Indeed they do - what I’m seeking is anyone’s experiences with them, or any other speakers, designed for that or not, flush mounted as their stereo music system speakers.
I live in a house where previous owner, an audiophile, was a Klipsch fan and he has a couple of Klipsch in-wall mounted. That said, I don’t really like their sound signature. After fiddling with them several times, I gave up and left them alone and stuck to my traditional floor standing speakers running only two channels, preferring to fill the room with music over using in-walls as additional channels or as separate system.
Because they are not in their own housing but have infinite baffle using wall and ceiling cavity, I think there is a lot of reliance on mount quality and wall materials. Wall and cavity effective becomes part of the instrument. There is no chance of repositioning and mucking around with cables or even just cleaning the connects. Also, when the volume is turned up, there can be fair sound leak outside the house via ventilation vents. Not that any of my neighbours have complained.
Genelec are near field monitors and usually recommended to be positioned very close to front wall. I am not yet a convert for flush mounted / in-wall speakers, thought it is usually AV enthusiasts who would be into it for better aesthetics. As much as I love the sweet spot, I do want a decent experience even if I move about a little.
My speakers are about 50cm off the wall and toed in slightly.
Not sure if you could go the DIY route but I think I read on one of Troels Gravesen’s pages that his open baffle design could be used “in wall”. Might be worth messaging him to find out. Would be an amazing sounding speaker.
Thanks for the thought. Open baffle can certainly work well in-wall / but only if the rear is open: i.e. the wall is the baffle, and rear of drivers is open to a room behind. That was the original “infinite baffle” idea, and the effect would be better than any of the freestanding open baffle designs because there would be no cancellations from the rear radiation. Interesting thought, because in the room I am designing around at the moment there is excess length that I was thinking of using as a small office, and is probably of sufficient size, but other considerations may over-rule.
If my understanding is correct, the sound is better over a larger area with flush mounted speakers because the comb filtering from front wall reflections is completely eliminated. That is one of the benefits I’d like.
Interesting that you mention Genelec, as they are one of the proponents of flush mounting, and one of the few sources of guidance on so doing (e.g. the second of the two links in my original post).
Thanks for your observations - the Klipsch example you cited is certainly not what I’m considering!
IB, that’s what I am referring to - your 2nd attachment, and I have read similar literatures from Genelec as well. I definitely need to do some reading about comb filter. Thanks!
Someone on the Audiogon forum by username “Shardone” did that with ATC SCM100A speakers. You can do a search and the photos of his system are posted in his profile.
I believe there are a few custom install companies around. Having a bass driver towards the floor, a midrange further up and a tweeter above ear height fixed through the wall - rather than a baffle as such.
I would guess they operate as a mixed bag. Having come round to look and measure the room and discuss any options then contracting others to help fabricate it up.
I would investigate this rather than considering it a diy job, myself.
Thanks, Ryder
Indeed such things are possible and done - and a similar approach would be to do a full diy wall speaker build - however I wasn’t considering that sort of approach, which is rather different from flush mounting a constructed speaker of known/proven capability and sound.
The problem is that a pre constructed speaker will have a crossover designed to work on a cabinet front panel of those dimensions. I’d say it’s a safe bet to assume that flush mounting a speaker that is intended to work as a free standing speaker would impact sound. Reflections have a huge impact. I have experienced this first hand after cutting tweeter holes in the wrong place on an old speaker build. Quite a dramatic effect on imaging. And that was only 5 cm difference.
Apologies if I have misunderstood what you want to do.
No you haven’t misunderstood. And for myself, trying to understand what negatives there may be is precisely what I am doing, so observations such as yours are most welcome (thanks!) giving me things to look into and work out if a problem (or better still learn from others’ experiences). The main effect of mounting in this way is bass shelving, rising above a certain frequency - but of all things that is easily corrected, and with the added resultant benefit of increased bass headroom. Narrow speakers in particular, like, say, PMC Fact 12 might be most affected at higher frequencies compared to freestanding.
Interestingly the big ATCs E.g. SCM 100 and upwards are used professionally both freestanding and flush mounted - I presume the latter with DSP to correct the bass lift. Interestingly some of the ATC specs indicate greater bass extension “soffit mounted”. The big PMCs likewise are used both freestanding and flush. (As are other generally ‘pro’ brands like Genelec and Quested.)
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