Introduction As of late, I’ve become increasingly interested in in-wall speakers, not only for their practicality, but also because they have become exceedingly good in providing truly reference grade sound in a sleek unobtrusive package. Nothing is sexier than having a guest walk into your listening room and be blown away at your system’s sound, only to ask, “Where are the speakers?” Because of these facts, my reference room features a complete in-wall speaker system from Meridian entirely hidden from view by a custom fabric wall as seen in the August edition of AVRev.com. However, not everyone has the budget or the means to welcome a speaker system such as the Meridian into the home. Hence my interest in the Atlantic Technology IWCB-52 in-wall speakers reviewed here. Why did I choose Atlantic Technology’s IWCB-52s for this review (and for my home) over the many other reputable and wonderful-sounding brands out there today? Simple. The IWCB-52s sound ...

Introduction When it came time to finally design and implement my new reference home theater, there were two things I knew I had to have. First was the ability to easily integrate and audition various components of all types without costly professional installation fees or outside programming. Second was for my reference system to feature only in-wall speakers. I have been a fan of in-walls (and on-walls, for that matter) for a long time now and, as technology has progressed, so has the quality of their sound. While nearly every speaker manufacturer has some sort of in-wall or on-wall line of products, finding ones that are truly reference grade can be a bit more daunting. I looked high and low during my search and compiled a list of potential candidates that would, I hoped, fit my needs. I met with and/or demoed the top offerings from RBH, Paradigm, Definitive, PSB and Meridian. While RBH, Paradigm, ...

Introduction There have been many challenges in rebuilding the AVRev.com reference theater (which I have previously written about and archived for Modern Home Theater how-to features, with more details to come). One of the challenges not discussed is what I was going to do with the living room where my former reference system lived. Removing the large equipment rack thankfully created more space that allowed for the sleek installation of a lightly tinted glass wall. Removal of the floor-to-ceiling, bird’s-eye maple media storage cabinet that housed my Stewart roll-down screen also opened up some serious space. The design challenge was unique, considering the entryway to the new theater, as well as the stairs leading to the new addition, is exactly where my Wilson WATT Puppy right speaker used to be placed – how could you get great sound in a room or, in this case, a series of rooms, including the living room, dining room ...

Introduction When building my home theater, one of my biggest dilemmas was where to put the surround speakers. My theater is located in a room where a sectional sofa runs the full length of the back and side walls, so stand-mounted surrounds were out. Wall-mounted surrounds were out, too, as only one wide wall is available for speakers. The answer was to go up and ceiling-mount the surrounds. For my application, I chose the MC-615-70 from Utah-based speaker manufacturer RBH. This $299 (each) in-ceiling speaker features a 6.5-inch aluminum woofer and a one-inch swivel aluminum dome tweeter. A tweeter level control, accessed from the front of the speaker, allows you to choose from a standard-level setting or from -3dB or +3dB. The MC-615-70 has a frequency response of 50Hz - 20kHz±3dB, is 88dB efficient and features a built-in 70-volt multi-tap transformer. These speakers are rated at 120 watts at eight ohms and have a crossover ...

Introduction There’s often a division between what men and their wives feel is important. The book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” clearly pointed out these idiosyncrasies. This separation of priority is never more magnified than with that of audio/video gear, which has proven to be a focal point of tension in many homes. Men typically want big, bad and powerful. Women are typically less interested in performance but rather opt for modern elegance, void of large annoying speakers and unsightly cables. There is a popular belief that you cannot achieve high performance from anything other than large floor-standing speakers. In many cases, these large speakers are at their best when set several feet off from the wall. Another option, originally made popular by Bose, is small cube speakers placed in the corner of the room’s ceiling. This made for a much more concealed look, but at a huge expense in performance, although ...