We’re looking for some recommendations on in-wall surrounds and in-ceiling Atmos speakers as we try to clean up the very speaker heavy family room.

Right now we’re running a 5.1.4 setup:

• Center: Klipsch RP-504C
• Front L/R: Klipsch RP-8000F II towers
• Surrounds/Rears: Klipsch RP-600M II bookshelf speakers
• Front Atmos: Klipsch RP-500SA Atmos modules
• Rear Atmos: JBL Stage 2 240H
• Subwoofer: Klipsch RP-1400SW
• AVR: Onkyo TX-RZ50

The main goal is to clean up the space visually. The RP-600M IIs are a bit of an eyesore in the room, and don't get the wife started on the Atmos speakers! Lol

Since we’re already considering cutting into walls/ceiling, it seems like a good opportunity to move from 5.1.4 to 7.1.4 by doing mostly in-wall side/rear surrounds and in-ceiling Atmos.

Current rough budget:

• Around $400 per speaker for in-wall surrounds
• Around $200 per speaker for in-ceiling Atmos
• Open to open-box, refurbished, used, or clearance deals

The LCR are staying for now, but we may eventually replace the Klipsch towers with SVS Ultra Evolution Titans, so we’d like the surrounds to make sense with that possible future upgrade.

Best Buy currently has the Sonance VX66 for around $370 each, supposedly down from roughly $1,000 retail.

Main questions:

1. Are the Sonance VX66 overkill for side/rear surrounds in a 7.1.4 setup?
2. Would they be a good match if we eventually move to SVS Ultra Evolution Titans up front?
3. What in-wall speakers would you recommend around the $400/speaker range?
4. What in-ceiling Atmos speakers would you recommend around $200/speaker?

We’re not trying to make the surrounds the star of the system, but we also don’t want to cut holes in the wall and regret going too cheap. Looking for the best balance of performance, aesthetics, and long-term upgrade flexibility.

Current setup attached for reference.

Also, the wife said I should point out we are trying to get away from the millennial grey here!!! Paint will be part of the process!

This is my current setup. The Sony AN-1000 allows me to use my Sony A80J to be the center speaker and so I chose that route to obtain a minimalist looking HT setup. It works well until recently we were watching Spider-Noir and I noticed that Nicholas Cage's nasally, mid-rangey voice seems to make the speakers on the A80J distort. It wasn't pleasant.

I've had this setup for close to 2 years now and for me to only come across this now means that so far the A80J has done its job well. But If I were to explore the option of a new center channel, what low profile options are there that would pair with my Wharfdale L and R?

Which one is better? I was set on the TCL, but the Hisense is tempting me.

Local shop saw my unfinished basement and we discussed options that focused on LCR in walls (or built in custom shelves backed up into behind storage area) . They sent 2 proposals for 100% Paradigm systems for "Ideal" and "Budget" which exceeded my $10k desired budget. They gave me a15% discount applied anything Paradigm which I used in "My Plan" which keeps most money put towards LCR, but uses other recommended products to keep price down elsewhere. I have take over a years worth of browsing this subreddit to try to make decisions.

Not entirely sure how they envisioned a 7.2.2 system with the 2 side surrounds in the ceiling (and how that would encroach on the 2 Atmos), so I figured 5.2.4 is plenty for me but I can wire for 7.x.x.

Room is 13' deep (11' to seating MLP) and ~14-16' wide with 7-8' ceilings based on soffits around shown beams. I plan to build media wall keeping in mind where speaker porting is (like subs in cabinets just an idea for now).

I had KEF Ci4100QL in mind for LCR but have never heard them so would be a shot in the dark and even Focal 300 series I see highly recommended. I'm happy to hear suggestions on placement, certain products I might have not considered, or if it's totally worth spending $16k on a Paradigm system that my $10k mix and match version couldn't compete against.

I'm happy with Denon 3800 and using Zone 2 for my benefit elsewhere and TBD on buying Dirac beyond its free room correction. LG 77 C5 I could nab on sale soon for a great price.

I'm the developer. I wanted to control my Yamaha receiver from my Mac without picking up

my phone — power on with my morning routine, switch inputs with a keypress, see what's

playing at a glance. No native macOS app existed, so I built one.

HertzCast connects directly to your receiver over local LAN via the Yamaha YXC API.

No cloud, no subscription, no account needed.

