[TF1216]

Does anyone have experience with in-wall speakers?  The rear of the speakers will be in an attic space?  A few inches of spray insulation will be sprayed on the rear of the speaker. 

The speakers are meant for background music only.  The room is large with vaulted ceilings.  The speaker will be mounted, angled down, in the vaulted ceiling.

Any installation advice or product suggestions?

Thanks! 

[tvyankee]

Hello. 

Triad is a very t one. There are  a lot of good  ones but one thing u should do is use back boxes . This is really a big help and I think it makes the speakers sound a little better.  .

[gregfisk]

I own an alarm company and we also do non audiophile whole house audio and surround sound systems. Typical rules follow regarding a triangle between the speakers and your listening space. If you haven't put up sheetrock yet I suggest you get preconstruction rings and have the sheet rock guys rotozip the holes for you. This is much easier than cutting them later especially with the blown in insulation.

Also something to think about is how high your speakers will be mounted, the higher off the ground the wider the area they will cover. Just remember when they are mounted on the ceiling the tweeter is basically pointing at the floor, of course with an angled ceiling that improves a bit.

We pretty much just do round in ceiling speakers and not in wall. I don't suggest using rectangle in wall speakers as they don't look as nice and in order to get them at ear level you take up your picture walls

We use Proficient (proficientaudio.com) as they are pretty good for back ground music, have a large selection and are a good value for the money. You have many to choose from, Kef and Klipsch just to name a couple. 

If you have more questions feel free to PM me, I'm happy to help if I can.

Greg

[richidoo]

If you mean icynene spray foam insulation then you'll want sealed back type speakers, and install the rear boxes before insulation. Sealed box type usually sound better anyway.

[TF1216]

Thank you for replying gentlemen.  I am going to call Proficient Audio to see what they recommend.

[TF1216]

Anyone ever make speaker grills like this before?  I love this look.

[gregfisk]

Anyone ever make speaker grills like this before?  I love this look.

All of the speakers and grills can be painted. Usually you would paint the speakers and the grills separately. You can mount the speakers first and paint them in place or paint them first and then mount them. For the grills paint them separately and then use a compressor to blow out the grill holes. You can also do this in place as most speakers come with a cardboard insert to cover the drivers but then you have to remove them to take out the cardboard. I have also seen painters match grain and textures like your picture but you still need to deal with the grill holes getting plugged.

Regarding back box's most of the in wall and in ceiling speakers are designed for open baffle use and don't want or need a back box. If the insulation is some type of solid spray on product you will want to cover the backs or install them after as the speakers are open in the back.

Greg

[youravhandyman]

A note on painting the speaker covers, including Proficient.  Many have a fabric on the back side of the metal mesh that MUST be removed before painting and then can be reapplied with a light spray glue after painting.  Everything else about the above process from Greg is correct.  Something to note is that because of the actual holes in the metal cover there is a shadow created.  So even when you spray the grills with the same color paint as the ceiling/walls it will always seem a few shades darker than the surrounding paint due to shadow.  The new speaker company Origin Acoustics claims that they have a new grill material that limits this effect but they will be a good piece more expensive.  So the question is if the WAF is more important than the money.  If not, I agree the Proficient Audio speakers are a good selection.
Proficient makes a back box designed for their in ceiling speakers and like others in this thread have suggested I agree you should invest in them.  They are metal, fire rated and insulated so they will work very well for you.

Matt

[tvyankee]

Hold on.  Proficient is ok and I am not knocking them. But just be aware they are not that great as far as audiophile in wall/ ceiling speakers go. If this is just back ground music and not looking for great sound quality then yes they are fine . But if you are looking to get some serious sound then there are some good ones out there.  Triad / leon/ bw/jbl/yamaha. To name a few. I hope you Find what you want. 

[youravhandyman]

I never would have called Proficient "audiophile" grade either.  Was pretty sure that the request was for background music only so I agreed with the previous suggestion.   

Youravhandyman

[gregfisk]

Hold on.  Proficient is ok and I am not knocking them. But just be aware they are not that great as far as audiophile in wall/ ceiling speakers go. If this is just back ground music and not looking for great sound quality then yes they are fine . But if you are looking to get some serious sound then there are some good ones out there.  Triad / leon/ bw/jbl/yamaha. To name a few. I hope you Find what you want. 

tf121682 stated that "quote: The speakers are meant for background music only". Yes, there are many speakers that are more audiophile which I named a couple myself but the proficient speakers are very high value for the dollar and sound pretty darn good for background music. Plus they have several performance levels so you can spend as little or as much as you like. They also just came out with new models which are as flush as any speaker available so they look really good too.