Help deciding what speakers!

[gamalot]

I am sure this has been kicked around alot here but some guidance will be appreciated.

I am a stereo buff and not up to speed at all with HT setups.

My brother just bought a Denon 2807 receiver and Sony 46" LCD TV with HDMI and all the goodies. He already has Bose 901s and a Klipsh center and Sub. The 901s fit as rears in his room and HE LIKES them.

He needs a nice set of front speakers yet there simply is no room for any that I can see. The only option available is to hang a set of fronts on the wall and above his TV. No wall space is left for floor standers or towers so the wall mount is a must.

I need some ideas of what speakers might be decent for this type of application. I also feel, and this is from my stereo background, that small cubes are not going to produce the SPLs he wants from front speakers.

They can't be in wall and they can't be overly large hanging on the wall so I am at a big loss in directing him toward the right ones. The wall is substantial with 3/4" wood T&G planking from floor to ceiling so weight is not a big issue.

Some rooms just were not designed with HT or even stereo in mind so how to overcome such problems is always a good discussion.

Any ideas?

Thank you

Gary

[kfalls]

Wow, I'm surprised someone hasn't jumped on this. There are many options on the market for this type of speaker, especially in the past 3-4 years. If you do a Google search on "Plasma speakers" you should get a number of hits for speakers meant to be used with a Plasma-type (flat screen) display.

Many systems are very good and have substantial price tags. I believe you'll also find many to be very dynamic and should satisfy the need for adequate SPL levels.

Has he thought about in-walls? They're easy enough to install, but I think they have a tendency to be boomy, especially on internal walls without insulation to absorb stray vibration. Enclosed in-walls (speakers not open open on the back) would work, but would lack bass. Since he has a sub this wouldn't be a problem.

If he's just getting into HT, the rest of the system should be fine. I'm not wild about Bose 901s, but they would provide a difuse ambience for most surround listening. But, with Dolby Digital (AC3) or any of the newer formats using full-range surrounds effects or multi-channel analog (SACD, DVD-Audio) you'll want full-range rears, less difusion, to hear the cues provided for the discrete surround affects and a more three dimentional sound.