# In wall speakers or floor standing



## Dream Theater (Sep 14, 2014)

I am considering in wall speakers for my theater room. I have seen many great in wall speakers that sound amazing, but I'm still skeptical. Are floor standing or on wall still superior? I'm looking for experience with or opinions on in wall speakers.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Floor standing speakers properly placed in the room will always sound better than the same speakers mounted on or in wall. That said, for my theater, I am perfectly happy with the in wall speakers that I have in my 5.1 setup. For stereo listening where imaging and soundstage are more important I use floor standing speakers and they get pulled well out into the room. 

My opinion is that for a theater it is more important to have matched speakers all around.


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## rambocommando (Aug 28, 2014)

Something else to remember is that with in-walls you generally won't have the speakers toed in at all. Which can affect the stereo effect if you are sitting off the center axis. Most people probably won't notice it while watching a movie, but its something to consider if you listen to a lot of music.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Short answer? Floor standers. 
In walls face too many compromises. I personally don't like them a lot, but for movies only. Maybe. 
Towers offer flexibility, that you can't get being mounted in a wall. Unless you have a specific reason,I would not buy in wall. I have installed a few sets, and I do have a room with some in it, so I do have experience. 
Fwiw, many people do like them. As Leonard mentioned above. I can't argue with another's opinion or experience.


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

rambocommando said:


> Something else to remember is that with in-walls you generally won't have the speakers toed in at all. Which can affect the stereo effect if you are sitting off the center axis. Most people probably won't notice it while watching a movie, but its something to consider if you listen to a lot of music.


That's an excellent point and one I was also going to suggest, for me personally I've never had a speaker that I didn't toe in at least a little. Otherwise they just could "off" a little to me and I'm not happy with the soundstage if there isn't at least a little toe in.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I have heard a lot of great in-wall systems but they were all from just a few manufacturers, all set up for home theater and all a bit more expensive than most people would consider spending on speakers. I really like big floor standers myself. As for which are superior, depends a lot on budget. Generally, for the money, you will get much more bang for the buck out of in-room speakers vs. on-wall, in-wall or in-ceiling. Don't discount a good in-wall speaker though, with proper planning and installation they can be fantastic.


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## gazoink (Apr 17, 2013)

rambocommando said:


> Something else to remember is that with in-walls you generally won't have the speakers toed in at all. Which can affect the stereo effect if you are sitting off the center axis. Most people probably won't notice it while watching a movie, but its something to consider if you listen to a lot of music.


THis is very true with many in-walls, but not all. Some have been designed such that toe-in isn't necessary within a certain spacing between them, others have been designed with adjustable tweeters that can be set for toe-in. But this issue also has to take into account how far apart the speakers are, which is probably affected by screen size, so it's not so easy to just say toe-in is or isn't a big problem, it's situational.

It's easier to get higher quality sound from floor-standing speakers, but there are some in-walls that are also excellent. I've built invisible system with in-walls, and visible huge-speaker systems. There's something very appealing about a very clean "stage" without a lot of big gear around. If done well, and that does mean some money will have to be spent, in-walls can rival floor standers. It's just that some people pick in-walls to save money as well as space, and compromise sound in doing so. 

An example of a first class in-wall LCR would be the M&K Sound IW-150, which is the in-wall version of their ubiquitous S-150II speaker found as a reference monitor in film production. They're good, and yes, $1300 each list.


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