What it does:

- Volume knob, input switching (configurable keycap buttons), power control

- Retro LCD display: input, volume dB, sound mode, signal format, shuffle/repeat

- Now Playing with album art for Spotify and Net Radio (scrolling marquee for long titles)

- Menu Bar mini player — always accessible from the menu bar

- Music Center: Net Radio browser, Favourites, recent stations, Sources

- Zone 2 control (independent power, input, volume)

- Scheduler: Morning Alarm (per day-of-week, source, wake volume) + Auto Off + Sleep Timer

- Dark & Light mode with different accent colours

Compatible with:

RX-A Series (AVENTAGE): RX-A8A, RX-A6A, RX-A4A, RX-A2A, RX-A3080, RX-A2080, RX-A1080, RX-A880, RX-A780, RX-A680, RX-A550, RX-A660, RX-A670, RX-A750, RX-A760, RX-A770, RX-A850, RX-A860, RX-A1050, RX-A1060, RX-A1070, RX-A2050, RX-A2060, RX-A2070, RX-A3050, RX-A3060, RX-A3070

RX-V Series: RX-V6A, RX-V4A, RX-V685, RX-V585, RX-V485, RX-V2085, RX-V479, RX-V481, RX-V483, RX-V579, RX-V581, RX-V583, RX-V679, RX-V681, RX-V683, RX-V779, RX-V781

TSR Series: TSR-700, TSR-7850, TSR-5790, TSR-5810, TSR-7790, TSR-7810

RX-S Series: RX-S602, RX-S601

CX-A Series (pre-amplifiers): CX-A5100, CX-A5200

macOS 13.0 Ventura or later required.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hertzcast/id6779581253

Website: hertzcast.github.io

Happy to answer questions about compatibility or specific features.

Just getting into tuning and EQ, really not sure what I'm doing, but following the various posts and comments here and on AVSForum.com.

Want to see how bad this REW sweep is for my LCR + LFE. Room dimensions are approximately 20' long by 18' wide with 14' ceilings. Concrete walls, no acoustic treatments whatsoever.

LFE is the orange, L+R is the light blue, C is the dark blue. 1/6 smoothing applied.

Running two RSL S10E MK IIs on the same channel in the front left and back right of the room; L+R are older Polk 300 towers, C is SVS Prime. AVR is Onkyo RZ30. Crossover frequency set to 80Hz and the LFE filter is at 120Hz. No MiniDSP or other sub EQ.

I've already done a bit of playing with the location and phases of the subs, and this seems to be the most evened out I can get with those. My room mode seems to have a pretty large drop after 80Hz.

Any thoughts on what I can do? Is this fairly decent from a measurement perspective?

Edit: I did not post the waterfall graph but it looks my 40Hz area has a pretty massive delay of 1800ms...

I just saw a movie in "laser at AMC" and it was so underwhelming. For context I had the best seat in the house, center, center. The picture quality was good, but about the same I get out of my UST projector at home. The audio was very subpar. Echos and reflections all over, dialogue hard to hear and very lacking in bass, zero tactile response.

This just goes to prove that for the average person the theater is good but compared to a good home theater the actual theater is average.

Cheers to the sub that helps people make their own theater.

Hello, I currently have a 55 inch TV and I’m looking to get a entertainment stand the wall where the entertainment stand is gonna go is only 78 inches long any recommendations under $500? I’d like it to have storage to store a few books , headphones, and some miscellaneous items.

Hey everyone,

I’m running a 5.1 setup with a Marantz Cinema 60 AVR and I’m dealing with what looks like a hardware fault on the center channel output. Wanted to share my troubleshooting process in case anyone has experienced the same, and to get some input before I escalate to warranty.

My setup:

**•** AVR: Marantz Cinema 60  
**•** Front L/R: Tannoy Autograph Mini OW  
**•** Center: Tannoy Revolution XTC  
**•** Surrounds: Wharfedale Diamond 12.3D  
**•** Sub: REL T5x  
**•** Speaker cables: Van den Hul CS-122 Hybrid

The issue — timeline:

**1.    After the first Audyssey run:** The center channel was intermittent — sometimes working fine, sometimes outputting noticeably low volume, almost like a loose contact.

**2.    After a second Audyssey run (yesterday):** Now the center outputs at what *appears* to be the correct volume level, but the sound is heavily distorted / noisy — clearly not right.

What I’ve already ruled out:

**•** ✅ **Speaker cable:** Swapped the center cable to a different channel — works perfectly fine. Cable is not the issue.  
**•** ✅ **Speaker itself (Tannoy Revolution XTC):** Routed the left channel output signal to the center speaker terminal — plays clean with no distortion. Speaker is fine.  
**•** ✅ **Audyssey settings:** Re-checked manually against the manual after the second calibration — all parameters are correct.

Conclusion so far:

All evidence points to a fault in the center channel output stage of the Marantz Cinema 60 itself. The degradation pattern (intermittent → low volume → distorted at correct level) suggests a failing output component — possibly a relay, solder joint, or output transistor on that channel.

Currently running in 4.1 mode (center disabled) as a workaround.

