Need to change my Monolith 365's LCR

[Dimitris_dsgg]

Hi everyone,


I hope I’ve posted this in the right place (maybe it should have gone in the "Beginner/Newbie" forum).


Currently, I'm running Monolith 365C and 365Ts for LCR, driven by a Denon X-2700H, along with dual SVS PC-4000 subs.


I've recently moved into a much smaller house, and I really need to change my LCR setup to something slimmer. I'm only concerned about reducing the depth — the width and height of the new speakers aren't an issue. Thankfully, I get to keep the SVS subs and the Denon AVR.


I’m considering selling the Monolith 365s and replacing them with either the XTZ On-Wall E-IW82 speakers (around €500 each) or the Aperion Audio on-wall speakers (either the 6.5-inch or 8-inch slim-profile versions at around €1,200 each).


Obviously, there’s a big price difference between those two options, and since I need three identical units for the front stage, it's a significant investment. The dimensions of both speaker options are great — their slim profiles are exactly what I’m looking for.


The thing is, I really don’t want to downgrade from my current Monolith 365s. I don’t want to lose sound quality — and definitely not output. My MLP is about 3 meters from the speakers, and I’m a bit of a volume freak when it comes to movies and music.


Any help would be highly appreciated! What do you think about the more affordable XTZ option? Or should I just bite the bullet and aim for the Theatrus series?


Thanks!

 

[staticV3]

Hi @Dimitris_dsgg! Welcome to ASR.

Slim, on-wall, and ~500€ each, that's an easy one:

AsciLab F6Bs Speaker Review

This is a review, detailed measurements, EQ and listening test of AsciLab F6Bs bookshelf/surround speaker. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $575 [now $725 with shipping included] for a pair. This is an absolutely gorgeous design! It feels that way as well with a solid cabinet that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Dimitris_dsgg]

Hi @Dimitris_dsgg! Welcome to ASR.

Slim, on-wall, and ~500€ each, that's an easy one:

AsciLab F6Bs Speaker Review

This is a review, detailed measurements, EQ and listening test of AsciLab F6Bs bookshelf/surround speaker. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $575 [now $725 with shipping included] for a pair. This is an absolutely gorgeous design! It feels that way as well with a solid cabinet that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Tempting for sure! They look beautiful and their price is great! The only thing that worries me is their low sensitivity, the power handling (output in general). I wouldn't like to go for a "weaker" speaker compared to the Monoliths 365.

 

[kyuu]

Just looking at it I'm quite certain the enclosure for that XTZ speaker does not give it enough volume and it's going to have a gnarly response in the bass region. I also doubt the measurements on those would look great in general; Monoprice is the only outfit who produces cheap 3-ways that aren't objectively awful from what I know.

The Aperion website just hard crashed my computer so I'm not going to even try to look at that.

Question: have you considered using in-walls, or is that not an option?

 

[Dimitris_dsgg]

Just looking at it I'm quite certain the enclosure for that XTZ speaker does not give it enough volume and it's going to have a gnarly response in the bass region. I also doubt the measurements on those would look great in general; Monoprice is the only outfit who produces cheap 3-ways that aren't objectively awful from what I know.

The Aperion website just hard crashed my computer so I'm not going to even try to look at that.

Question: have you considered using in-walls, or is that not an option?

Thanks for looking at it!

Those XTZ speakers have dual 8inch woofers with a frequency response from 70-30000hz. They should start to roll off from 80hz or so (same as the Monolith 365s). I will definitely keep them crossed over to my dual PC-4000 subs. However, I've searched every forum and I can't find any info about those speakers.

Aperion speakers have some good reviews from what I've seen. Those are also 3-ways but like 3x the price of the Monoliths or the XTZ.

I've never thought about in-walls. Are they better overall? I've seen the same exact speaker having in-wall and on-wall option (kind of weird to me). Can I use in-walls with some custom box design place on the wall and not in the wall?

 

[kyuu]

I've never thought about in-walls. Are they better overall? I've seen the same exact speaker having in-wall and on-wall option (kind of weird to me). Can I use in-walls with some custom box design place on the wall and not in the wall?

In-walls have some interesting advantages: no baffle-step to compensate for, elimination of front-wall SBIR, and you're not paying for a pretty box. But of course they have one big disadvantage: you have to plan out their installation and cut holes in the wall. Also studs and drywall (or plaster) aren't necessarily the best materials for a speaker enclosure, but in practice they work pretty well and you can take measures to improve it using the same principles as you would for any speaker (adding insulation and mass damping to the inside of the wall being ones I've utilized).

You can certainly use a custom box, but the baffle would need to be large enough to emulate an infinite baffle (since the crossover will not have any compensation for baffle-step) and you'd need specifications for the minimum volume to get a proper bass response from the speaker. You can avoid all that by just putting them in the wall, assuming your wall cavity is of a relatively normal size (generally 16" on-center studs and 8 or 9 feet in height lands you around 80L of volume).