1/13    I just bought a house. I'm gutting the walls right now. I'm debating
        2 in-wall speakers vs 4 normal speakers. Pros vs Cons? Where my TV is,
        I'm going to do 5+1 surround, this is for the more formal living room.
        \_ Is it a pre-1970 house (lead paint=>lead dust contamination)?
           \_ yes. pre-WWII.
              \_ Hmmmm, well children are more susceptible to lead
                 poisoning, so if yer worried, get tested. A normal
                 vacuum won't work for cleanup (lead dust is too fine
                 to be caught by normal filters - I think you may need
                 a HEPA filter). Just an FYI in case it interests ya.
                 \_ thanks. you have to sign a million disclosure acceptances
                    when buying an older home. once the house is repainted,
                    are there still hazards (i only skimmed teh disclosures).
        \_ very soon, half of the responses below will be posted by jealous
           poornuts who will tell you that it's stupid to buy a house in the
           Bay Area
           \_ still can't get over it, eh?
           \_ i don't live in the bay area
        \_ it's so stupid to buy a house in the bay area!  i'm doing much
           better renting and voting for people that will write and strictly
           enforce draconian rent control laws which lower the quality of
           rental housing while reducing availability!  so take that! you
           evil and foolish home owner!  hah!
           \_ did i say anything about the bay area or CA for that matter?
              \_  try posting a random string of ASCII characters, and see
                  how long it takes to turn into a Bay Area housing flame
                  war.  of course, what people on both sides refuse to
                  acknowlege is that the common denominator of crapulence
                  is the Bay Area, not renting or owning.  I'd rather
                  own *or* rent anywhere but the Bay Area than own *or*
                  rent in the Bay Area.  You've all fucked yourselves with
                  your communal idiocy on renatl policy, and yes, the
                  price of housing is a ridiculous bubble in the bay area.
        \_ Are you gutting plaster walls and replacing with dry wall? I
           wouldn't. As for speakers, WTF do you want them in the wall?
           They are going to be as useful as the intercoms that people
           used to love to install.
        \_ in-wall vs "box" speakers is a waf question, imo.  in the past,
           i've found in-wall speakers acoustically compromised.  if you
           openning walls and laying in wires, why limit yourself to 5.1?
        \_ Your question boils down easily:  How much do you value the
           aesthetics of in-wall speakers?  That's a question motd can't
           answer for you.  As far as convenience, normal speakers
           are better: easier to upgrade, easier to install.  As far as
           sound quality, normal speakers are better: speakers require
           a cushion of air behind them to correctly spatialize the
           sound.  The only advantage in-wall speakers have is aesthetics.
           Also, if you don't like cables everywhere, consider just
           in-walling your cables, and feed them through a jack.  -nivra
           \_ perfect answer, thanks.