YAMAHA NS-IW660 3-Way In-Wall Speaker System for Custom Install, White

I installed a pair of these in my living room (open concept, high ceilings) for background music. They sound fantastic in the living room and still have respectable sound in the dining room, kitchen, or even upstairs. Instructions are solid and the template was spot on. By far the most difficult part was determining the ideal location to place them (I went just above outlet height and spaced about fifteen feet apart) and how you are going to run the cables. I traced the template with a pencil, cut it out with a drywall saw, removed the insulation, ran the cables, REPLACED the insulation (these speakers are designed to have insulation behind them for a fuller and more stable sound), put the speaker in the hole, tensioned four Philips screws and I was done. At this price point these are hard to beat. You get a three way design, kevlar woofer, titanium tweeter, adjustable high level volume, and true binding posts rather than cheap spring clips. I've found the sound quality to be very good for a wide range of music and talk radio. True deep bass is obviously lacking but that will be true of any in wall unit and I think the frequency response is exceptional and well balanced. I was also looking at Polks, Monoprice, and other options but am very happy with these. Technical details: Pair of speakers used in living room Hooked up to older Yamaha v663 receiver out in the garage (also drives 3 outdoor Yamaha speakers and a pair of older Klipsch in the garage) Mediabridge 14AWG CL2 rated cable used for the install (90' for left and 70' for right). I ran this through the hole I cut, down into the crawlspace, through and then out the crawlspace, and finally into the detached garage. Obviously your install will differ. Monoprice screw type banana plugs on both ends Used primarily for FM radio or Chromecast (Pandora, Spotify, or anything I can get to play on my Android phone using the cast device function).

Let me start off by saying I built a new home and pre-wired a 7.2 surround sound setup. The room is 20'L x15'W x10'H. I did not want towers or bookshelf speakers. I wanted my front right and left speakers installed in the wall directly beside my TV, and all the other speakers mounted in the ceiling, with the exception of my subs which are to be located on the floor of the wall where the TV is located. I knew going in to my plans that my wife would flip if I had any kind of speaker set up that was obtrusive. Keeping that in mind, I wanted speakers that were less noticeable. I also wanted durable speakers in the mid price range. Nothing too expensive, but not too cheap either. Especially since I would be cutting holes in the wall and ceiling. So I started with the purchase of a Yamaha receiver, the RX V-673. It allows for a zone 2 speaker setup for my back porch, along with all the bells and whistles of airplay through my iPhone and an app to control everything. These speakers were my first speakers to add to my setup. I did a lot of research because I was worried about the sound balance since I would be using these as my right and left front speakers. I read all the reviews and knew that the screens on these speakers would not be flat, as one person said it had a dimension to it. And they were correct. This speaker could have a flatter screen (grill cover), but for some reason yamaha decided to add the curvature at the top and bottom, which makes these speakers very noticeable on my front wall. So while my wife was out of town, I installed these and got chewed out when she got back, because admittedly, they are a little on the obtrusive side. They are paintable, but I recommend a lot of patience. If you have a wall color like me that is hard to match with a spray paint, then I recommend watering down the paint and use multiple coats of paint to get the grill covers the color you need them to be. The small holes will get clogged with paint otherwise and it's extremely difficult to get the paint out of the holes. When paint did clog holes, I just pushed the paint brush down through the holes repeatedly and they disappeared. As for the installation, I recommend using a drywall hand saw or jabsaw as it's called, and go slow. Use the template that's provided because it is accurate. I already had insulation in the wall, but if you don't, you might want to add some just behind the speakers. The longest part of the install was actually measuring on both sides of the TV so that the speakers were perfectly centered. Cutting the drywall and hanging the speaker took less than 5 minutes on each speaker. As for sound, I was thoroughly impressed. I turned the volume up to as comfortably loud as I could and they never distorted. Listening to music or movies, these speakers provide a crisp, clear sound with all the highs and mids as you might expect from these types of speakers. They have thump for the low registers, but let me just say that these speakers are NOT made to rattle the glass windows in your room with bass. They will rattle your glass because of how loud they can reach, but booming bass is the subs job, not these speakers. I'm no audiophile, but I really don't think I would notice a better sound that would justify spending more money when this one does more volume and sound quality than I will ever need anyway. I added a BIC F-12 sub not long after i installed these two speakers. So all I currently have is a 2 ch speaker setup with that monster ours sub from BIC. My first movie test was Man of Steel. Oh WOW, these speakers delivered, more than I could have ever hoped for. My wife made me turn them down because I wanted to really push them, and they held up without distorting. In my opinion, if you can turn a speaker to a volume that makes it uncomfortable to listen to, and it can still go louder, that's a good speaker! Oh, and that BIC 12" sub, it would shatter my windows if I didn't adjust the volume down on it, because the bass coming from that speaker shakes my furniture. I highly recommend these speakers on sound quality and value. If you have a wife that doesn't like obtrusive wall speakers, you might want to pass on these, lol. As for the rest of my setup, I'm still working on it, but I will definitely have to find better hidden speakers for the ceiling.

Hooked these speakers up as my rear and surround sound in my 7.2 setup. They sound amazing. Im no audiophile but the mids and tweeters are directional and sound crystal clear. The woofer portion doesnt produce mush bass so youll want to get a sub with these. Here is a tip for installing!!! loosen the screws on the 4 mounting tabs. It will alow them to wobble. Now if you dont have any insulation in your walls simply slide it into the wall and tighten. Youll likely be good. BUT if you do have insulation these speakers can be tricky to install. The reason is the small arms that swing out when you turn the screw, if the arms meet any resistance(ie insulation) they wont rotate to a full 90 deg angle and will bind and can break! So the trick i did was to remove the 4 screws that hold the mid and woofer speaker. The two speakers will still be held in by the wires so be gentle! The soeakers will now move out enough to allow you to stick you hand inside the wall and rotate the tab the full 90 degrees. Then with your other hand tighten the hold down screw and once it starts pulling in toward the drywall your good! Now repeat the process! Also it helps if pre rotate two of the tabs to the full 90 degrees, slide that side of the speaker into the wall first and it will help hold it into the wall while you unscrew the woofer/mid. I didnt break any hold down brackets doing it this way. For the price and sound quality i would have given these speakers a 5, but because the install was a bit more tedious i gave it 4.