[sleepingshaman]

Hi guys, just wanted get some advice on a speaker setup for my living room. Moved in a couple weeks ago. We had this particular room wired for 5.1, as it has 20+ft ceilings (22’?) and is open to kitchen and floating game room above it. We did not dare wire anything on the ceiling, so the rears are wired about 10ft up at either “corner” of the area that will be angled towards the viewing area (likely bookshelves or similar on brackets). The intended purpose for this area is more for family gatherings/parties and more music vs casual TV use. There is a dedicated theater upstairs wired to 7.2.4, which will be a future dedicated project. However, we do want a TV here in the event we want to use it.

The plan is to get a 65-75in Samsung Frame TV, and although not my favorite for a variety of reasons (I’m an LG OLED fan), has the best option to “hide” if I were to place artwork around it. We are looking some discrete in-wall speakers (color matched white grills) vs slim on wall speakers that will best blend in here. Some discrete floor standing speakers are not completely out of the question, but would like to keep the former, since we want to keep things discrete. There will be a ventilated media cabinet like attached below this to hide the Samsung box and accessories. Likely an art piece or similar above the TV with similar frame dimensions.

I taped off the 65” Frame which puts about 10-11in on either side of that area. The wall with the fireplace is angled so not on same plane as TV. The window shades will have blackout capability.

I have an Anthem MRX720 and Paradigm Defiance X15 sub that I am planning on possibly pairing with the rest of the setup. I have a set of Paradigm Millenia XPL L/C/Rs that I was going to use for the bedroom but considering some of their in-wall offerings. My AV consultation also recommended the 2-way Paradigm CI Pro P80-IW, which also has an 8in driver (8 1/16 wide cutout) or P65 IW (7in wide cut out).

Definitely open to your suggestions (ie., B&W CWM 7.4 S2s, KEF Ci3160RLB, Ci4100QL, etc), if anyone has an experience with any of these. Budget ~$5K, obviously less is preferred. Thank you so much!

 

[JohnnyGuitar7]

I know the KEF's and JBL synthesis measure extremely well. I have Revel w553L's. They are quite a bit cheaper at 500 dollars each, but also measure very well (Asr: Revel W553L Measurements (In-wall Speaker)). I never compared the Revels to the KEF or JBL, but I do know they were a pretty significant upgrade compared to my old SnapAV Episode in wall speakers.

 

[Looneybomber]

You’d have a great place for a TV and in-wall speakers where that fireplace is. However, where you have the TV taped out, I don’t see how you’re going to get in-wall speakers there due to stud locations. I scribbled red lines where you should have studs that will impede possible speaker locations.

You’re going to need floor standing speakers at least for your left and right and then, the right speaker will block a window.

 

[Jobio]

I taped off the 65” Frame which puts about 10-11in on either side of that area. The wall with the fireplace is angled so not on same plane as TV. The window shades will have blackout capability.

I have an Anthem MRX720 and Paradigm Defiance X15 sub that I am planning on possibly pairing with the rest of the setup. I have a set of Paradigm Millenia XPL L/C/Rs that I was going to use for the bedroom but considering some of their in-wall offerings. My AV consultation also recommended the 2-way Paradigm CI Pro P80-IW, which also has an 8in driver (8 1/16 wide cutout) or P65 IW (7in wide cut out).

Definitely open to your suggestions (ie., B&W CWM 7.4 S2s, KEF Ci3160RLB, Ci4100QL, etc), if anyone has an experience with any of these. Budget ~$5K, obviously less is preferred. Thank you so much!

However, where you have the TV taped out, I don’t see how you’re going to get in-wall speakers there due to stud locations. I scribbled red lines where you should have studs that will impede possible speaker locations.

This ^^^^.

Mark all the studs on the wall where you plan to put the TV. You may need to scale down the TV to get access to a stud bay for in walls.

There are many decent on walls that are <10" width and <4" depth. I wouldn't call any of them discrete though and there is certainly a performance hit due to the slim cabinets. However, some manufacturers of on walls have custom veneers that make them look attractive or will paint the entire speaker to match your wall color to try and blend them in.

Take a look at Totem and Triad to start. There are also many threads with on wall speaker recommendations in case you have to go that route:

on-wall speaker recommendations?

