GoFastr Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Anybody ever install a pair of these yet? Klipsch KS-7502-THX. Any tips? I bought them without seeing them in person and I didn't really realize how big they were. I am thinking that I will have to fabricate some sort of bracket or something to mount them to a rafter or joist in the ceiling whilst trying to maintain the correct height to fit flush with the sheetrock ceiling. They are fully boxed so I don't need to build anything for the back of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 It seems there is an installation kit you can buy. That might be the easiest and safest way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 Yeah, I saw that too, but it talked more about it being used as a pre-building and pre-wiring kit than a retro fit type kit. Maybe I'll give it a shot but they look pretty hard to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Call Klipsch and get all the details you need. If it sounds like it wont work, I would try making a plywood ring for the attic side of the drywall to screw or bolt the speaker into foro reinforcement. I'm not a carpenter or contractor though, but it seems logical that it would work. How heavy are they? If they are too heavy for the ring alone maybe get metal straps and tie it in to the joists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 Ok great idea. Thanks. I'll check with them first and see what they say. Every dealer I've checked so far don't carry them in stock and don't sound to particularly interested in ordering them unless I want to purchase the pair of speakers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I've got six of these installed in my ceiling. They are big and at first you wonder how the drywall will support them, but it's mostly just anxiety. They have several ears that rotate out and squeeze the drywall, so they spread out the load nicely. The biggest problem is getting over the anxiety of making some big round holes in your ceiling, b ut once you cut the first one and install those nice speakers, you'll quickly forget. I have access to my entire ceiling, so here's my installation procedure. I didn't use any rings or mounting reinforcement, just the ears on the speaker. No problems. The speakers come with a cardboard template for cutting. Working in the room, I used a stud finder and marked the edges with blue painter tape. Using the cardboard templates, I stuck them to the ceining with doubl stick tape or the blue painter tape. I positioned the template equally spaced between the studs I marked with blue tape and stuck it to ceiling. This let me try various positions on ceiling, move front to back or over between next studs, try out different positions. When happy with my position and making sure I was spaced between the studs using tud finer, I double checked position of the studs. It's easier to cut the holes from the attic side if you have access. A little trick will make it far less messy since you cut a long line doing the circular cutout. So back to the template stuck on the ceiling.....how to transfer its position to the other side of the ceiling? Well, I took a nail and put it through the center of the circular template, through the drywall, and then removed the template. Go in the attic, clear away the insulation and find the nail. I used nearby landmarks to quickly find the nail. Place the template center hole over the nail point which exactly locats the template above whn you marked below and draw a line around it (I trimmed off the tab on the template). Here's the cutting trick to eliminate the drywall dust mess......have a helper on a ladder below hold a box up to the ceiling that will cover the hole. Using a drywall saw, punch the saw through on the line you drew and begin sawing around the circle. All the dust falls into the box held against the ceiling by your helper and when you almost complete cutting the circle, grab the nail to support th circular piece and complete the cut. You don't want the large circle to fall and maybe tear the paper on you ceiling. Holding the nail, finish the cut and then let the circle drop into the box. You'll have a neat, albeit large, hole cut and zero mess. Install the speakers from below. Stand on the ladder and slip the speakers through the hole. They really aren't too difficult to hold up in the hole while you screw the ears down tight. Once you get two or three tighened, you don't have to hold the speaker. You can leave them slightly loose and rotate the speaker how you want, then tighgen all up. It's very secure and didn't need any additional support, brakets, etc. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I've got six of these installed in my ceiling. They are big and at first you wonder how the drywall will support them, but it's mostly just anxiety. They have several ears that rotate out and squeeze the drywall, so they spread out the load nicely. The biggest problem is getting over the anxiety of making some big round holes in your ceiling, b ut once you cut the first one and install those nice speakers, you'll quickly forget. I have access to my entire ceiling, so here's my installation procedure. I didn't use any rings or mounting reinforcement, just the ears on the speaker. No problems. The speakers come with a cardboard template for cutting. Working in the room, I used a stud finder and marked the edges with blue painter tape. Using the cardboard templates, I stuck them to the ceining with doubl stick tape or the blue painter tape. I positioned the template equally spaced between the studs I marked with blue tape and stuck it to ceiling. This let me try various positions on ceiling, move front to back or over between next studs, try out different positions. When happy with my position and making sure I was spaced between the studs using tud finer, I double checked position of the studs. It's easier to cut the holes from the attic side if you have access. A little trick will make it far less messy since you cut a long