Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler In Wall Speakers..

To the great minds at Axiom, Good Morning..
Seems I recall hearing about a line of In-Wall speakers being designed ? True ? If so, how's it going ?? Any updates you can let us in on ? Time frame ?
Owning four QS8's, I have just a couple thoughts on the matter..
I love the sound of my QS8's, but they are a bit bulky looking.. They have a nice look, but in my room I would prefer a little more subdued appearance.. Somthing that would not compete for attention with the pictures and art already in the room..
That being said, there is also no need to make the wall mounted type speakers fit flush with the wall.. Doing so I would imagine limits the amount of space your designers have to work with, and looks too commercial.. Let it protrude into the room an inch or two.. No prob.. From the room side, it would appear like a slim line speaker, would not look any different than a picture frame, and would allow you more freedom with the design and speaker arrangement..
All the inwall set ups I have seen to this point make them flush fitting, with flat metal speaker grills.. Don't know if I'm along here, but I really don't care for that look.. (God, am I picky or what ?? Sorry)
One last thought, would your design team be considering the use of the space above and below the inwall speaker ? That would be 'inside' the wall, between the studs.. Nothing but some insulation in there.. Great place to gain more inclosure volume ? Shoot, I would have no problem with removing drywall to add a larger (vertical) inwall unit if the finish design called for it.. The bulk of the box could be flush with the studs, and covered back over with new dry wall, leaveing only the needed speaker opening.. That opening, nicely framed, allowing the speakers to be exposed to the room. Hense, a large volume speaker inclosure, with minimal encroachment upon the room proper..
Does any of this make sence ? I hope so..
You know, this Slim Line look would work (and look great) for the mains and center with the new flat screens t/v's.. Big speaker boxes are a problem with small rooms (dens, bedrooms, etc).. Something that utilized the space within the walls would be great match up with the new flat screen age of home entertainment ?
Would love to hear your thoughts and comments on all this..

In reply to:

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All the inwall set ups I have seen to this point make them flush fitting, with flat metal speaker grills.. Don't know if I'm along here, but I really don't care for that look.. (God, am I picky or what ?? Sorry)

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You've got at least one person in agreement with you, me.

Interesting idea Mikey, however, I would want to use 3/4" MDF first then cover it with drywall. Maybe we can get Axiom to start selling raw drivers and crossovers. I can see it now...entire wall array speakers. The possibilities are endless. You could take a M60-M80 remove the speakers, insert them into the MDF in the wall, but...that is a formula for disaster in many ways, error would be costly. Now if you made the boxes first, then inserted them into the wall...that might work.

Exactly, that's what I was trying to say.. A pre-made box Axiom would design, that fits between standard 16 inch on center framing.. The box could be of most any volume, running up and/or down within the wall between the studs.. The actual open into the room could be of a size and shape that would allow proper placement of the speakers and tweeters, and at the same time be appealing in apperance..
At first, I was just thinking about the surrounds, which would not require much in the way of cabinet volume.. But I now believe this would work for mains and centers as well..
Sure, a few things to work out, such as an ability to toe in the mains, but nothing that could not we overcome in the design.. And yes, you WOULD have to be SURE of the placement within the wall, as you would have a tuff time moving them a little to the left or right :-) But some basic standards could be applied to give an overall 'best' placement ?
Remember, this is more for smaller rooms anyway, or where space on the floor is at a premium.. There is almost always a trade off factor to be realized in most home projects, right ? I think this concept on the whole has some great potential.. But then, who am I ? Just some nut thats been playing his stereo way too loud for way to long.. Gotta love it...

You know some corner units might work without even having to cut your walls? And one to fit in the corner of your ceiling and wall in the front? It would have to be like a line array, but I've heard great things about them. You know all sound to this point is basically 2-Dimensional, why not put in drop ceiling and hang some say...M2i's overhead and now when a plane fly's overhead you can actually hear it going over you. And maybe a footstool with some speakers pointed upwards to give you a bottom effect channel too. This could be the next Dolby 11.1!!! Truly 3-dimensional sound.

10.2 has been in development for a little while. However, I don't believe it includes a third dimension so it's all still 2D sound (makes me want to strangle people when I hear claims to 3D sound on advertisements regarding 5.1).

http://www.techtv.com/print/story/0,23102,3307106,00.html

Semi On

wasn't it THX labs that were developing a 10.2? Personally, I think the idea of 10 speakers might be overkill. However, the idea of two subs is not.

Sort of. The famous CES demo was by THM, whose president is Tomlinson Holman, the 'T' and 'H' in "THX". I'm sure he's got people at THX doing it too.