Articles and whitepapers

Product Article: Simplify Your Home Cinema Installs with the RBH Sound MC-553 In-Wall and WM-30IC On-Wall LCR Speakers (4/3/2008)

By Gary Tanner, RBH Sound

As the popularity of home cinemas continues to grow, custom installers are faced with numerous challenges. These challenges include product offering, product training, price points and ease of install and use. One of the more daunting issues faced by custom installers is that of trying to fit a complete 5.1 or 7.1 home cinema system into a rather small space. As any custom installer knows, space is a premium. We have to deal with older buildings that were not constructed with technology in mind. Even in new construction, we have to compete with all the other products that are going into the home. RBH Sound, one of America's leading manufacturers of high-performance audio products, has a product that can simplify your installation and reduce some of the space concerns.

Challenging spaces

As we follow the evolution of home cinemas, we see the natural transition of products and systems that were developed for and purchased by the 'technology-minded' people. You know who they are, they are the ones who want the latest and greatest technology. Generally speaking, we really like theses forward-looking people. They were instrumental in bringing the category of home cinema to the stage of mass adoption, what with all the 'keeping up with the neighbours' and taking every opportunity afforded them to 'show off' their home cinema to the family down the lane.

But now we are faced with a new challenge. The manufacturers of home cinema products are offering less expensive, easier to use home cinema products. These products have made home cinemas more affordable for the average family, opening a whole new market for custom installers. This is especially true for the 'casual' home cinema setting. Unlike the dedicated home cinema that comes complete with home cinema seating, a top-of-the-line projector and screen and high-performance, strategically-placed speakers; the casual home cinema is a sitting room or family room that is having a home cinema system added. These can be the most challenging installs of all. Especially since the room in which you are installing a home cinema is still being used for a function other than entertainment.

A good example of this is a family room with a fireplace. A large number of flatscreen TVs are mounted above the fireplace. Most of the time, installing speakers on the left and right of the TV is not an issue, there is plenty of space. But the centre channel, that can be a real problem. All too often there is not enough space between the bottom of the flatscreen TV and the fireplace mantel to mount a centre-channel speaker. And even if there is, many a spouse and decorator have complained about the resulting appearance. The addition of the centre channel destroys the symmetry of the install and can be aesthetically undesirable.

The MC-553 in-wall and WM-30IC on-wall LCR speakers

The MC-553 in-wall and proposed WM-30IC on-wall LCR speakers from RBH Sound provide a solution to this challenge. The MC-553 and WM-30IC LCR speakers have an integrated centre channel speaker built into them. This means that when a custom installer installs the left and right speaker, they have in-fact also installed the centre-channel speaker. You get full three-channel performance from two speakers. Unlike earlier products that use processing to create a ghost or phantom centre channel, this design results in true three-channel output. Nothing is fabricated.

The RBH Sound MC-553 in-wall (left) and WM-30IC on-wall (right) speakers.

The MC-553 in-wall and WM-30IC have two sets of connection posts on them. One set provides signal to the top three drivers (two 6.5" aluminium woofers and one 1" pivoting aluminium tweeter), while the other set of connection posts provides signal to the bottom two drivers (one 6.5" aluminium woofer and one 1" pivoting aluminium tweeter). The custom installer would run a speaker wire from the front left output of the amplifier to the top set of connection posts on the front left speaker. They would also run a speaker wire from the front right output of the amplifier to the top set of connection posts on the front right speaker. The centre channel is activated by running a speaker wire from the centre channel output on the amplifier to the bottom set of connection posts on the left speaker, which is then daisy chained over to the bottom set of connectors on the right speaker. Be aware that this will result in a 16-Ohm load for the centre channel, so you will need to adjust your home cinema processor accordingly. Additionally, a custom installer can bridge the two sets of connection posts on the speaker a get a traditional LCR speaker.

Conclusion

So let's go back to the install above the fireplace. With the MC-553 in-wall LCR speaker or the WM-30IC on-wall LCR speaker, there is no longer a worry about how much space exists between the bottom of the flatpanel TV and the fireplace mantel. These speakers eliminate that concern. Additionally, these speakers will really help in any install where you do not want to break-up the symmetry of the install by adding a centre channel speaker above or below the TV. Installation is simple and, as previously mentioned, the result is a true three-channel sound stage.

Gary Tanner is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for RBH Sound. For over thirty years, RBH Sound has been engineering and manufacturing award-winning high-performance home audio products.

www.rbhsound.com