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I don’t think I will get much sympathy but here goes.  We remodelled our living area last year and my husband would not do the research or perhaps did not care if the speakers (for surround sound) were hidden in the wall behind the primary seating area(which was my desire but not his). As a result the wiring /speakers which could have been in the wall are not.

So we have two Era 300 white speakers and one white sub woofer (either the gen 3 or 4)- I do not know which. The modern, minimalist style condo (all white neutral colors) is open plan with the following rooms all open to each other and very few full height walls: living room(with the big TV, sonos beam or Arc(?) below the TV, an adjacent den, kitchen and dining room.  The sofa is against a 18’ h wall. Ceiling is sloped. Other than the TV wall,  which is actually not a solid wall but a custom wood 16’H room divider directly across from the sectional, there is no other wall nearby other than glass patio sliders. I did not want to have the Era 300 sitting on a small accent table at end of the sectional. It is the very first thing one sees as they enter the condo. I really don’t want to see it no matter how nicely designed it is.  My husband of course does not care and thinks is it invisible.  The Era 300 is actually rather large so it is definitely not invisible. I would rather not have an accent table at all and if I have one it will be a smallish italian and modern type style so the speaker would take up the whole surface.  

As I was so unhappy with the speaker on the temporary side table, I thought it was a good idea to purchase the white stands for the speakers(about 34-36” h). However now the room is losing the minimalist look and the two speakers on the stand look like two little people/aliens on each side of the sectional.  They are my biggest problem.  I will get to the sub woofer later.  But having looked at different styles of end tables which might allow the speaker to sit on a lower shelf but not liking any of those design options I am trying to figure out if I can hang these speakers high up on the wall (but they will still be obvious, or perhaps send my spouse on a vacation and buy new in-wall speakers and have them installed in the wall but I do not know how they get wired to the TV across the room.  The sloped ceiling which is 14’ to 18.5’, with deep skylights,  makes this all the more difficult as none of the contractors wants to go into the attic to attempt wiring. 

Any great suggestions?  Is there a smaller speaker that will perform as well as the ERA 300 that is less obvious visually and I could purchase those instead?  Also my husband does not want me putting the Era speakers lower than ear level.  So even my idea of designing an end table with a lower shelf apparently is not to his liking and may affect the quality of the surround sound(?). 

Now for the sub woofer.  It is currently at the far end of the sectional so at least it is not seen as you enter the living area but with the sub woofer next to the sofa and the little “alien” speaker stand  nest to the woofer there is no floor space for a floor lamp and this small area of floor space is now crowded with sonos stuff. I might be able to get a custom end table here and put the woofer under it and take the speaker off the stand and back on the table.

Based on that location problem,  I am currently planning to get an electrician over to wire and then hang a light pendant from the 15.5” ceiling above this corner as I do not want a crowded, narrow end table. At least I have options for lights even if difficult to install. 

The size of the Era 300 is a problem for me and the fact that it needs air space on three sides is a bit limiting, design wise,  as some of the tables I have found are either glass or  metal or the space for the Era 300 would not allow good air space around the unit.  

We purchased through Best Buy and they were fine to work with. I even had their audio specialist come out last year but my husband was here and would not let him discuss the in-wall speakers. (My husband felt in part that in-wall are not as good in sound quality as the Era 300.) Plus guys all think that the speakers and woofers are literally invisible. The woofer does not fit behind the sofa or under the sofa.  Perhaps if I can put it in the TV divider wall cabinet or in another nearby room that would help me declutter the living room but I don’t want to compromise sound. I am just not sure what can or cannot be done and what alternative options I might consider.  

 Any and all brilliant ideas appreciated.  

You are caught between two often conflicting principles — the laws of physics and your aesthetic principles. In this case the laws of physics require that the ERA 300’s cannot be placed inside a cabinet or wall, they should be placed behind the listening position at or slightly above ear level. Failure to follow these rules will result in greatly diminished sound quality. In-wall rear speakers cannot deliver full sound quality for movies.

With respect to the physics, a SUB sounds best if it is vaguely in the same plane as the front speakers. It’s no big deal if the SUB is behind or under a piece of furniture. You could put a SUB in a basket. Placing SUB in another room would create many issues.

You can get fabric covers for the Era-300s that might be less obtrusive.

https://www.amazon.com/Soundskins-Speaker-Cover-Accessories-Compatible/dp/B0CX23SHYM/ref=sr_1_8

https://www.amazon.com/Soundskins-Sonos-Textile-Cover-Charcoal/dp/B07F6FZDXV/ref=sxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa

My wife agrees with you on the 300s in the main room, she banished them to my office where I really love the sound they give me playing Atmos music. She wasn’t really happy with the Era-100s looks but she allowed a pair of them as they weren’t much bigger than the Play 1s they replaced. Not in a perfect position here but they seem more location flexible than the 300s.

The Era 100/300 can both be put on wall mounts and all they need is power which is usually easy to run up the wall if there is an existing outlet on it. You can get a recessed power/audio wall box that you can hide the cord and plug inside, that really helps appearance and is only a few bucks more than a plain plug. Get ones with two outlets and you have a power source for wall-hanging decorations or lights.

Doing the wall mount I’d really want to keep the sound from the 300s as they won’t be that much more noticeable than the 100s. While ear height is the preferred location going higher isn’t going to be an awful choice. If he is worried have him make some temporary free-standing mounts and try the various height possibilities for sound versus appearance.

My Sub got the same “unwelcome” here, being too cheap to get a SoundSkin I hand stitched a cover that make the Sub less obtrusive. Also bug and kid proofs it a bit too.

The Sub could also be positioned elsewhere, plug it into an extension cord and move it around to see where it sounds decent. Flat on the floor under the couch or flat to the wall behind the couch are both often good positions.

 

There is another approach, but it is not compatible with SONOS. You would need to use traditional equipment with multiple wired speakers. There are in-wall “invisible” speakers that cannot be visually detected. You’d need a bunch of these and they’d be expensive to install and may not workout in your space if there are large windows where the physics would require a buried invisible speaker.

With respect to the physics, a SUB sounds best if it is vaguely in the same plane as the front speakers. It’s no big deal if the SUB is behind or under a piece of furniture. You could put a SUB in a basket. Placing SUB in another room would create many issues.

He types faster than I do!

How about two Subs, under a nice glass tabletop making for a pretty attractive coffee table in front of the couch?

Same up front making them into a TV stand?

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