Hidden HT - 04/08/10 11:59 AM
Just thought I would share a brief experience I had last weekend. I was in an AV store getting a new phone set up for my Mother In Law, and the owner was demoing some 'hidden-in-wall' speakers on either side of a wall mounted LCD TV that had a mirrored screen when it wasn't turned on. It was made to be disguised as a mirror above a fireplace.
He was describing how he did the blending of the seam filler himself and that it wasn't a perfect job but I had to admit that from where I was, about 10 feet back, I saw only a painted wall. The customer stared closely at the wall and said he could not spot anything but wall.
I have to admit, despite my brain thinking that it would have to sound muffled in some way, it sounded very good. He was playing a BR of a Dave Matthewish type band that I didn't recognize. The singer was extremely clear and the strings and horns really stood out, as did the symbol work on the drums. It really caught your attention.
I would be very curious to hear other bands or types of music before I'm completely convinced though. Either the band lacked a deep bass or even a lower midrange sound or it was not coming through the system as strong as the ear catching highs. While I'm sure the music was strategically picked to catch your attention, I was very pleasantly surprised.
I was totally curious but would have been in big trouble had I abandoned my wife with the phone salesman to go talk with the sound demo crowd. I really wanted to ask him how much of the sound was a result of some serious EQ tuning or were the speakers that well designed for hidden-in-wall usage?
In short, I'm still not 100% convinced because I needed to hear more material but I was indeed very pleasantly surprised as I expected the worst and what I heard, even without evidence of a strong lower range, was better than your average big box store system for sure.
Of course, between the mirror screened TV, the hidden-in-wall speakers, the price tag was 10 grand. The owner conveniently happened to mention the price just as my wife asked, "How come we didn't do something like that?" Question answered.
He was describing how he did the blending of the seam filler himself and that it wasn't a perfect job but I had to admit that from where I was, about 10 feet back, I saw only a painted wall. The customer stared closely at the wall and said he could not spot anything but wall.
I have to admit, despite my brain thinking that it would have to sound muffled in some way, it sounded very good. He was playing a BR of a Dave Matthewish type band that I didn't recognize. The singer was extremely clear and the strings and horns really stood out, as did the symbol work on the drums. It really caught your attention.
I would be very curious to hear other bands or types of music before I'm completely convinced though. Either the band lacked a deep bass or even a lower midrange sound or it was not coming through the system as strong as the ear catching highs. While I'm sure the music was strategically picked to catch your attention, I was very pleasantly surprised.
I was totally curious but would have been in big trouble had I abandoned my wife with the phone salesman to go talk with the sound demo crowd. I really wanted to ask him how much of the sound was a result of some serious EQ tuning or were the speakers that well designed for hidden-in-wall usage?
In short, I'm still not 100% convinced because I needed to hear more material but I was indeed very pleasantly surprised as I expected the worst and what I heard, even without evidence of a strong lower range, was better than your average big box store system for sure.
Of course, between the mirror screened TV, the hidden-in-wall speakers, the price tag was 10 grand. The owner conveniently happened to mention the price just as my wife asked, "How come we didn't do something like that?" Question answered.