Re: Use and why someone would care about in-wall speakers. Here's my
personal take.
I have a decent sized bonus room above my garage that I made into a home theater. Video below, if you are interested. As part of the project, I built out a false wall about 3 feet off the front wall and I placed JBL Pro speakers into the wall, then used my miniDSP to design the speaker network (baffle step, EQ, crossover). I use an acoustically transparent screen over the speakers and covered the entire wall in wedge foam and black grille cloth. The one thing I
love about this setup is that you walk in and you don't see speakers. Not to mention I have identical L/C/R. But, honestly, the fact that there are no speakers visible - sitting to the side or below the screen - is my
absolute favorite part. Something about not seeing the speakers puts the experience on a higher level. Psychoacoustics can be fun.
I'm approaching the 5 year mark with this setup and I've been considering changing things up for a variety of reasons (none of which matter in the context of this thread so I won't get into it here). One thing is I would like to get "back" that 3 feet of wall space. I could rebuild the baffle wall to be more shallow but a good set of in-wall speakers just makes more sense to me for various reasons. So, that's why I'm strongly considering them as an option.
The thing is, I naturally worry about giving up performance ... coming from a DIY 15-inch woofer and 2-inch compression driver/horn with a rated sensitivity ~100dB @ 1w/1m... Well, I don't want to just put "any old" in-wall speaker in to replace that. I know I'll give some things up so I'd like to minimize the compromise as best I can. That's why I was interested, specifically, in the JBL Synthesis lineup. After reaching out to Audio Advice and working out a loaner system through them, this was the very first thing I asked to borrow. And that's how we got to this review.
Having now seen these results I can safely say the SCL-6 is a superb in-wall speaker and one that is worthy of anyone's consideration. The ERDI is incredibly smooth. The output capability seems quite good and, when coupled with a subwoofer (as one would do for a home theater), should be adequate. Though, I will continue to look at other options just to make sure I cover my bases. I don't know if I will actually change things or not. Time and money are of limited availability for me at this point in my life; especially with all the reviews I generate and the money I spend acquiring gear to test and on materials, Klippel costs, etc. But for me to feel confident with any move toward an overhaul, I have to have the data to make an educated decision. That's what I'm working toward.
us.kef.com
