which do think is better?

[MJC]

There seems to be two schools of thought for speaker placement.
Then again it could be the difference between multi-channel and stereo.
The first one is setting speakers in-wall, as when Synthesis dealers use SYNTHESIS FOUR system's S4VC (http://www.jblsynthesis.com/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=S4VC&Language=ENG&Country=US&Region=USA). The thought is that the speakers will disappear (not being able to localize), completely surrounding you with sound that seems to come from everywhere.

The second is that walls never did speakers any good, and the farther away from walls the speakers can be placed the better.

For the second, I can think back two years ago, when I checked out a speaker system that was designed by a local(Reno) electrical engineer. The speakers were of the MTM design, that had a baffle that was recessed across the center, horizontally, for the tweeter.
He had this stereo pair setup in a very large room on the second floor of his plant. They were set at least 12~15 ft out from the wall behind them and about the same from the side walls.
The resulting soundstage was at least as deep as the speakers were from the back wall.
He called his crossover design group delayed, in which every component used was tested to make sure they were in spec and he had pre-determined what the lenghts of each piece of wire in the crossovers had to be and cut them to the exact lengths.
I don't remember what brand of amp he had. But I'm assuming that the resulting soundstage was a product of speaker design, amp and the distances away from the wall.
I can't think of any other system that I've heard, that produced a soundstage with so much depth.
For my own experience, in my homes, is to get as much space as possible between the speakers and walls. And I've never used in-wall speakers at all.

[Zilch]

2 Pi vs. 4Pi, the systems have to be designed specifically for each. L212 had a problem as a consequence:

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/perspectives/smith.htm

Boundaries matter, and getting the in-room reflections right has been studied extensively and documented by Toole et. al. at Harman:

http://www.harman.com/about_harman/technology_leadership.aspx

See also the June 2006 AES Journal.

Conclusion: the brain integrates reflections well, and they are an essential component of ambience, if you want that.

In-wall has dispersion and directivity, too. Gotta choose and place it accordingly, i.e., with intelligence.

[It's kinda hard to move around.... :p ]

[MJC]

On page 5 of "part one, how many speakers, what kind, where" no truer words have ever been written.
"Inadequate tiny surround speakers can be impressive if one is easily impressed...Good in-wall speakers exist, but are not inexpensive. Ceiling speakers are for background music systems. Ceiling speakers should never be used for front channels."

I've lost count of the number of houses on 30~40 housing tracts I've worked on the last 2+ years where the " HT " area had ceiling speakers for the fronts. And to make matters worse, in some cases, the three were not symetrical to where the screen was to be placed, because there was a fireplace right next to the TV "recess" in the wall.
The people buying the house have to be totally clueless to pay the builder, to then pay the subcontractor to install a system that is way inferior, and much more expensive, than if they were to purchase a system from a HT store after they move in.
Then these same people get on one forum or another crying, "what should I do, my front, in-ceiling speakers don't sound very good, when I sit down to watch a movie."

[Titanium Dome]

They should get a flat panel TV, put the damn thing in the ceiling, and lie on the floor. Dumbasses. :moon:

[Chas]

They should get a flat panel TV, put the damn thing in the ceiling, and lie on the floor. Dumbasses. :moon:


Geez Dome, you're too funny....:applaud:

[MJC]

They should get a flat panel TV, put the damn thing in the ceiling, and lie on the floor. Dumbasses. :moon:
They get the idea, on some tracts, from the model homes. One tract was using JBL in-ceiling speakers with the three spread across the width of the room, evenly spaced. But the tv recess in the wall was toward the left or right side of the room. The fireplace is dead center of the wall.
Oh ya, that's what I want, a fireplace lit on a cold winter's night, right next to my 65" screen. Do you know how some architects must spell their names? Dorks