702 f/x vs. 265-LS in walls - thoughts, trade offs?
Hi all. I planned a 7.2.4 with 705 fronts, 706 center, 702 surround and 703 rears plus 4x 700-LS overheads and twin outlaw LFM-1 EX subs. Processor is Denon 4300h and amplifier is outlaw 770 (200w x7@ 8ohm and 300w @ 4 ohm).
Loving this setup but the surrounds and rear s were HUGE on the wall and didn’t pass the WAF test. Wife doesn’t mind the 702 surrounds high up on the wall but that poses a problem: you lose some differentiation between the rear Atmos heights because the 702 surrounds are similar angles from the listening position. I’d rather have my surrounds at ear level. My only option there is moving to an in wall speaker. Those options would be the 80 F/X but those being circular would look like a porthole. They are cheap though. The second option would be switching to the 265- LS in walls. If I sold the 702 pair I would still have to add in two or 300 bucks for this set up. I don’t know if anybody has compared the two but I’m curious how much sound quality I am going to lose with the in walls. I can add some two by fours to mimic having a box in the wall and all of these walls are insulated with roxul sound insulation.
Has anyone face the same problems?
I also switched from the 703 rears to the TL3 Blackstone series small speakers and those are actually surprisingly nice and about a 10th of the volume.
Loving this setup but the surrounds and rear s were HUGE on the wall and didn’t pass the WAF test. Wife doesn’t mind the 702 surrounds high up on the wall but that poses a problem: you lose some differentiation between the rear Atmos heights because the 702 surrounds are similar angles from the listening position. I’d rather have my surrounds at ear level. My only option there is moving to an in wall speaker. Those options would be the 80 F/X but those being circular would look like a porthole. They are cheap though. The second option would be switching to the 265- LS in walls. If I sold the 702 pair I would still have to add in two or 300 bucks for this set up. I don’t know if anybody has compared the two but I’m curious how much sound quality I am going to lose with the in walls. I can add some two by fours to mimic having a box in the wall and all of these walls are insulated with roxul sound insulation.
Has anyone face the same problems?
I also switched from the 703 rears to the TL3 Blackstone series small speakers and those are actually surprisingly nice and about a 10th of the volume.
LSiM 703s in home office. Building a home theater and looking for LSiM 706, 703, 705 and 707s right now.
Comments
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Direct radiating surround speakers at ear level rather than dipoles up higher are now recommended for object oriented surround from an Atmos soundtrack. That's why Polk and other manufacturers have stopped making speakers physically configured like the 702s. I've swapped 702s with 703s before and the 703s do seem to work better with Atmos movies. The 702s are still good for regular surround sound though and I wouldn't recommend getting rid of them absent having other concerns about them. And if someone is not doing 4K and Atmos at all the 702s mounted traditionally on the wall are still excellent.
Sounds like the best option is to switch to in-walls in this case to fully go with Atmos. -
Direct radiating surround speakers at ear level rather than dipoles up higher are now recommended for object oriented surround from an Atmos soundtrack. That's why Polk and other manufacturers have stopped making speakers physically configured like the 702s. I've swapped 702s with 703s before and the 703s do seem to work better with Atmos movies. The 702s are still good for regular surround sound though and I wouldn't recommend getting rid of them absent having other concerns about them. And if someone is not doing 4K and Atmos at all the 702s mounted traditionally on the wall are still excellent.
Sounds like the best option is to switch to in-walls in this case to fully go with Atmos.
I didn’t know about the recent preference for direct radiating. It makes sense though. I don’t know believe the 80 f/x are bipole/Dipole, just have opposing tweeters. What do you think about the “porthole” look of a ceiling speaker in wall? 🤣
I’ll probably sell the 702’s and my extra 704c and hopefully that fully funds the 265-LS pair.
LSiM 703s in home office. Building a home theater and looking for LSiM 706, 703, 705 and 707s right now. -
The WAF of in-wall speakers vs. the 702 f/x has to be 100% more in the positive direction across the board! Can even go a step further...Loving this setup but the surrounds and rear s were HUGE on the wall and didn’t pass the WAF test.
What do you think about the “porthole” look of a ceiling speaker in wall? 🤣
If you went with some type of acoustically transparent cover, you could go with any in-wall / on wall speaker of your choosing. The fabric could be plain, patterns, artwork, personal pictures, etc., etc., etc.....
Many sound deadening panels use acoustically transparent fabric over fiberglass. That's pretty much what you could use, the fabric over a frame, minus the fiberglass. Can have any look that you can dream of!
Here's some info on the subject.
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/acoustically-transparent-material-to-cover-in-wall-speakers.2307658/
Fabric from here: https://www.spoonflower.com/
https://www.atsacoustics.com/ATS-art-acoustic-panels.html
https://www.gikacoustics.com/product-category/acoustic-art-panels/
https://www.acoustimac.com/acousticart/acoustic-artskin-custom-printed-acoustic-fabric
https://www.wallartspeakers.com/
https://acousticalwallfabric.com/acoustical-speaker-fabric/tech-wall/fr701/acoustical-fabric/acoustic-panels/guilford-of-maine/fabric/fr701-fabric-2/acoustic-fabrics/sound-absorbing-fabrics/acoustically-transparent-fabric/acoustic-insulation-materials//
Very expensive and artistic solution - https://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/us/speakers/beosound-shape?variant=beosound-shape-6-tiles
Ikea is even getting into the Architectural picture frame market with its NEW SYMFONISK Wifi speaker.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/wi-fi-speakers-46194/
Post edited by WLDock on2.2 Office Setup | LG 29UB55 21:9 UltraWide | HP Probook 630 G8 | Dell Latitude | Cabasse Stream Amp 100 | Boston Acoustics VS 240 | AUDIORAX Desk Stands | Mirage Omni S8 sub1 | Mirage Omni S8 Sub2 -
I love it WLDock! My wife is actually excited about doing cool geometric patterns of sound deadening panelsLSiM 703s in home office. Building a home theater and looking for LSiM 706, 703, 705 and 707s right now.
