Surround Speakers Retrofit and Selection

[Marcel Birgelen]

I generally like the idea of hiding surround speakers, because it somehow increases the amount of "movie magic". It's like covering your screen with a curtain. You know it's there, but you don't see it until it's absolutely necessary. But yes, it requires a lot of considerations and design adaptations, which equal money. That's why it's just seldomly done. Even the guys that are known for immersive theming, like Disney, sometimes have a hard time hiding speakers out of sight. It's not always trivial to let them sound good and make them invisible the same time.

We've integrated our side speakers in our screening room into columns that protrude from the wall, but those columns are essentially empty inside for the parts where there are no speakers. They're also covered with heavy MDF on both the top and the bottom at the part where the speakers themselves are. The opening is sufficiently wide as not to block any relevant output from the speakers. So the speakers don't really recess into the wall. We did so to avoid creating some kind of secondary source of resonance by essentially extending the speaker box. The fabric covering them is extremely light, so light that you need to keep the stuff behind it dark and non-reflective, otherwise it would reflect through the fabric.

This is also why we didn't want to try this same experiment on the ceiling, the chance of altering the acoustics of the speaker are very well present. Next time we're going to renovate, I'll accept it as a challenge to design speakers that "hide away" in the ceiling.

I'm wondering what kind of stuff Dolby is using for their original Dolby Cinema build-outs. I've brought a flashlight one-time and shone at the ceiling, but there was nothing there that apparently reflected back.

[Kenneth Wuepper]

I have done many church organ installations and dealt with architects that insisted on saving money by not painting everything in the speaker or pipe space in flat black. Onece the customer said "it looks like seeing through a thin shirt". Never use anything even medium grey as it will be seen even through black speaker cloth.

[Daniel Fredrickson]

Some interesting thoughts on aesthetics here.

Admittedly, the JBL 9310 is a fairly ugly speaker. The way our surround speakers are hung, perhaps they're somewhat "decorative" but I don't know that I would consider the cabinet aesthetics to be too important.

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Thanks everyone for the opinions and suggestions! I've worked exclusively with JBL speakers over the years so I was mostly curious about personal preferences when it comes to speaker brands/models/etc... this helps a lot.

[Steve Guttag]

While you're at it...put some speakers on the back wall. Surrounds ALWAYS wrap the room like a horseshoe...even Mono surrounds did that. I, personally, liked the aesthetics of the JBL 8330A-8350 the best...they were little black squares on the wall and the speaker could be painted, if need be, to match its surroundings. The JBL 8320 is about 2/3rds of the larger speakers and a similar appearance. The QSC speakers all have a similar appearance to each other (15-degree sloped front with typically a multi sided rear/top) and most use the same wall mounts. They are also fairly unobtrusive. The JBL9300/9310...we've discussed but the larger 9320 and 9350 are aesthetically fine though they are MUCH more money.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I agree with Steve, surrounds should, if possible always go on the back too. If you can fit this into your budget, you'll notice an enormous difference in the way surround is being perceived. Even in 5.1 mixes that just copy the LS/RS channels for those speakers. The effect is even more pronounced in rooms that aren't as deep, as the one on the picture seems to be.

I like the design (the optics) of the JBL 8330A/8350 even more than the current range QSC speakers.

The QSC speakers have sharp edges and while being totally black, don't really look all that sophisticated. The rounded edges of the JBL 8330A for example, look aesthetically more pleasing and less bulky in my opinion. The JBL 9320/9350 look a lot better than their smaller siblings, but both their outer coating and the material the grill is made off, are more shiny than the QSC speakers and therefore more reflective. For some reason, they look more like generic PA speakers than surround speakers. In a relatively dark room, the QSC speakers will therefore be less intrusive.