Speaker choices

Talk about getting flooded with information- trying picking out in-wall speakers.

Speakers are actually very simple. A little DC magnet pushes a cone to create air vibrations. However to get really good sound, you need multiple cones which are specific to a certain frequency. Even harder, you need to design a circuit to only send certain frequencies to certain speakers and watch where they overlap, etc. Add on top of that the fact that that cone moves in as well as out, so the back of the cone makes sound waves too. Therefore, you need to design your enclosure to either have a hole to let air in or out, the size of the hole, how far the speaker should be from the back of the wall, etc.

But in-wall speakers are simpler in many regards- because you don't care what happens on the back-side. You don't need to worry about the enclosure size or material because the speaker is mounted flush with the wall- and it backs up to a relatively large space in your wall.

But- in-wall speakers are priced from $20/pair to thousands. I have a whole list of speakers I've never heard of- nor have been reviewed by anyone I trust. Do you really trust a vendor's website who has a half-dozen positive reviews by satisfied customers- do you think they'll post the two dozen who said "Yor speekers suCk!!!#!!!11!" independent review of low-cost speakers just don't happen because those same reviewers get paid by advertising of the big boys.

Here's a partial list of some brands I've never heard of:

• Pyle Pro
• Bic America
• Audio Source
• M&S
• ADS
• Jamo

I asked around at a couple of places to see if anyone had heard of them, and none had. Even using my rule of thumb of 'trust products made elsewhere than China' doesn't even work as pretty much everyone is making speakers in China (and not lowering their prices.. gosh!). Even worse- or better depending on how bitter you are- some Chinese manufacturers that have been making speakers for big companies have started selling their own models- which could even come off the same assembly line as the expensive ones. I read one site who said they were the actual JBL maker, when JBL canceled the line and went to another factory. They didn't change anything but remove the label.

So, it's a dilemma- I could save some coin and luck into a speaker that's really well made- or pay a lot for a speaker made right next door to the cheap one.

The answer? The Fleabay Shotgun!(tm). You want your speakers to match, right? The 'timbre' of them should be the same and all that other horse hooey. So- what I did was bid on a bunch of speakers I knew about on Ebay. I bid on Klipsch, JBL, Polk and Boston Acoustics. Be thee careful on Ebay- some speakers were selling for more than you could buy them (on sale) at Circuit City. And be doubly-careful about paying attention to the shipping prices- the JBL speakers had $85 shipping. Anyway, I won the Polk RC60i- which retail for like $250 for $135 shipped. So, now I knew which brand I was going to go with. They would be my rear in-ceiling speakers. Now I needed my surrounds- I was going to pick the R55i, which are rectangular in-wall speakers. Ebay? $180+ shipping. Circuit City? $150 on sale, in-stock. Now I need to pick out my fronts and the center.