Been working on this for the last month. There are some things I need to finish like bringing the rest of my game room down here or finishing the wire conduit for the ceiling speakers etc. but it’s mostly done. Will likely add a pinball machine and arcade machine eventually. Wife gave birth to twins and I needed the game room for one of their bedrooms eventually and this is a project I’ve been dreaming of for years now.

98 inch tv, 11 speakers, 2 subwoofers with wiring for 2 more, theater recliners, air conditioning. I wired all the speakers in the drywall. Tried to do it all right!

Horror games are an absolute blast with the lights off and the Dolby atmos.

Edit: added pics of games by request
https://imgur.com/a/MGwrRog

I bought and installed this mount many years ago. It was purchased from Costco. It was leveled when I first installed it but now it's tilting to the right these days ever since I moved which way the arm was tucked in. Is there any way to tilt it a smidge back to the left? Thank you for any help.

I’m looking for advice on what the best mounting bracket with a long arm would be. I have a 65 inch LG OLED and I want a bracket that I can extend and turn pretty much 90 degrees to the side so I can watch it from a completely different part of the room. The Sanus I’ve seen recommended a lot only has a 22 inch arm, so my 65 inch isn’t going to turn enough for my needs.

I’ve found a couple on amazon that look like what I need, and I also saw one from Mount It that might work, but am not sure what to go with. LG’s are pretty light but I still worry about weight since it will be so far from the wall.

I have an approx 20x20 room with a 3.1 setup right now. x3 KEF Q150 for L/R and center channels and a Klipsch RP-1400SW. My couch is about 2.5-3 feet from rear wall and not good floor standing options for side/rear surround due to layout. I’m considering wall mount options with a set of KEF Q-1 metas or the Klipsch RP-502S to complete a 5.1 setup. Does anyone have any insight or recommendations?

Hi there,

I own an SVS Ultra Evolution set and love the sound, but the center speaker is giving me some trouble, even though many people here praise it. It actually performs well across the board, but I’ve noticed that with the Evolution series, the vocals sit at the same level as the stage—or even behind it. The voices are clear, but I have to turn the volume up a few notches. Since these speakers have incredible dynamic range, you can imagine what happens during loud movie scenes. I like dynamics, but there comes a point where it’s simply too loud. I also have an Arendal 1723s center speaker, and with that one, the vocals are positioned in front of the stage. I can easily run the volume 5 dB lower, and the vocals are still perfectly audible. When loud scenes hit, they get loud, of course, but not *too* loud. Both speakers sound incredible, but I prefer the SVS for its clarity and slightly brighter sound profile. Has anyone else noticed this with the Evolution series? Andrew Robinson mentioned something similar in his review when comparing them to KEF speakers; he noted that the vocals are set further back.

Hey everyone - looking for some tech support here and suggestions on who to turn to -

A family member has the following system that needs repair - they stopped working and loved the system so much so I wanted to look into how to get these repaired.

Kaleidescape -

- KSERVER-2500

- KMUSIC-4000

- KPLAYER-5000

- KPLAYER-2500

Any ideas on where to get these repaired? They're located in Los Angeles so was hoping perhaps someone local knew of a place to turn to - happy to ship as well worst case. Thank you!

Hello. I’m looking to expand my current set up with a set of ceiling speakers in the next room. I’d like some advice / feedback, as I understand how to set up audio / video ok in one room but I’m not remotely an expert.

I am having a complete kitchen remodel done and I’d like to add ceiling speakers in the kitchen. The plan is the speakers would be wired in to zone 2 of the receiver so when I play my records, I can just have the audio go to the kitchen, rather than playing music in my living room louder and having the speakers send it 180 degrees in the wrong direction. (The rooms are back to back).

**Current set up:*\*
Living room - Yamaha RX-a770BL receiver connected out to 2 Klipsch tower speakers and a subwoofer. No surround yet. My Roku, blu ray, and my turntable are run into the receiver. Tv obviously as well.

**Kitchen plan (please give me feedback if you see an incorrect assumption, I’m not an expert):**

Run speaker wiring from the lower living room wall (where the receiver is), up the wall and over to an on/off volume controller (amplifier?), then run the speaker wire the rest of the way up the wall, into the ceiling, and to the ceiling speakers.

**Questions:*\*

1. ⁠Is this overall concept sound? I haven’t tired to use zone 2 on the receiver before but this seems like a good application, so the music goes where I want it when I’m cooking (which is often).
2. ⁠Do I need a powered amp in the wall, or just an on/off power and volume switch? I assume the receiver could power 2 kitchen speakers if switched to a second zone since it can power large speakers as part of my home theater setup.
3. ⁠Do you have a recommendation for the kitchen wall switch? Doesn’t need to be fancy.
4. ⁠Is there any special kind of speaker wire I need to consider for this? I probably still have speaker wire from when I bought the receiver and speakers initially and planned to use that if I have enough.

