In-wall speakers upgrade recommendation

[f1shb0n3]

I'm currently using Polk Audio RC85i in-wall speakers in my living room together with RC80i in-ceiling surround/height and 255c-RT center.
I never liked how music sounds in my living room. Recently tried out Polk Audio TSi300 towers and even though they are cheap low-end they sounded much better for music and filled the room with more consistent sound. Eventually I realized that one of my main issues with the sound was that I was playing music in Dolby Surround mode with completely screws up the sound stage and makes sound behind the rear surrounds (kitchen area) totally horrible as you hear a mixture of fronts and surround effects. Switching to Stereo only for music was a huge improvement even with my current in-walls.

Considering WAF and limited space, I'm giving up on towers as an option and considering upgrading my front in-walls to something that might sound better with the goal of improving stereo music listening. I could not find any good information on in-wall speaker performance that would inform my decision so I'm a bit stuck.
Prefer something that can be driven by my Onkyo TX-NR656 receiver (100W per channel at 8 ohms).

I've selected a short-list of models that look appealing ordered by price:
- Klipsch R-5800-W II - $600/pair, 1" horn tweeter, 8" woofer, 94dB sensitivity
- Revel W383 - $700/pair, 1" aluminum tweeter, 8" woofer, 89 dB sensitivity
- Revel W583 - $900/pair, 1" aluminum tweeter, 8" woofer, 89 dB sensitivity
- Revel W783 - $1200/pair, 1" aluminum tweeter, 8" woofer, 89 dB sensitivity

Should I expect a significant improvement in sound with a more expensive in-walls, how should I pick which one of these would be a good option? I'd appreciate if you have other recommendations too.

 

[f1shb0n3]

Did the most extensive research possible with the very limited information on the web about these and ordered Revel W383 in-walls.

My reasoning:
- Crutchfield has a great speaker comparison feature where you can compare speakers by their sound signature by listening to sample tracks. I understand the limitations of that, but definitely could hear Klipsch being way too bright and Revels much more balanced. My current Polk Audio RC85i sounded as bad as it does in real life.
- Revel is the only company who provides spinorama measurements for all their speakers and an established audio engineering leader, well-regarded in this community too. W383 spinorama looks good to me and not much different than W583 and W783: https://speakerdata2034.blogspot.com/2019/06/revel-in-wall-speakers-spinorama-data.html
- W583 and W783 only provide in addition bass/treble correction switches which I can do myself using Onkyo's EQ.
- W583 and W783 require a bit more power based on published specs: 10-125W recommended for W383, 10-135W for W583, 10-150W for W783 while I have only 100W and not planning a receiver upgrade anytime soon.

Once I receive them I'll perform some REW measurements of old vs new speakers and publish an update along with my subjective impressions.

 

[sweetchaos]

Until we have more in-wall or in-ceiling measurements, we can only look at Revel as the logical choice. Revels are certainly not budget friendly, but you really can’t go wrong with them. Excellent choice with Revel W383. I’m sure they will be magical. Can’t wait for your impressions.

 

[sweetchaos]

You’re from Seattle area? Please get these to Amir.

 

[f1shb0n3]

You’re from Seattle area? Please get these to Amir.

I'd be happy to if he is willing to test them! I don't find any in-wall speaker review and measurements in the forum, hope it is possible to do at all. In-walls interact with the wall cavity behind them so direct measurement might not be valid. I'll message him to ask.

 

[Jmcturnan]

I'd be happy to if he is willing to test them! I don't find any in-wall speaker review and measurements in the forum, hope it is possible to do at all. In-walls interact with the wall cavity behind them so direct measurement might not be valid. I'll message him to ask.

Hi! Curious to hear how the Revel W383's are working out for you. I am close to making the same purchase.

 

[f1shb0n3]

Hi! Curious to hear how the Revel W383's are working out for you. I am close to making the same purchase.

Revel W383 is working great for me in the living room. The upgrade from Polk RC85i was worth it for a nice improvement in sound.

In-walls are generally a tradeoff of sound quality for WAF, so if getting in-walls get the best ones you can afford to compensate. Unfortunately the in-wall speaker testing methodology is not very well established as you've seen in Amir's recent reviews so you will have to trust someone to do their in-wall speaker design properly. Harman/Revel have a good track record in that so should be a safe choice.

 

[radix]

I'm looking for some in-wall height spekers, and I see the Revel Wx83 series has an aimable tweeter. Do you know how far down it can point, like 20*-30*? I wonder what that does to horizontal dispersion.

 

[f1shb0n3]

Not sure about degrees, but my speaker is highest on 9ft wall and I felt I can aim it well down towards my listening position at the sofa that's 18ft away.
Aiming will affect dispersion for sure, but the tweeter in general disperses more narrowly than the bass driver so aiming will help with the higher frequencies.

 

[radix]

Not sure about degrees, but my speaker is highest on 9ft wall and I felt I can aim it well down towards my listening position at the sofa that's 18ft away.
Aiming will affect dispersion for sure, but the tweeter in general disperses more narrowly than the bass driver so aiming will help with the higher frequencies.

If your 9' is floor to ceiling, then you have maybe 6' ear to ceiling vertical and 18' horizontal is about 18-19*.
Ok. In my space it's more like 5' up and 11' away, about 25*.

Do you feel like there's a bit more play in the tweeter from where you have it? I bet it would be OK, even if that's about the extent of it, it's not like its a laser beam.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[f1shb0n3]

Don't really want to haul a ladder and check, but I wouldn’t worry about that much. Even if it’s not directly pointed at listener, rotating tweeter will still help get better treble dispersion.