Yamaha NS-IW960 6.5" 2-Way In-Wall Speaker System for Custom Installations (White)

This is an awesome speaker as a whole. It serves as my center channel directly below my 50" Panasonic plasma. The sound quality is very good. Installation was easy if you are technically inclined. This speaker was a bit longer than other LCR speakers I looked at in this price range. I decided to go with it partially for that reason (so it wouldn't look so small under the tv). I hand painted the trim in less than 10" with a brush. The grill took two coats with a home depot handheld sprayer (cartridge type, $10). The paint was diluted with water at least 10 fold. If a whole fills with paint simply blow on it to pop it out. The speaker is visible, but blends right into the wall. Given the inexspensive price and all of this, I couldn't be more pleased.

Recently upgraded my receiver and wanted to clean up my home theater space so I decided to get rid of my bookshelf speakers and mount something in the wall. Having always been a fan of Yamaha, I took a look at their in-wall line and liked the look of the 760s and 960s. Specs were very similar between their single-woofer models and the duals and I thought that I'd like the look of the duals a bit more; and for slightly more ($20 per speaker) the 960s add 20W of power and have Kevlar woofers, which I am hoping may last a little longer than the coated paper.

Have had them for several months now so they've had time to break in, and these are nice, natural-sounding speakers. I listen to music CDs or concert DVDs more than movies and, when in pure stereo mode, these 960s have a very life-like staging. If you have a passive subwoofer or one with relatively low power, you may want to opt for an 8-inch single-woofer model, like the Polk MC85, that will give you a deeper response; if you have a decent sub and need your fronts to concentrate on the mids and highs, the 960s should be quite pleasing. And with handling of 150W, they can fill a decent sized room with no problem.

As far as installation, these were a breeze. Supplied is a template - simply trace it and cut out your drywall. Attach your speaker wire to the binding posts, press the speaker into the hole and tighten the 6 screws. And if you're painting them before installation, Yamaha includes a plastic tray that fits snuggly into the groove where the grill fits - just put that in place and spray paint the frames, and do the grills as well. I'd suggest spraying both sides of the grill to make sure you've covered the inside of the holes. I matched them to my wall color and they blend into the decor nicely; if you'd rather paint them black to compliment your flat-screen monitor, I'm sure that would look great as well.

In all, the 960s are a solid flush-mount speaker. Good power, nice sound and simple installation. Decent buy at $199 each, but a great buy from Amazon at under $100 each.