Hi all, Looking for help with on-wall speaker suggestions. I am looking for on wall since I have speaker wire run up high and I've always liked the clean, hi tech look of speakers on the wall sans grill. I'll be honest and say I'm not the world's pickiest audiophile, and if it's not already...

www.avsforum.com

On-Wall Speakers, do they stink vs. in-wall? So few to...

Except for a couple in-ceiling Atmos speakers I have all on-wall speakers -- L, C, R, FHL, FHR, SL, and SR. I just like have nothing on the floor except a sub in the corner. I currently have pretty old DT Mythos 8's for L, C, and R, and have recently added Klipsch RP502 surrounds and RP500SA...

www.avsforum.com

 

[Zorba922]

Hi guys, just wanted get some advice on a speaker setup for my living room. Moved in a couple weeks ago. We had this particular room wired for 5.1, as it has 20+ft ceilings (22’?) and is open to kitchen and floating game room above it. We did not dare wire anything on the ceiling, so the rears are wired about 10ft up at either “corner” of the area that will be angled towards the viewing area (likely bookshelves or similar on brackets). The intended purpose for this area is more for family gatherings/parties and more music vs casual TV use. There is a dedicated theater upstairs wired to 7.2.4, which will be a future dedicated project. However, we do want a TV here in the event we want to use it.

The plan is to get a 65-75in Samsung Frame TV, and although not my favorite for a variety of reasons (I’m an LG OLED fan), has the best option to “hide” if I were to place artwork around it. We are looking some discrete in-wall speakers (color matched white grills) vs slim on wall speakers that will best blend in here. Some discrete floor standing speakers are not completely out of the question, but would like to keep the former, since we want to keep things discrete. There will be a ventilated media cabinet like attached below this to hide the Samsung box and accessories. Likely an art piece or similar above the TV with similar frame dimensions.

I taped off the 65” Frame which puts about 10-11in on either side of that area. The wall with the fireplace is angled so not on same plane as TV. The window shades will have blackout capability.

I have an Anthem MRX720 and Paradigm Defiance X15 sub that I am planning on possibly pairing with the rest of the setup. I have a set of Paradigm Millenia XPL L/C/Rs that I was going to use for the bedroom but considering some of their in-wall offerings. My AV consultation also recommended the 2-way Paradigm CI Pro P80-IW, which also has an 8in driver (8 1/16 wide cutout) or P65 IW (7in wide cut out).

Definitely open to your suggestions (ie., B&W CWM 7.4 S2s, KEF Ci3160RLB, Ci4100QL, etc), if anyone has an experience with any of these. Budget ~$5K, obviously less is preferred. Thank you so much!

If you are dead set on in-walls (I would suggest doing identical full sized bookshelves on sturdy clamping wall mounts at all locations instead, personally) then I'd look at the Monolith 3 way in-walls... would be a treat for all-channel stereo music during your family gatherings and the extra woofer will come in handy for such a huge space:

Monolith by Monoprice THX-LCR THX Certified Ultra 3-Way LCR In-Wall Speaker - Monoprice.com

The THX® In‑Wall Speaker Series has been engineered to deliver the highest level of accuracy and reproduce all the dynamics and detail of the best home theater soundtracks and music. Each sp

www.monoprice.com

Given such a huge CONTIGUOUS space, I'd go with at least one of these:

VTF-3 MK5 HP Subwoofer

This is what bookshelves on wall brackets look like:

 

[RayGuy]

Dali Oberon on-wall speakers would be a good choice. Another option would be the HECO Ambient 22 or 44. Both are good quality speakers, come in white, and would not intrude into the room, visually or physically.

However, if your intention is for them to serve the entire space, then you may need to upgrade to the Totem Tribe.

 

[ToddDavid]

2nd the Heco Ambient 44F [or 22F]. They sound quite good. Definitely outperform the price!

Only 9” wide and less than 4” deep, plus are front ported. From Audio Advice. I believe the 44F will be back in stock in April. The white has a light silver gray grille.

44F —31 inches. Dual 5” woofers, double ported
22F —18 inches. Single 5”, single ported

 

[Wardog555]

Arendal 1961 bookshelf is the smallest I'd ever suggest.

 

[beyond]

I second the recommendation of triads... I've got them in the living room and the theater; simply amazing speakers. We have a great "official" thread in the speaker section with lots of help. My Sugar Maple build thread has all kinds of images etc of multiple types that I installed (9.4.6 setup).

