Relocating Plate Amplifier from powered / active monitors

[cope till]

I’m new and I’d like to say thank you for the wealth of knowledge. I completed a soffit wall some time ago that allows for upgrading my monitors. I’ve only worked with passive designs in this context and it’s been difficult finding the information needed should I switch to my Focal monitors. My question is in regards to extending the wire in the Focal Twin 6 be when relocating its plate amplifier to the front side of the soffit. 1. How long should the wire from the amp to the speaker be? 2. Will the gauge of speaker wire change? 3. Being that this model of Focal (Twin 6 be Mk1) is a switchable 2.5 way, is there anything strange I should know about that could cause harm to it?

[Soundman2020]

Hi there, and Welcome to the Forum!
You might not need to relocate the amp. You can safely mount your Focal Twins in soffits, as long as there's a good air ventilation path inside the soffit, up past the rear of your speakers.
I've designed a couple of studios with soffit mounted Focals, and as long as you pay attention to ventilation, there shouldn't be an issue.
If you are concerned about access to the rear panel, then do what I do: leave a dis-mountable panel on the side of the soffit somewhere, so you can get in there if you need to. But you probably won't need to.
Here's an example. In this case, it was the Trios, not the Twins, but the mounting is very similar:

That room worked out very well, even though it is rather small. And I designed in a good, clean air path up the back and around the Focals. You can't see it here (concealed inside the soffit), but its there.
There's also a possible issue with moving the amp panel to the front of the soffit. It might seem like splitting hairs, unimportant, or a non-issue, but there can be an effect if you are looking for perfection: The heat rising from your amp panel and going up in front of the speaker, can affect the sound that gets to your ears, just like heat rising from a road can cause mirages. The effect is small, yes, but it is there. So if you did want to move the panel, put it in a spot that is not directly under the speaker, where any convecting heat won't get in the sound path from the speakers to your ears

- Stuart -

[cope till]

Thanks for the reply! Those look great.

[cope till]

It looks beautiful! Thanks for the information.