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Sorry about that, edit was unintentional.
Yeah I think I'm getting confused by the model numbers on the in-walls. Going to have to look at it again more carefully when I have a moment.
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KEF Ci3160RLM-THX In-Wall Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Yeah I think I'm getting confused by the model numbers on the in-walls. Going to have to look at it again more carefully when I have a moment.
Thank you so much Amir, I am planning to transform a room into a home theater 9.4.6 and have been looking for good in walls I can now stop looking.
Now I just need to find a dealer willing to negotiate on the price!
Looking at doing this in a dedicated room
3 - KEF CI5160RLM-THX
6 - KEF Ci3160RLM-THX
6 - KEF Ci250RRM-THX
Which other do you know off? Please share the information on which in walls measure as well
Why doesn’t KEF provides enclosures as an option!
Very nice thank you for sharing
Cool open baffles option
hollis
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This is very similar to what I am doing..
6 5160RLM (L/R, Surrounds/Backs
4 3160RLM (front wide and dual center)
4 or 6 CI250RRM suspended in custom enclosures
Room should be done mid January.
Looking forward to seeing your pictures
Mock up… Made some changes since this one but here is the general idea..
Not shown…
Will be building 4 cylinder shaped enclosures to suspend from vaulted ceiling
There will be front wide speakers between the surround and display, column angled 30 deg
L/R will be a bit higher than shown
Decided to angle top center down 15deg/bottom center up 10 deg
Decided to angle in L/R 15 deg to get main row of 4 all within 20 deg dispersion of left/right
4 subs in speaker structure are Perlisten in wall
Couple of things about the project..
-all speakers built in wall/columns/enclosures to be as hidden/part of the room as possible, hitting ideal volumes except for tops which will be a bit less
-No visible electronics, all will be in equipment room behind the videowall
-Videowall is a microled 119”x54” (2.22 AR) hence the choice for top/bottom center which I had done in a previous room and liked the results quite a bit
-I have ordered 6 CI250RRM but may opt for 4 tops. Most likely this will be a 9.1.4 with 4 subs on front wall and 2 centers
-The CI5160RLM is basically a non ported R11 Meta which I would consider a nearly full range speaker. The reason for all the 5160RLM is the system is designed to fully take advantage of Dirac ART. No room for subs in other locations than the front wall. So this is our main living room/media room. After 30 years of a basement HT, moved to new home and decided to do it all in 1 room rather than a dedicated space. Can’t wait until it is done! Speaker choice was between Revel in wall (Be series) or KEF. I needed the narrower provide of the KEF as the column with is quite narrow.
Not shown…
Will be building 4 cylinder shaped enclosures to suspend from vaulted ceiling
There will be front wide speakers between the surround and display, column angled 30 deg
L/R will be a bit higher than shown
Decided to angle top center down 15deg/bottom center up 10 deg
Decided to angle in L/R 15 deg to get main row of 4 all within 20 deg dispersion of left/right
4 subs in speaker structure are Perlisten in wall
Couple of things about the project..
-all speakers built in wall/columns/enclosures to be as hidden/part of the room as possible, hitting ideal volumes except for tops which will be a bit less
-No visible electronics, all will be in equipment room behind the videowall
-Videowall is a microled 119”x54” (2.22 AR) hence the choice for top/bottom center which I had done in a previous room and liked the results quite a bit
-I have ordered 6 CI250RRM but may opt for 4 tops. Most likely this will be a 9.1.4 with 4 subs on front wall and 2 centers
-The CI5160RLM is basically a non ported R11 Meta which I would consider a nearly full range speaker. The reason for all the 5160RLM is the system is designed to fully take advantage of Dirac ART. No room for subs in other locations than the front wall. So this is our main living room/media room. After 30 years of a basement HT, moved to new home and decided to do it all in 1 room rather than a dedicated space. Can’t wait until it is done! Speaker choice was between Revel in wall (Be series) or KEF. I needed the narrower provide of the KEF as the column with is quite narrow.
It’s a beautiful mockup image using KEF in-wall speakers!
Two center speakers! Are you planning to use ART with the A1H?
It’s scheduled to be completed next month. That’s exciting.
Thanks… looking forward to getting done and up and working! Yes, ART for sure. I used it for 2 years with Storm and loved it. Sold the Storm when I decided to go with Denon once it was certain ART was coming to Denon.
Why two center channels?
Fabulous setup, how do you manage two center channels?
