All you need to know about the new in-wall and in-ceiling speakers from Monitor Audio
Monitor Audio are a leading specialist speaker company from England best known for the high quality sound and finish of their domestic speakers. They have transfered this expertise to deliver a range of built in options that are musically superior but still represent great value for money.Within their range, there are 3 really stand-out designs: the C265 LCR ceiling, 280 and 380 LCRs in both ceiling and wall mount configurations.What makes these special is Monitor Audios unique 3 way configuration and the driver technology plucked straight out of their best domestic speakers.
Now if you are building speakers in, one thing is for certain and that is that you want to get it right first time because it's not going to be a simple job to change things once they are in and the house or room is finished. With any speaker that is built in, it's self evident that they can't be moved - so being able to effectively align the speakers to where you are going to listen after installation is vital. SpeakerCraft were first off the blocks with their AIM designs which pivoted both bass driver and tweeter. But Monitor Audio have added another level of refinement again to this concept with their radical dual concentric midrange and tweeter assembly. This uses a large 5 inch metal dome midrange driver combined with centrally mounted high frequency unit - and the whole assembly can pivot.
This driver technology gives fantastic midrange quality - voices are much clearer as are most instruments - and the sound is much more coherent - as Linn might have put it, everyone is playing together. While bass is effectively omni directional - ie it radiates out evenly from source, we can very easily pick out where midrange and treble signals are coming from and they are are far more directional - in other words they don’t spread so well and you have to align speakers to get both an even balance of sound and stero imaging. Another factor that makes these new Monitor Audios work so well is the dome of the midrange - this gives a much better spread of sound than a normal cone driver.
In addition to the highly specified drivers, these speakers feature front panel adjustment for boundary compensation, treble level (and in the case of the 380) midrange level, allowing you to fine tune the overall response once installed and connected. Given the identical size of the two upper models you might want to know the difference between the 280 and 380 - the 380 is their flagship model with a better bass driver - it is completely different and built to a much higher specification giving a signficant and worthwhile improvement over the 280 for just $150 per unit - if you can afford it, we really reccomend the better option as we’ve heard how much better again they are. That said, the 280s are the ones to beat at $500 each.
The bottom line is that these are the speakers you are after if you want both high levels of sound quality and value - the performance is directly comparable to what you’ll get with Monitor Audio's RX Silver range.
While our own interests are primarily musical and the vast majority of our installations are in stereo pairs, the Monitor Audios make fantastic speakers for surround systems. In a perfect world, we would always specify the same speakers front, centre and surround. In reality, you almost always have to mix in-wall with in-ceiling, or sizes to meet budgets - there are plenty of options within the range to allow you to do this consistently - the goal is always to maintain consistent quality and timbre. For instance you can have the W280LCRs in front and the C265 LCRs as surrounds. Tell us about your plans and we’ll put togther the options for you.
If looking at a number of rooms, it's OK to compromise a little, especially in smaller spaces.That’s why we've got more affordable options from Monitor Audio starting at just $225 a speaker. The Dual tweeter option is great for bathrooms as it cuts down on ceiling clutter. All models are splash and humidity proof for installation in shower rooms or outside in soffits. The aluminium alloy grilles offer rust-free performance and longevity and feature dust protection covers that are designed to prevent the ingress of dirt or dust into the driver and crossover. All models are paint-able to blend with the living environment. A paint mask and additional scrim material are provided for trouble free painting.
And finally if you have places outside where a built in speaker isn’t practical, Monitor Audio make a cute little weatherproof version of the well proven Radius speakers - these are more compact than our other outdoor options from Speakcraft, come in a choice of black or white and have all mounting supplied for just $600 a pair.
Monitor Audio In-Built speaker options.
Main speakers
265 LCR - 6.5" bas driver, 120w 3 way pivoting speaker system - ceiling only $400 each.
280LCR 3 way 150w system, 8” bass driver with pivoting mid/tweeter assembly in wall or ceiling mount $500 each.
380 LCR Flagship model - all features of 2680LCR with higher quality bass driver $650 each.
General use in-celing speakers
C 165 - 6.5", 65w Distributed audio speaker $225 each
C 165 T2 - 6.5", 65w Dual-Tweeter speaker $300 each (only one needed per room)
C 265 - 6.5", 75w Distributed audio speaker each$325
C 280 - 8", 120w Distributed audio speaker each $375
Outdoor Speakers
Climate 10 - Black, White $600 the pair
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