Well, I've gone with the in-wall speakers, much to my wifes pleasure. I've got B&W Signature 7NT's for the front left & right, a CWM Cinema for the center, CWM 800 for side surrounds and CWM 650 for the rears. My new Outlaw 950 pre, and 770 amp arrived a couple days ago.

The first night, like a kid at Christmas, I took the speakers out of their box and wired them up directly. Big mistake. Nothing worse than spending gobs-o-money and having it sound like %&#$. I took a deep breath and finally went to sleep. The next morning I installed the side and rear surrounds. I have the rear ones in a vertical section of our vaulted ceiling so they back up into the attic (not a closed wall cavity). I built some speaker boxes (1'650 cu/in) out of scrap 3/4" OSB. The side surrounds were easier since they went into standard wall cavities. The only "gotcha" is that one wall is an interior (hollow) and the other is exterior (filled with fiberglass). I stuffed some insulation in the hollow wall above and below the speaker and they both sound reasonable balanced. I'll have to come back to that later and do some fine tweeking.

I'm having an entertainment center built (I can build anything out of metal but can't do much with wood) to hold the front L & R and center channels. Each speaker enclosure has a volume of about 9'500 cu/in (which I may have to reduce). I'm still waiting for the cabinetry, so I can't get too serious about sound yet. The center channel speaker is magnetically sheiled so I'm not to nervous there, but the left & right are not sheilded. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I have them far enough away from the TV (rainbows are pretty but not on my monitor).

I'll keep everyone posted. Right now I'm figuring out the 950 and it's remote. My initial gut feeling is that I'm happy I went with the bigger amp. The speakers seem to love (and require) lots of power.

Dane, any updates on subwoofer?

Well, I've got the entertainment center in the house and installed all the in-wall speakers, and hooked up my new 950 & 970.

It sounds pretty bad at all but monster sound levels. Most of my testing is on music where the problem is more pronounced than with a movie. Everything appears to be functioning, but is lacking in the middle tones (almost like a 3 way speaker missing it's middle speaker). I have spoken with the B&W tech support and have reviewed all the enclosure volumes for my speakers. I have run the system with and without the sub. I've tried running each pair of speakers on their own to isolate any problems. Now I am trying to break the speakers in quickly by running it while I'm away at work. Heck, I've even started reading the manual for my 950!!!

The speakers have about 10 hours of moderate use on them and the highs have softened a bit. I almost think there is something I'm doing wrong with the 950. I've adjusted the trebble and bass through the onscreen menus, but I'm still missing the middle. The sound is similar across all the surround modes.

Oh, the wife is happy. She loves the in-walls since there are no speakers around the room.

Hi Dane-- earlier you said: If your mains are the B&W CDM 7NT series and you have put them in a cabinet, that will definately contribute to your problem. These are a vented box design that is ported front and rear. These types of speakers are designed to be installed at least 18'-24" away from the nearest reflective surfaces, like walls, etc. My guess is you have an abundance of muddy (boomy) base which is smothering the midrange. You need to get them out in the open so they can "breathe"! (My apologies if I have misunderstood where you have located your mains or if they are a model I am not familiar with.) Best wishes, and good luck!

I agree with the speaker placement. Almost any speaker, ported or not, needs to be properly positioned (usually certain distances from surrounding walls and distance apart). At times this is not convenient and the sound becomes very compromised.

Hi Dane, With all your detail on your speaker choice TT’s and setup, I assume you’ve used an SPL meter to calibrate the speakers? If done already, - I’m sure Steve’s and MCH comments will help with what needs to be done.

If not you can get some really ‘flat’ sound out the system, until the speakers are calibrated. Which could contribute to the end result when combined with other needed adjustments such as enclosure or placement.

Here's what I've got from B&W:
center: CWM Cinema
Front Left & Right: Signature 7NT
Side Left & Right: CWM 800
Back Left & Right: CWM 650

All of the speakers are "in-walls" so they are intended to be mounted in an unported enclosure (your wall). Do you think a port in the rear would help clear up the bass and let the mid-range come through?

B&W tech support says that they are designed for an infinite case volume so the size of the enclosure should not matter. They also mentioned that a smaller enclosure will be tighter and more accurate while a larger volume will increase the bass but it will be less accurate. They also suggested filling (or at least partially) the enclosure to help dampen and negate the enclosures affect.

So far I have only tried filling my enclosure about 1/4 of the way with fiberglass. I'll try filling it more. It would be a pain, but I can install an internal baffle to cut their volume if the fiberglass does not help.

Thanks for the clarification Dane. I have not heard of the "Signature 7NT" in-wall speakers and thought perhaps you were referring to the standard 7NT model- hence my apologies in advance. I would guess they are not designed to be mounted in a ported enclosure (or wall) if they are true "in-walls". Take SLL's advice and calibrate using the Radio Shack meter-- it will make a big difference in performance. Keep working at it- hopefully it will all gel for you soon.

I have the system calibrated. I used the Avia CD and the Radio Shack audio meter. First, on the video side there was very little to do to the 40" Sony XBR TV. It was in very good calibration right out of the box, just a few tweeks.

I had a little more to do with the audio set-up. Side-to-side things were good, but I did have to add a couple db to the rear pairs. I also had to turn the sub way down.

I am having trouble getting good performance out of my sub now that I have changed everything (new: speakers, Outlaw pre & amp and put a big entertainment center right next to it). I am testing the B&W speakers with and without the sub to make sure it is not part of the problem. I am also starting to move the sub around looking for a better spot. It's hard surfaces on four sides, so it's coming through pretty strong.

Well, dampening the enclosures is working. I am now playing with varying amounts of fiberglass and different densities of foam to control the sound. It seems that the in-walls don't like having much of an enclosure behind them at all. Right now I've got the enclosure space about 60 filled with fiberglass (regular house insulation) and 15% open cell foam (used for upholstry). I need to get more materials to continue testing, but having a variety of materials (different densities) seems to give the best sound. At least it has improved to the point that I am no longer embarassed at having spent so much money. My wife is happy with the appearance, and finally I am getting happy with the sound. I had a dramatic improvement when I moved the sub about two feet. I still get the boost from the floor and wall, but getting it away from the back wall and entertainment center removed the boomieness.