Flat speakers

jkratzer
jkratzer Posts: 148
edited September 2003 in Speakers
It seems, that with flat plasma TV's being all the rage, that speakers have started to go flatter as well. I read that B&W now has a line of speakers dubbed "FPM" which are only 4 inches deep. The ones I've seen seem cheaply built, although I haven't seen the B&W's in person. How do flat speakers sound? Aren't consumers giving up good sound with these flat speakers for the sake of style?
My 7.1 setup consists of:
Denon 3803
Panasonic DVD
RTi70s front
CSi40 front center
RTi28s side surround
FXi30s back surround
PSW202 Subwoofer - Hey, it's my first sub!
RCA 46" 4:3 RPTV
Post edited by jkratzer on
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Comments

  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,987
    edited September 2003
    Ar and Infinity also made/make some 'flat' speakers. Not a ribbon design like Magnepan, but simply a hybrid design by placing the magnet structure in front of the cone on the midbass, vs behind.

    Sacrifice in quality, perhaps, usually asthetics come at cost, the question to me is, is that cost too great?

    I haven't seen the new Beemers - time for a look.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,200
    edited September 2003
    Vienna makes great sounding speaekrs for plasmas.We do them often.No sound quality loss as I hear it.

    Sonus Faber makes Walls as well and they rock.I personally love them.

    Iwalls are a good way to go when using a plasma.We do alot of micro type speakers as well.

    Flat panels/plasma are in,big bulky rear projections are going out.....way out.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,654
    edited September 2003
    Carver Amazing's are only 10 inches deep.........way ahead of their time I reckon.

    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,749
    edited September 2003
    The new LSi inwalls are a prime canidate. They come with in-wall enclosures too, well don't come with, they are sold seperately. But really cool.....

    I have heard the Infinity on wall's, with the 150hz roll off, it screamed bose cubes with good highs and even hollower mids....
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • jkratzer
    jkratzer Posts: 148
    edited September 2003
    I saw in S&V that Definitive Tech now has thin floor standing speakers called Mythos ($799 each). They look really cool with their clear bases and aluminum look casing. They are being advertised as "The Plasma Solution". Great. :rolleyes: Now I'll have to upgrade my speakers again if I ever get a plasma TV.
    My 7.1 setup consists of:
    Denon 3803
    Panasonic DVD
    RTi70s front
    CSi40 front center
    RTi28s side surround
    FXi30s back surround
    PSW202 Subwoofer - Hey, it's my first sub!
    RCA 46" 4:3 RPTV
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  • jkratzer
    jkratzer Posts: 148
    edited September 2003
    Plasmas may be "in" but they are out of my price range. I'm currently looking at possibly going with DLP or LCoS as a cheaper alternative to replace my RPTV. But after reading the current issue of S&V, it seems that DLP and LCoS are not quite mature enough to buy yet. There were several "glitches" in the models evaluated.
    My 7.1 setup consists of:
    Denon 3803
    Panasonic DVD
    RTi70s front
    CSi40 front center
    RTi28s side surround
    FXi30s back surround
    PSW202 Subwoofer - Hey, it's my first sub!
    RCA 46" 4:3 RPTV
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,749
    edited September 2003
    Dosn't plasma tvs fade???
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • fireshoes
    fireshoes Posts: 3,167
    edited September 2003
    Originally posted by Vr3MxStyler2k3
    Dosn't plasma tvs fade???

    Yeah, just like any tv. They are estimated to reach 50% brightness in 12 to 17 years, pretty much like a standard tv. One thing that bugs me though is stuck or dead pixels. You can get burn in on plasma tv's too, thought it would have to be a frequently repeated or static image. If people put their contrast where it should be it wouldn't really be an issue though. We burned in a Hitachi 42" at work with a Bose demo dvd. :eek:
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited September 2003
    The brightness level being too high on TV's is a major contributor to early failure and/or degradation of picture quality.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited September 2003
    First, Maggies are planars with ribbons for the highs. As with most "flat" speakers they are bass challenged. They can however be paired with a good sub (not flat)...

    Magnepan actually has a wall mount line specifiaclly or HT (or very low WAF's). Look good, sound OK.

    http://www.magnepan.com/
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,749
    edited September 2003
    Bose needs to come up with away to get 120db bass from a 4 inch thick (10 feet tall) enclosure ;)
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited September 2003
    I've seen pictures and heard of a real nice Bose sub actually. The Wave Cannon. It's for commercial (theater) sales and I think it's much more than 10 feet long.

    I've got some flat speakers in the works. Flat, but large open baffles. I may even infinately baffle them.
    Make it Funky! :)
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited September 2003
    To be honest I haven't heard any modern "flat speakers" besides electro's except computer speakers.
    Any modern day inwalls I've heard have usually sounded okay, but not great. A good deal of this may have been because the showrooms sucked.

    I remember when flat (dynamic) speakers were typically about 4" thick and 9' squared. These tended to sound good, but nothing great.

    I've heard great sounding open baffles that could probably sound great on an infinate baffle (in-wall) or atleast in-wall with some venting to get more of the di-pole effect.
    Make it Funky! :)
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