you would have to handle.


Cutting a hole in the wall makes it easier for sound to leak out of the room. You would have to do even more on the other side of the wall and top of wall to limit sound transmission.


In addition the speaker may tend to make the wall act like a resonating chamber which would greatly affect the sound. To minimize that you probably would need to isolate the speaker from the rest of the wall by surrounding it with something to absorb sound like a sturdy box with a thick layer of sand around it.


With all the complications caused by in-wall speakers, I suggest placing the speakers inside the room.

 

[mrice123]

Thanks for the response settopguy. I was afraid that would be the answer.


Luckily though, the sound spilling into other rooms is not a huge problem for this room. I'm thinking of doing this in a living room that is open to the second floor. The fronts would be on (or in) a wall that backs up to a laundry room and the rears will back up to an upstairs guest bedroom. So sound escaping into those rooms is not going to be bothersome (unless guests are in the bedroom). So some sound transmission is acceptable.


I have space designated for a separate home theater (one day) and this is simply a living room home theater/music center.


I think I'd really like the speakers to be in-wall. So I guess the question is, can I feasably put these speakers in a "box" that'll keep the walls from becoming a resonating chamber. I'm not to keen on the sand idea, but I get the point. I'm sure that the speakers would sound pretty bad without some type of soundproof box. Other Ideas?

 

[settopguy]

The walls and ceilings form a boundary you don't want to breach. They help limit sound transmission to other rooms, and when properly lined with nonreflecting surfaces they also help limit unwanted interior sound reflections.


If the satellite speaker is dipolor or bipolar (which means it has speakers on two sides) then it won't work well in the wall, and should be mounted inside the wall using brackets or speaker stands.


If the satellite speaker is a simple one with speakers on one side only, then it might work.


On to other ideas.


SPEAKERS IN COLUMNS


Most of this I made up. It is completely untested so if it doesn't work, don't be surprised. However it sounds reasonable.


Instead of putting the speakes in the wall, some people build columns (alias "pilasters") that stick out into the room. The columns should be inside the acoustic envelope defined by the the walls, and should be somewhat decoupled from them if possible by building them separately from the wall, resting them on a couple layers or roofing felt or rubber, and using flexible caulk between then and the wall. Build a really sturdy box that surrounds the speaker out of MDF or other heavy and stiff material. You probably should make it 2 or 3 layers thick with the layes glued and screwed together to make the box very stiff and heavy. If you didn't want to surround the speaker with sand, or have it rest on a bed of sand, you might try hanging the speaker inside the box with springs or better yet, bungee cords. This is just an untested idea, I don't know if it would work. The springs or bungee cords should have as little tension as possible so they are less likely to transmit vibrations.


Fill the empty parts of the column with something to limit sound transmission like sand or heavy insulation such as mineral fiber. Sand is better at limiting sound transmission, but can be messy and is very heavy.


Cover the column and box holding the speaker with acoustically transparent cloth.


To make the room look more balanced you may need to add other columns which don't have speakers.

 

[mrice123]

well, sounds like some good ideas in theory. It may all be a little much for my 6" satelitte speakers though. Plus collumns in the living room would not be an option for me. I guess I'll need to figure out how to incorporate these little speakers into the room decor. Looks like I'll have to think about this some more.


p.s. they are not dipoles or bipoles