Floor Standing or In Wall speakers

The average consumer audiophile lacks the sophistication and money to design a room (and thus the in-wall speaker enclosures and their placement) to achieve what he could by experimenting both with his choice of free-standing speakers and their placement. For him, the best results will be achieved by trial and error, a strategy not well-suited to in-wall placement. Most people who choose in-wall are ruled by WAF, wife acceptance factor; the aesthetics of the room trump the quality of the reproduction.

Thanks To everyone who responded to my question , Iam going to stay with foor standing speakers, because there are more choices to upgrade .

"Acoustic theory suggests very strongly that they should sound much better."(Shadorne on in-walls).
Some acoustical theory suggests that a flush mounted inwall speaker has acoustical advantages, in regards to speaker to boundary frequency cancellation, maybe even boundary reinforcement, and lack of diffraction or back wave reflection. The main acoustical dis-advantage is bass mode reinforcement. (basically YOU NEED an EQ involved with in-walls, regardless. So, in HT systems with small acoustical spaces, you'll need to get an EQ or DSP correction involved.
Another problem with inwalls, is that only the sealed designs are really workable from an audiophile stand point. Still, you can't "aim" the speakers for tonality, from a variety of seating situations, even stereo listening, likely. (another drawback for "dialing in" speakers). Also, plotting speaker locations is harder with in-walls than free-standing speakers.
I do admit it seems that in-walls are improving, yes. IN some situations, they make sense, and might be necessary.
Still, I like the flexibility and predictability of box speakers.

I have both. My in-walls are at the high end - Paradigm reference. My floorstanders are only average. It depends on what you mean by "as good as".

IMO, it is extremely difficult (I'd say impossible) to make the wall as inert as a well designed cabinet. And, it's very difficult to properly place in-walls for optimum listening while also minimizing wall movement.

In walls are a cosmetic choice that function quite well if chosen well and care is taken in their installation. With respect to frequency response and detail - my in-walls (w/ sub) have greater range and as good transparency as my floorstanders. With respect to imaging? No contest. The in-walls are not even close. I can hear the wall movement interfering w/ frequency response. And, trim work, my TV, etc, all interfere w/ the imaging of the in-walls.

All in all, I'm very happy w/ my in-walls. The sound is more than acceptable for movies and casual listening. But, it's nowhere close to that produced my very average floorstanders.

Best,

What about the Meridian A350s?