Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M60 speakers behind screen recessed into wall

I am building a recess into a wall that may be as big as two feet to house M60's and VP150. This is to incorporate an acoustic screen as I need the space for the largest screen the room will handle. I can build the wall out further for the screen if I have to but would prefer to keep the room size as large as possible too. I noticed the M60's are ported in the rear. How close can they sit to a wall without hurting sound quality?

It varies from room to room, and is no different than m80's or other ported speakers. You will have to experiment, but I would say you should allow at least 6-8" behind the speaker. Also, I would consider that you may upgrade some day, and you don't want to restrict yourself if you get M80's or other speakers.

Keep in mind the BIGGEST screen is not always best, it depends on how far your viewers will sit back from the screen. My screen is a 2.35 aspect ratio and 120" wide, people in the front row, 13ft back, often say that fast action movies are hard to follow as your eyes dart back and forth. Make sure you think about everything...

Maybe it would be better to not use a transparent screen, is there a reason you want to hide the speakers. It may be just me, but I don't want to hide something that you pay that much for and looks that nice. Have you considered the M60 cabinet speakers?

Yeah here is the problem. I have an 8 foot ceiling with a support beam running right above where the screen will mount. The screen size will probably be 100". I have 93" now and would be happier with slightly more. If I run the center channel under the screen it will be a bit low for optimal listening position and i worry that the second row will not get the best sound possible. I also would like to be able to mess with the angle of the speakers from time to time to ensure i am happy with the sound quality in the room.... This kind of rules out the on walls and in cabinet speakers as they need to be mounted. The wife is not particularly happy with the size of the M60's so placing them behind the screen solves that problem for me. The plan kind of incorporates a number of concerns and concessions......

Why not get a 2.35 screen since most movies are in that format, then you won't get black bars on the top and bottom. Since the height of the screen won't be as tall as a 16:9 screen, you could get a wider screen that would work better with your 8ft ceilings, and allow the center to be higher.

The Panny 3000 and 4000 have a built in technology that will adjust the picture for 2.35 movies and 16:9 movies. This way you get a "true" feeling like being in the movie theaters for cinemascope movies. When watching 1.85 movies, or HD tv, you would have some black bars on the side, but still get the full height. Much less distracting, and easier to mask off with curtains or whatever, if you want.

Hi!



I really have nothing to add, but I didn't want this to just be an Aspicer1/Sirquack thread. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I will add that I have my M80's 19 inches from the back of the speaker out from the wall. Closer than that they started sounding a bit too boomy for me. Further out and they started to lose some of thier slam. I do know the 60's have the same two woofers as the 80's so they may present the same challenges. But I don't really know the best spacing for 60's. And it is all room related as quacky said.

In addition to Micah's response, the spacing between my wall and back of my m80's is about 12" now. I also have super chunk bass traps and first reflection zone panels..

What are super chunk bass traps and first reflection zone panels?

If the rear port is causing you concern maybe try the M60 in wall, as the port in on the front and you could build your own case to house them in. It won't need to be fancy as the speaker will be behind the screen.

Bass Traps treat corners of rooms, including wall/floor and wall/ceiling, if done correctly. Bass traps are panels that straddle the corners, just like in recording studios, as bass collects in corners, which skews the overall frequency response in a room. Many think this only applies to recording studios, which is untrue, the same applies to home applications. Superchunks are the same material, but they fill the corner from floor to ceiling versus panels stradleing the corners. First reflection panels are acoustic panels that are placed in the "first reflection" points on your walls/ceilings. This helps tame the non-directional sound coming from the speaker, so the sound is not skewed and more tight/detailed.

Think about when you clap your hands loud in a room with bare walls and floors, you hear terrible echos. With treatments, you don't.

We could all use a little treatment.....