Three of four new in-wall speakers that Snell expects to show at the Expo will feature designs intended to overcome the sonic challenges of in-wall installation.
The three models, for example, will feature rear enclosures to improve bass response and reduce distortion, and they’ll give installers flexibility in choosing mounting locations.
The fourth speaker is a coaxial speaker.
Completely enclosed in a wood cabinet, the AMC 2000, is an in-wall counterpart to the XA1900THX Ultra2 system, employing Snell’s eXpanding Array. It’s not yet THX-certified. The three-way design combines a dual-midrange and tweeter combination positioned between two woofers. The midrange/tweeter array is mounted on a separate plate and set at a fixed 20-degree lateral angle to improve imaging. The plate can be removed and rotated 90 degrees, making it possible to mount the speaker in any orientation and still cover the seating area effectively.
The AMC 2000 ships in the fourth quarter at a suggested $2,000 each.
The AMC 760 and AMC 720 are two-way designs with 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter mounted behind a wide-angle wave guide molded at a fixed 20-degree angle. The entire wave guide can be removed and rotated at 45-degree increments. The 6.5-inch AMC 760 and 5.25-inch AMC 720 feature aluminum enclosures and will retail for a suggested $1,800/pair and $1,500/ pair, respectively. Both models ship in October.
The AMC 680 is an 8-inch coax using the same tweeter design as the AMC 760 and AMC 720. Low resonance, non-plastic materials are used to reduce coloration in all models. The 680 ships in the fourth quarter at a suggested $850/pair.