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Don't know the reasoning of Dj7675, but that's exactly the way I'd do it. If you're not going to have a single center speaker in back of dead-center of an acoustically-transparent screen (when using a projector), I'd place one just to the top of the screen, and one right below it, both pointed toward the main listening position. In fact, I think the two centers are actually superior to a single point source center placed under (usually) a large OLED/QLED/etc. TV screen, because it will give more of a "phantom voice" from the center of the screen, rather than from it's base. Of course, the tweeters must be aligned vertically and the closer together the better, but you should never place two centers to the sides of a screen (or even side-by-side), as you know, because that messes up with imaging and a lot of other things. BTW, Dj7675, IMO, the KEFs are a great choice, both aesthetically and sonically, for in-wall speakers, especially for the center channel, in order to align the screen and the center speakers in the vertical plane. Beautiful mock-up!
EDIT: Just reread Dj7675 posts, and I think he explained the reasoning for the two center channels quite well, "Videowall is a microled 119”x54” (2.22 AR) hence the choice for top/bottom center which I had done in a previous room and liked the results quite a bit"
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How do you make that work since all AVR only have one center output? Using Y-XLR and an additional stereo amplifier maybe?
That's exactly how I'd make it work; either an RCA-Y or XLR-Y, depending on what you have as an AVR/P, and an independent stereo amp. There are a very few processors (at least historically, but unfortunately not the main ones that come to mind) that do have two center channel outputs, but I can't remember which. Running room correction might be an issue - haven't done this myself yet, so I don't know, but I think you would run your two center channels as one when making room correction measurements, and adjust settings accordingly. Maybe Dj7675 can clue us in on this since he has done it before.
[
-3 speakers below a screen which work ok..
-No center-hated it
-One speaker on each side of the screen and 1 below. I liked the shift of the L/R upward towards the middle of the screen but panning across a large screen and dialogue was noticeably below the screen
I had a Stormaudio for a couple of years and they added a dual center (above/below) option. It was simple to try and I had an in ceiling center height speaker (JBL SCL-7 I think it was) that I was using as a center height speaker. When Storm released the feature I tried it, and as I adjusted the gain on the ceiling speaker you can hear the audio lift up and float in the middle of the screen. This was using two dissimilar speakers and not pleased very well for this use and it was better than a single speaker below.
In the new setup, it will be a Denon A1H (or Marantz AV10). You can set it up with a center height and then with custom assign, change the center height to output center channel instead. From there, you can adjust levels and delays.
Another way would be to add a MiniDSP… use preamp output of center and split the signal in the MiniDSP where you have 2 outputs and can change the level/delay.
Acoustically transparent screens are a great way to go with a projector but if you go large LCD/Microled etc you have to figure out how to handle the center. For me, I can’t “unhear” the difference now and find the center below very distracting now. I wasn’t expecting to like it because of all the issues you hear about comb filtering and how it is such a bad idea. But this is one bad idea on paper that I like quite a bit in real life.
First, people with very large flat panel displays have to figure out how to deal with a solid screen that takes up a lot of vertical space on a wall… After trying…
-3 speakers below a screen which work ok..
-No center-hated it
-One speaker on each side of the screen and 1 below. I liked the shift of the L/R upward towards the middle of the screen but panning across a large screen and dialogue was noticeably below the screen
I had a Stormaudio for a couple of years and they added a dual center (above/below) option. It was simple to try and I had an in ceiling center height speaker (JBL SCL-7 I think it was) that I was using as a center height speaker. When Storm released the feature I tried it, and as I adjusted the gain on the ceiling speaker you can hear the audio lift up and float in the middle of the screen. This was using two dissimilar speakers and not pleased very well for this use and it was better than a single speaker below.
In the new setup, it will be a Denon A1H (or Marantz AV10). You can set it up with a center height and then with custom assign, change the center height to output center channel instead. From there, you can adjust levels and delays.
Another way would be to add a MiniDSP… use preamp output of center and split the signal in the MiniDSP where you have 2 outputs and can change the level/delay.
Acoustically transparent screens are a great way to go with a projector but if you go large LCD/Microled etc you have to figure out how to handle the center. For me, I can’t “unhear” the difference now and find the center below very distracting now. I wasn’t expecting to like it because of all the issues you hear about comb filtering and how it is such a bad idea. But this is one bad idea on paper that I like quite a bit in real life.
Hi all — quick install question for KEF Ci3160RLM THX (LCR).
My room has concrete walls, and I’m building a false drywall wall in front of the concrete specifically to mount the speakers, so I can design the rear volume (I know KEF mentions ~60 L ideal and ~30 L minimum; many people just drop them into drywall).
For a concrete-backed false wall, what’s the better approach for this model?
My room has concrete walls, and I’m building a false drywall wall in front of the concrete specifically to mount the speakers, so I can design the rear volume (I know KEF mentions ~60 L ideal and ~30 L minimum; many people just drop them into drywall).
For a concrete-backed false wall, what’s the better approach for this model?
- Open “infinite baffle” style cavity (but heavily damped/insulated), vs
- Dedicated MDF back boxes ~60 L per speaker (sealed + lined), to control midbass and avoid L/C/R cross-talk.
