|
 The
demand for in-wall speakers has increased over the years with both new and older
homes taking advantage of distributed audio systems. Home owners no longer have
to put up with poor sounding in-wall speakers with inferior designs. Some of the
latest models from a variety of manufacturers rival the sound quality found in
some of the better boxed speakers. Phase Technology has a new Custom Installation
(CI) series of in-wall designs that will please both the interior decorator as
well as the audiophile. Having reviewed Phase Technology's V-10 5.1 home theater
speaker system a couple of years back, we were excited to see and hear what their
technology could do for in-wall speaker designs. We received a pair of their CI-20VII
full-range speakers that features a 6.5-inch injection-molded polypropylene woofer
and a 1" soft dome tweeter. The tweeter is designed to pivot so that the
high frequencies can be directed into the listening area. This is a nice feature
since high frequencies typically roll of rapidly as you get off-axis. Just below
the tweeter is a 3-position switch that adjusts the high frequency level ±3dB.
So now it is time to tackle the installation of these speakers.
Installation
The CI-20VII speaker uses a two-piece system that allows the flange to be mounted
before the speaker baffle assembly. This is a wise approach that makes the installation
easier to manage and avoids potential damage to the speakers when attaching it
to the wall. Possible upgrades can also be made with minimal effort since most
of the CI speaker line uses the same type of mounting flange. The flange requires
a cutout of 10.75" x 7.5" in the wall and can be mounted directly to
drywall using the four dog-leg clamps that automatically flip into position when
the screws are tightened. We mounted the speakers horizontally, close to studs
in the wall above a closet opening. This required us to use screws to hold down
the flange rather than benefit from the dog-leg clamps. Either way, the frame
is held secure in the opening and is ready to be mated with the speaker baffle.
A set of seals are included that attach to the rim of the frame and provide both
dampening and a seal for the speaker. We added some acoustic foam into the wall
behind the baffle to help reduce any coloration the wall might add to the sound.
The speaker has a Quick Mount system that uses metal clips on each corner
of the baffle that locks the assembly into place. The design firmly attaches the
speaker baffle to the frame.  The
CI-20VII woofer has a large magnet designed with a high temperature voice coil
for maximum performance and long term reliability. For those needing IR control
of their system, the front baffle also includes an IR window for a convenient
location for the IR repeater to be installed. The color of both the frame and
the grill closely matched our wall color, allowing it to blend seamlessly into
our decor. However, if you and have less benign colors in your room, the frame
and speaker grill can easily be painted to match the surroundings.
The
gold-plated terminal posts located on the main crossover board assembly make it
easy to attach the speaker wires. The spring-loaded and color-coded posts accept
stripped wire that get firmly pinched when inserted. In our installation we used
14-gauge Tributaries wires connected to our ZP100 Zone Player, part of the Sonos
Digital Music system. On the back of the speaker assembly, the woofer has an acoustically
transparent material covering the basket to prevent debris from getting into the
woofer cone area. This is a great idea that few in-wall speakers manufactures
have used. The potential problem of buzzing debris is alleviated with this design.
This can be even more of an issue with speakers that are mounted in the ceiling
where gravity forces loose material right onto the speaker assembly. Performance
Our intent was to use these speakers for listening to music in a typical bedroom
setting. They stood alone on their own without any other speaker complementing
or altering their sonic character. What we found was the detail and clarity of
these speakers was better than many in-walls we have heard and they played surprisingly
loud without the typical fatigue one gets from prolonged listening. Deep bass
response was inherently limited with its single 6.5-inch bass driver, but this
bass can be easily complemented with a subwoofer such as Phase Technologies' IW
200 in-wall sub. This subwoofer comes with an outboard power amplifier, called
the P200 and offers the bass extension some are looking for. However, even without
a subwoofer, the CI-20VII speakers produced very tight and well controlled bass
and certainly satisfied the requirements for a bedroom speaker system. Conclusion
The Phase Technology CI-20VII in-wall speakers are a quality product from a design,
construction and performance standpoint. We played a variety of music through
the speakers and were always impressed with the sonic experience we received.
The CI-20VII design is based on a 6.5-inch woofer, yet they sounded as good as
many of the 8-inch models in our opinion. While bass extension can certainly be
limited with these smaller in-wall speakers, these little gems produced tight
bass with excellent detail. The Phase Technology CI-20VII are definitely worth
an audition and their small size have additional advantages. -
Kevin Nakano | 