 

[ToddDavid]

Dali Oberon on-wall speakers would be a good choice. Another option would be the HECO Ambient 22 or 44. Both are good quality speakers, come in white, and would not intrude into the room, visually or physically.

However, if your intention is for them to serve the entire space, then you may need to upgrade to the Totem Tribe.

Oberon has a dark gray grill. How bout Dali Rubicon LCR if he can find a deal on them? They’re white on white.

 

[RayGuy]

Oberon has a dark gray grill. How bout Dali Rubicon LCR if he can find a deal on them? They’re white on white.

Yeah, Rubicon has the AMT, but more $, and he appears to be limited in the width mode, as it is about 1.5" wider. If he can fit them and handle the budget, add them to the option list!

 

[ToddDavid]

Yeah, Rubicon has the AMT, but more $, and he appears to be limited in the width mode, as it is about 1.5" wider. If he can fit them and handle the budget, add them to the option list!

Darn, forgot about the width.

 

[RayGuy]

Darn, forgot about the width.

Hard to tell from the pic, but it looked to me like the 11" width might by problematic. The Oberons are already on the wide side to begin with. Not even sure they will fit!

OP, how much room do you have to work with? i.e. the width of the area minus the width of the TV (assuming you can mount the TV exactly in the middle). Are these speakers supposed to service the entire area, or will there be supplemental speakers elsewhere? Besides the music aspect, are you looking to include a 5 or 7 channel surround sound system for your HT viewing? Can you accommodate some subwoofers to fill out the bass region for music and movies?

Kind of a shame that you are not interested in mounting speakers from that 20' ceiling, as that would be the perfect scenario to suspend a bunch of pendant speakers at maybe 12', allowing each one to cover a specific area of the room. This would be a nice approach to employing music for a party, as the sound could be evenly distributed throughout the room at a consistent volume. When you have speakers on one side of a room, those close to the speakers can be overwhelmed by the volume, while those folks across the room may not hear much at all, except a general din of muted and reflected sound.

If the pendant idea appeals, look at the options from Gallo Acoustics. Very high aesthetic properties, as they are small and colorful (even the wire that suspends them), and would make a nice design statement in the right room (which yours appears to be).

 

[tonyE]

How about the little Gallos?

A'Diva look good... the Stradas are very good. You could always add a subwoofer later on... but for casual listening... they also look very nice.

A'Diva | Gallo Acoustics

galloacoustics.com

 

[sleepingshaman]

Thank you for all your replies, still have to look at some of your suggestions. Not set on in walls - after reading your suggestions, it sounds like a low-profile floor speaker vs an on-wall L/C/R setup would be nice. The in-walls sounded like a nice concept, but I’m worried about the constrained space given the studs and need for a smaller setup.

We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space. We thought about a TV over the fireplace but it would seem too high IMO, and the configuration of the sectional would need to be changed from Thus the Frame to minimize the TV dominating the area (in theory).
We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space. We thought about a TV over the fireplace but it would seem too high IMO, and the configuration of the sectional would need to be changed from Thus the Frame to minimize the TV dominating the area (in theory).

The room is wired for 5.1 and there are two speakers wired above and behind at about 10ft on either side (see pic). Thus hoping this configuration would cover the area a fair amount. Definitely will have a sub. Misspoke earlier about my sub which is the Paradigm XR13. Absolutely love that beast (2200W RMS) and think it certainly can easily handle this room alone and more. I am not too concerned about blocking that window, as it looks out to my fenced-in side yard. Any suggestions for floor standing that do not take up too much footprint could be possible I guess. Considering a BDI Align or Corridor media cabinet below so the speakers could flank either side I guess.

Still… would prefer the on walls. I have not heard much about Heco but that price looks enticing. I have heard good things about Triad and will take a look at Dali as well, and they fall within the budget. Thanks for all the suggestions. Thoughts on the rear speakers would be great as well (can place on mount), likely a decent size when I play music in stereo.

Thanks again!

 

[elmoe]

Oberon has a dark gray grill. How bout Dali Rubicon LCR if he can find a deal on them? They’re white on white.

Just FYI that the Rubicon LCR grills aren't a white that matches the cabinet. The grill color is called 'Ice' if I remember correctly what it said on the packaging and is more of a light blue grey. Fortunately that matches our room colors excellently but did want to clarify that they aren't exactly white on white

 

[sigpig]

Totem Tribe speakers framing the TV.

