I am very interested in the Architectural Series speakers, but have some fundamental questions that need resolving.

These speakers seem to be regarded as an asthetic choice, a "lifestyle" speaker intended to blend well with a flat-panel home theater system. It seems to me that these speakers offer significantly more than just visually matching a flat-panel display.

Don't these speakers offer a SIGNIFICANT acoustic advantage over the floor standing speakers? To clarify: regular speakers are subject to acoustic maladies if they are placed too close to a wall, or too symmetrically at a corner. Being too close to a wall causes problems not only for rear-porting but also can cause a "comb-filter" effect due to intereference between direct and wall-reflected sound.

Doesn't the in-wall/on-wall speaker eliminate these issues as a consideration? Freeing the user from these placement issues seems to be a BIG advantage if this is in fact true.

Another question: how much sound can I expect on the other side of the wall? More than a free standing speaker placed right up against the wall? That seems to be an important issue as well that I have not seen addressed.

Thanks for any thoughts on these issues!

Hi Jack. (GREAT name, by the way ) Welcome to the forum! The only forum member, of which I'm aware, that has Architectural speakers is Tharkun. Perhaps he can answer your questions. Or maybe Alan, Axiom's resident expert, will be able to help.

Regardless, if your don't receive the answers you require, I highly recommend giving Axiom a call and asking them your questions. They are very nice people and very helpful. They will not hype you into anything you neither need nor want. Their primary goal is a satisfied customer, NOT a quick sale. The cost of the call would be money well spent.

I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous, so I'll be happy to offer my opinions and lead you astray. While the Architectural series might well eliminate the problems caused by placing bookshelf or floor-standing speakers too close, or too symmetrical, to walls, I would think they would still be subject to the same reflections from nearby surfaces (side walls, ceilings, furnishings, etc.) And, being a permanent installation, they have the disadvantage of their placement not being adjustable.

Interesting question about how much sound you'd be able to hear on the other side of the wall. Understanding a bit about the nature of sound, I would assume that with an installed wall speaker, there would certainly be some audible sound in the next room. But, since the rear of an Architectural series speaker is enclosed, I suspect sound transferal would be minimal to next to nothing. Tharkun has his W3s on an outside wall, I believe, so I don't know if he'll be able to answer this particular question.

To me, the big advantage of the Architectural series is they provide the clean look and unobtrusive placement of in-walls, i.e. no large boxes taking up floor space (which, though some mind, I personally don't), without the compromise in sound that most in-walls have.

Jack (Ajax) is correct, I have a pair of the W3s installed on an exterior wall and I'm very happy with them. I would also agree with giving Axiom a call, they will be able to answer your questions better than I can.

Hello JackT,

Actually, regular bookshelf-size compact speakers are not nearly as subject too boundary effects as floorstanding speakers mainly because they do not produce deep bass. So long as a rear-mounted vent or port has an inch or two space from the wall behind, that's enough. (This is assuming you don't abuse the placement versatility of compacts by putting them into cubby holes, entertainment centers or recessed into shelving units.)

So, yes, Axiom's in-wall hybrids do have the same acoustical advantages as compact bookshelf speakers, although the reason we used the protruding panel was to keep the drivers away from the interference effects that the wall would introduce if they were completely flush with the wall surface. It's the latter that make a lot of competitive in-walls so colored and mediocre sounding.

The self-contained ported enclosure (the ports fire down from the protruding portion) also minimizes any transfer of acoustic energy to the wall on the other side and lets us design a fully controlled ported system that isn't dictated by the wall cavity.

Regards,