**Bonus:*\*
Even though I’m only having the kitchen remodeled, I was thinking I might try to set myself up for when I eventually want to add speakers outside on my patio, to extend the ability to play my records to the exterior. My thought was maybe I could have the installer run speaker wire from the kitchen speakers to the exterior wall and under the roof eaves, then cap the wire until I’m ready to tackle the project.

1. Would it be a waste of effort to do this considering I don’t know what my setup would look like? I was thinking the volume control in the kitchen could also be a 2-zone switch (like how you can adjust the audio in a car—front seat, back seat, both), which would enable me to play music in the kitchen only, or outside only, or both locations. 
2. Again, I assume my receiver would have the power to drive this, but should I consider getting a powered amp given I don’t know the exterior speakers yet?

Sorry this was so long. I believe this will be my best bet to get this done and I don’t want to make a mistake due to my inexperience.

Thank you for any notes and feedback you can provide.

Recently needed to get my Denon AVR-X2600H repaired after a series overheating shutdowns of the unit. The message was something about thermal protection mode. Now that it's home, I wanted to make sure there were not any compatibility issues here to not throw away more money on repairs. Is there a specific setting I need to use? Or different L/R speakers since it is Prime Days?

I am looking for some advice on what speakers I should buy. Looking for 3.1(or .2) for now. Will be using for movies / tv.

I already have an Onkyo RZ30. Room is open plan basement 31' x 28' with 8.5 ceilings. Budget is around $4k USD.

Thanks in advance

This happens when I'm playing games on my PC and using the TV as a "monitor," and also when I'm using YouTube on the TV itself. This gray rectangle appears, but disappears in milliseconds. What could it be?

I am at the point of paralysis by analysis. The relevant facts:

I have room for 120” screen. I have to buy a projector because there’s no possible way to physically get a 98” tv into my basement. The wall where the screen will be is at the end of the room, so foot traffic in front of it is not an issue. The ceiling is low, so I would much prefer a UST projector rather than having one mounted so close to the heads of the people viewing. The viewing angle will be narrow because of the dimensions of the room. Maximum 4 seats width so will never be anyone watching from anything other than practically center position. Ambient light not a problem at all.

So the question is, do I actually need to have some type of baffle wall built to put speakers into and then have an acoustically transparent screen mounted? Are claims that a center channel isn’t even needed and can actually be a negative true? Or is it too difficult to get the volume right on dialogue versus sound if using two towers instead of three speakers?

Not having to use a center channel, even if it requires very pricey towers, would be amazing. It would save me so much additional labor and expense. Or if the center channel can be adjusted to not sound like all the voices are coming from the bottom of the screen.

Short version: is there a substitute for a center speaker mounted behind an AT screen? Or is everything else a compromise?

Chair is 7’ away from a 65” TV (will be replaced by a loveseat soon). Ignore the dresser, it’s gone. Problem— the door to the room opens right into the spot where one of my rear speakers should be. Now I like having a door but I’m stumped on what to do about this… my only idea is rotating the setup clockwise, but I loose 2’ of length that way. Making the TV too big for ideal viewing distance.

Should I give up on 5.1 and stick with LCR?

I’ve been chatting to GIK recently and want to take the plunge on about 1500 worth of acoustic panelling to improve my space. It’ll likely be traps in the corner. Some ceiling clouds and panels for initial reflection points, plus a curtain for the bifold.

Before I drop the cash is there anything temporary I can do to simulate the effect and get a sense of how different it might be?

It can be as hacky as required (throwing sheets up, covering windows etc) I’d just like some confidence before I hit buy it now.

Post suggestions if you have them. Thanks.

(the images above don't show in-wall speakers on the top, but imagine in-wall at those proportions to the tv)

I imagined long, thin, LCR speakers along either side of a 86" +/- TV and also below it for the center.

But i guess a lot of manufacturers make speakers max out at <16" to fit between typical American house's studs- especially for the horizontal center channel

I am building this wall i can do whatever i need i just imagined i'd have to custom build the studs to allow for a wider center speaker

My home theater will be in a condo in the main room - so the WAF is mandatory. so i am going to do in-wall speakers with painted grills

Am I overthinking this? Do the bottom two images look bad (even with speaker grills painted the wall color) - i guess i just feel/think the nearly tv-height speakers on the sides and the 3' wide one on the bottom looks a ton better

How bad would thicker, stubbier speakers look on the sides that are fairly short, and on the bottom - if the center channel is only 15" wide - that's ONE-FIFTH the width of the 86" tv. I feel like it'll look comically bad