55-iw review

I was in the market for some on-wall speakers and had a really hard time finding reviews of the RBH 55-iw's and ELAC Muro OW-41's, so I just wanted to throw this out there for anyone looking for info on them.  

I was replacing an older Mirage Uni-Theater LCR soundbar that worked great for 5.1, but not so much for Atmos due to the omni-polar design of the Mirage speakers and the lack of clear channel separation.  I had about $1500 to spend for the speakers, and tried the Monolith M-OW1's (half the cost, but too thin, lacking midrange), but was focused on the ELAC Muro OW-V41S/L's, and the RBH 55-iw's.  Because of my wall and setup I couldn't use in-walls, so I was looking for on-wall options that were around 7" wide and 5" deep (or less).  

For reference, I'm using a Sony ES STR-AZ3000ES as the source, an SVS SB-1000 sub, and Yamaha in-ceiling and wall speakers for surrounds.  The room is about 16'x16' and open to the dining/kitchen in the back.  My use is about 50% movies and 50% music (low-medium volume, mostly jazz and acoustics). 

The ELAC Muro's came first ... look great, nice form factor and finish. They sounded decent for movies, but not so much for music as they lacked clarity and sounded thin for more detailed music. They did have more bass than I was expecting, but didn't seem worth the cost as an "upgrade" from the Mirage.

The RBH 55-iw's took just over 2 weeks to get as they assembled them upon order, but were worth the wait.  I found them to have great sound for both movies and music with good clarity and detail ... substantially better than the ELAC's for my use.  When playing music directly to them (no sub or processing) they sounded great on their own, with a full sound and good balance.  Setting the crossover at 90Hz seemed to dial in the speakers with my sub well, and I've been very happy with the overall setup.  

Jeff A