I purchased 3 and hooked them in a LCR setup for my basement 7.1 theater and I’m amazed with the clear sound I’m getting out of the 3 front speakers and the 4 NS-IW470- 6.5″ surround speakers also Yamaha, I would recommend this set up to anyone.

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.

We selected this speaker as a center channel for our home theater system. The sound is fantastic, but because of the size, it won’t fit between two studs, so you end up having to cut studs and frame around the speaker. It would be a 5-star product for vertical installation (which would be EXTREMELY easy, but for horizontal installation…Let’s just say that I would probably choose something else if I were to do it again.

First let me start by saying this thing sounds great. The bad thing is most houses have 16″ stud spacing. If you are actually constructing a room, plan for this. You’ll need 24″ stud spacing. Now, if this fits the bill and you’re able to fit this, you’ll love it. The clarity is excellent. You hear every bit of what you should with a center channel. The dual kevlar woofers are well built, the tweeter is crisp, construction quality is top notch, and the grill is elegantly curved versus flat. I didn’t use the “glue” to hold the grill on. It stays on without the mess. The color, like most in wall or in ceiling speakers, is more off white, so don’t expect brilliant white. I gave it a 4 star because of the width restriction.

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.

These speaker cabinets are not small for in wall applications, so pay attention to the product dimensions. The sound is very good for the price. Installation requires that you pay attention to directions, it is easy enough to break off the plastic clamps that hook into the drywall behind the speaker if you use a power screw driver so exercise some care with this detail! These are used for side and rear speakers on a 7.1 surround sound Pioneer Elite sound system at 110 watts per channel with good results. Finding a reasonably priced speaker with decent sound for use at these power levels is not always easy and these Yamaha’s fit the bill nicely.

Great product. Yamaha quality in every aspect. These are being used as left and right front speakers and the sound matches well with the center channel (yamaha ns-c225) and rear surrounds (yamaha ns-iw360c).

Works great as my center channel. Be aware that it is wider than typical 2×4 spacing if mounting horizontally. I had to remove a part of a stud and build a header to support this as vertical mounting was not an option.

Great sounding speaker to my ears. I use one of these for the center channel in an office training room (7.2 surround system) and it seems well suited for this. No distortion all the way up to max volume when the amp starts to clip. Voices and center channel sounds very clear.

If you are putting them horizontally in a stud wall, you will need to cut at least one stud out to get the clear width needed to put these in the wall. Mounting vertically they will of course fit within one stud cavity but this didn’t seem right for the center channel.

I had trouble with two of the six clamps. It could be because I was installing in a commercial building with 5/8″ drywall (instead of standard 1/2″ in a house) because when I loosened the screw far enough to get clearance two of the toggles refused to turn to the clamp position (friction between the screw and the toggle is supposed to make it turn so it clamps the edge of the hole). Nonetheless 4 clamps seem to hold it well enough and I give it 5 stars for the appearance and sound. I’d take off 1/2 star for the mounting system if Amazon allowed it.

Really nice speaker. I have Klispch and Polk speakers too. I have installed all 3 in customers homes. I went with the NSIW960 version because I liked the Kevlar cone. I use it as a center and 2 for fronts in my den 18X32X8. The sound is full and clear. The power handling is accurate. I am powering my speakers with the Pioneer VX 1123K and a Pioneer VX 1124K. I also have Yamaha 6.5 3 way as my rears. You will not find a better speaker for the price. Dollar for dollar these these Yamaha speakers are as good as Martin Logan in this price range. They are better than Polk or Klispch at a lower price. Let me be clear. These are not just entry level low grade speakers. They are of excellent construction and a great crossover.