Boston Acoustics P460 On-Wall Speaker Reviewed

Published On: April 8, 2010
Last Updated on: October 31, 2020
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Boston Acoustics P460 On-Wall Speaker Reviewed

One of the best aspect of these speakers are that they "sound much larger than they really are, making them ideal for the home theater enthusiasts looking for big sound without having to sacrifice valuable floor space." If you put five to seven of these speakers in one room, you can create a surround sound experience that "begs belief"...

Boston Acoustics P460 On-Wall Speaker Reviewed

By Author: Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson began his career as an art director in entertainment advertising in 2003, after graduating from Art Center College of Design. In 2006, he became a creative director at Crew Creative Advertising, and oversaw the agency's Television Division, where he worked for clients such as TNT, TBS, History, FX, and Bravo to name a few. He now has one of the most popular AV-related channels on YouTube.

Boston-P460-reviewed.gifOn-wall speakers are great and a booming sector of the home theater speaker market, however most are designed to flank 50 inch or smaller HDTVs, which works well for most consumers but what about those rocking sets in excess of 50 inches? The idea behind a pair or three on-wall speakers flanking or resting below an HDTV is that they look uniform making for a professional and symmetrical installation, which is hard to achieve when most on-walls are half the height of say a 55 inch HDTV. Enter the P460 on-wall speaker from Boston Acoustics; at 34 inches tall by six inches wide and four and three quarter inches deep the P460 looks right at home next to any HDTV 50 inches or larger.

Additional Resources
• Read more on-wall speaker reviews by HomeTheaterReview.com's staff.
• Explore similar solutions by reading sound bar reviews on HomeTheaterReview.com.

 

The P460 retails for $699 apiece and come finished in silver with black or silver metal grills. The P460 has a driver compliment consisting of a single, one-inch aluminum dome tweeter, a four-inch midrange driver and four four-inch bass drivers. The P460 has a reported frequency response of 80Hz to 20kHz with a sensitivity of 92dB into a standard eight-Ohm load. The P460 will work with most any receiver thanks to its recommended power rating of 15 to 200 watts of total power handling. The P460 can be used as left or right mains as well as a center channel thanks to its ingenious mounting bracket, which is included. If you want to mount your P460s on a table or shelving unit you'll need to spring for the optional table stand and if you want to mount them via some floor stands, well those are optional as well.

In terms of sound the P460s are fun, dynamic and wholly enjoyable compact loudspeakers. They can play pretty loud without strain, which is a good thing if you like rocking the latest Hollywood blockbuster. The aluminum dome tweeter is pretty refined given the P460's price, though at the extremes it can get a little nasty if you push it to hard. The midrange is surprisingly full though I wouldn't call it overly lush or warm but can flesh out a film's dialog track or a singer's vocals quite nicely. The P460's bass is taut, detailed and surprisingly dynamic though you're going to want to mate the P460 to a subwoofer for true low impact grunt and slam.

High Points
• The P460s visually compliment larger flat panel HDTVs thanks to their longer size and ingenious mounting bracket. I also like that the Boston Acoustics logo can be rotated depending on how the speaker is mounted, a nice touch and great attention to detail.
• The P460s sound much larger than they really are making them ideal for home theater enthusiasts looking for big sound without having to sacrifice valuable floor space.
• The P460s can play loud, louder than many on-walls in their price range, without distortion, however, I wouldn't recommend those with large rooms or large open spaces try and fill said areas with sound from the P460s for you may be asking to much. If you have a small to medium sized room (maybe a touch larger) and are looking to transform it (at least sonically) into a multiplex then definitely check out the P460s.
• Get five or seven P460s for a total surround sound experience that begs belief.

Read The Low Points and the Conclusion on Page 2

Low Points
• As with any on-wall loudspeaker, for true full-range sound you're going to want to add a sub to round out the P460's performance. 
• The P460s can play pretty loud, loud enough for most consumers I'm sure however if you take them past their "happy" point they do begin to break up and distort, which is normal and something you'll run into with any compact on-wall. If you want bigger sound you'll have to step up to bigger speakers, most likely monitors or floorstanding.

Conclusion
For $699 apiece or roughly $3,500 for a complete surround sound system you could do a lot worse than the P460 from Boston Acoustics. The P460s are priced right, look great and sound phenomenal provided your room and tastes don't stretch the speakers beyond their limitations. The P460s are designed to flank larger HDTVs and compliment them with bigger, theater like sound. I say mission accomplished.

Additional Resources
• Read more on-wall speaker reviews by HomeTheaterReview.com's staff.
• Explore similar solutions by reading sound bar reviews on HomeTheaterReview.com.

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