 

[Dawn Gordon]

Thank you for all your replies, still have to look at some of your suggestions. Not set on in walls - after reading your suggestions, it sounds like a low-profile floor speaker vs an on-wall L/C/R setup would be nice. The in-walls sounded like a nice concept, but I’m worried about the constrained space given the studs and need for a smaller setup.

We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space. We thought about a TV over the fireplace but it would seem too high IMO, and the configuration of the sectional would need to be changed from Thus the Frame to minimize the TV dominating the area (in theory).
We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space. We thought about a TV over the fireplace but it would seem too high IMO, and the configuration of the sectional would need to be changed from Thus the Frame to minimize the TV dominating the area (in theory).

The room is wired for 5.1 and there are two speakers wired above and behind at about 10ft on either side (see pic). Thus hoping this configuration would cover the area a fair amount. Definitely will have a sub. Misspoke earlier about my sub which is the Paradigm XR13. Absolutely love that beast (2200W RMS) and think it certainly can easily handle this room alone and more. I am not too concerned about blocking that window, as it looks out to my fenced-in side yard. Any suggestions for floor standing that do not take up too much footprint could be possible I guess. Considering a BDI Align or Corridor media cabinet below so the speakers could flank either side I guess.

Still… would prefer the on walls. I have not heard much about Heco but that price looks enticing. I have heard good things about Triad and will take a look at Dali as well, and they fall within the budget. Thanks for all the suggestions. Thoughts on the rear speakers would be great as well (can place on mount), likely a decent size when I play music in stereo.

Thanks again!

If you need any assistance selecting Triad speakers, please let me know. I would be happy to help.

 

[Zorba922]

Thank you for all your replies, still have to look at some of your suggestions. Not set on in walls - after reading your suggestions, it sounds like a low-profile floor speaker vs an on-wall L/C/R setup would be nice. The in-walls sounded like a nice concept, but I’m worried about the constrained space given the studs and need for a smaller setup.
We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space.

Would you be able to wall mount the 65" TV instead of putting it on a cabinet? That would allow the possibility of doing 3 towers underneath, like this (you could use smaller towers of course):

Or, you could do 3 identical vertical bookshelves underneath a wall mounted TV:

 

[RayGuy]

Thank you for all your replies, still have to look at some of your suggestions. Not set on in walls - after reading your suggestions, it sounds like a low-profile floor speaker vs an on-wall L/C/R setup would be nice. The in-walls sounded like a nice concept, but I’m worried about the constrained space given the studs and need for a smaller setup.

We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space. We thought about a TV over the fireplace but it would seem too high IMO, and the configuration of the sectional would need to be changed from Thus the Frame to minimize the TV dominating the area (in theory).
We don’t really want to stray under 65” here for the TV as the couch will be about 10-11 feet away and that would be the lower limit for me for this space. We thought about a TV over the fireplace but it would seem too high IMO, and the configuration of the sectional would need to be changed from Thus the Frame to minimize the TV dominating the area (in theory).

The room is wired for 5.1 and there are two speakers wired above and behind at about 10ft on either side (see pic). Thus hoping this configuration would cover the area a fair amount. Definitely will have a sub. Misspoke earlier about my sub which is the Paradigm XR13. Absolutely love that beast (2200W RMS) and think it certainly can easily handle this room alone and more. I am not too concerned about blocking that window, as it looks out to my fenced-in side yard. Any suggestions for floor standing that do not take up too much footprint could be possible I guess. Considering a BDI Align or Corridor media cabinet below so the speakers could flank either side I guess.

Still… would prefer the on walls. I have not heard much about Heco but that price looks enticing. I have heard good things about Triad and will take a look at Dali as well, and they fall within the budget. Thanks for all the suggestions. Thoughts on the rear speakers would be great as well (can place on mount), likely a decent size when I play music in stereo.

Thanks again!

Would not recommend floorstanding speakers for this situation. Yes, the additional capacity would benefit the room size, however, they would need to be away from walls to avoid boomy bass. In this situation, the speakers will be right up against the wall(s). Better off with on-wall, to avoid these issues.

One other option occurs to me, you could use a three channel passive soundbar, attached to the bottom of the TV. If your wall bracket allows the TV to be angled to service various areas of the room, then the speaker would also face the same way. An on-wall speaker may be blocked if moving the TV. You would need a high quality soundbar for this room, something like the Totem Tribe Trio or one of the larger Legacy options.