Yet another speaker company (this time Axiom) is jumping into the ’speaker to accompany plasma TVs’ market with their new architectural series which appears to both recess into the wall and stick out of it. While they claim it is the best of both worlds, it seems to be the worst of both as well. It requires that you punch holes in your walls (one of the big problems with in-walls for renters or the DIY declined) and still have something sticking out of the wall (appearing like a thinner speaker had been hung on the wall). To me, the major benefit of on-walls is that you don’t have to punch holes in the wall and the major benefit of in-walls is near invisibility - these new entries into the field have neither, so I don’t understand the product benefit. I suppose the idea is that by giving up both of these benefits, you’ll get better sound, but there are good sounding in-walls and on-walls out there.
In-wall speakers are certainly nothing new, but many companies have ventured into the slim on-wall speaker market recently, banking on the popularity of plasma and LCD TVs. Many of the mainstream companies (Sony, Polk, Yamaha, etc) have products in this space and more audiophile oriented companies like Magnepan, Vienna Acoustics and B&W have also released plasma-friendly speaker lines. It has become a competitive niche of the speaker market, so any new entrants better bring it.