line doing the circular cutout. So back to the template stuck on the ceiling.....how to transfer its position to the other side of the ceiling? Well, I took a nail and put it through the center of the circular template, through the drywall, and then removed the template. Go in the attic, clear away the insulation and find the nail. I used nearby landmarks to quickly find the nail. Place the template center hole over the nail point which exactly locats the template above whn you marked below and draw a line around it (I trimmed off the tab on the template). Here's the cutting trick to eliminate the drywall dust mess......have a helper on a ladder below hold a box up to the ceiling that will cover the hole. Using a drywall saw, punch the saw through on the line you drew and begin sawing around the circle. All the dust falls into the box held against the ceiling by your helper and when you almost complete cutting the circle, grab the nail to support th circular piece and complete the cut. You don't want the large circle to fall and maybe tear the paper on you ceiling. Holding the nail, finish the cut and then let the circle drop into the box. You'll have a neat, albeit large, hole cut and zero mess. Install the speakers from below. Stand on the ladder and slip the speakers through the hole. They really aren't too difficult to hold up in the hole while you screw the ears down tight. Once you get two or three tighened, you don't have to hold the speaker. You can leave them slightly loose and rotate the speaker how you want, then tighgen all up. It's very secure and didn't need any additional support, brakets, etc. Hope this helps. Great reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 Awesome information bonedoctor! Thanks so much for this. It now gives me the confidence to get up in there and make this happen. My walls are cement block so I can't cut into them to do in-wall speakers, nor do I want to hang huge surrounds on them. My room is already full of furniture so speaker stands just wouldn't be a good fit for surrounds either. The only choice I really liked were in-ceiling speakers which for most people would be the last resort for a good sounding system. Hopefully these will compliment my other speaker choices and combine for a decent sounding sytem. BTW...I've got that SVS PC13-Ultra sub that you have on my wish list. How does it sound and compliment your system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 We have some similar equipment, e.g., RF-7s, RC-64, the thx in ceiling speakers, so I think you'll like the sound. Somewhere in the 'show us your home theater' forum are some pics of my setup, complete with the thx speakers and Svs sub. Search for my user name. Yes, cutting the holes is a little work and some anxiety, but if you double check your position and use the nail trick, you can't go wrong since it will be obvious if there's a positioning problem when you locate the nail in the attic. You can move the template a little to adjust if needed because the old nail hole will be in the circular pieece cut out. Trying to cut from below is difficult and super messy, get covered with drywall dust, it goes everywhere. I did the first two the hard way but didn't have a helper. All the other ceiling speakers I did the easy way with helper holding wide box against ceiling. If you have a wide board to put across the two joists such that you can kneel and the hole you're cutting is at you knees, it'll also be easier. Clear a wide area of insulation. When you finish cutting, have the person remain holding the box and you sweep the cuttings from above through the hole and into the box. It's almost completely mess free. I think you'll like the thx ceiling speakers. They look really big, but when installd you just see a nice neat, large grill and it sure solves the cluttered look. About all you see with my system are the fronts, the center, and way over in the corner, the SVS sub. About the sub, it sounds great and the cyclinder shape fits nicely into a corner. You really don't notice it from the viewing position (I have a very large room), but you sure hear it and feel it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 @bonedoctor Thanks agin man. I really appreciate you seeing this and posting up those tips. I have a small guy to go up in the ceiling for me (I'd probably fall through the sheetrock!) I'll be his helper on the ladder with the box. That way I can keep an eye out for how it all looks from below. I have the icelyene foam sprayed onto the bottom of the roof bwtween all rafters so no issues of itchy insulation on the attic floor to mess with. I'd love to pick up an SVS sub but that'll have to wait for next year's budget! I found these KS-7502-THX speakers NIB for $800 pair which I thought was a great deal considering they are $1k each MSRP. Wouldn't mind finding another deal on a pair of KL-7502-THX like that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Yes, I had seen those THX speakers for that price on eBay. I bought a pair of mine from eBay, seems like for $700the something a while back. The killer deal I got on the first pair was from Vann's back in late 2008: I almost thought it was a misprint.....they had them for $299 or $399, cant remember, apiece! And free shipping. I only bought one pair. I think you'll be happy with their performance and uncluttered look. I have the blown in cellulose insulation and just spread it back around the speakers when done since they're sealed enclosures. Get a new drywall saw, one of those black, fat- handled Stanley ones (Fat Max), and the cut will be super simple and neat. Use a black Sharpie to trace around the template and stay right on the line so that the hole isn't much bigger than the speaker. You want it to just slip through the hole. You'll be surprised how much drywall dust will be in the box and not all over you, in your eyes, and all over everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Oh, seem to remember that they supply a paper template, but it isn't stiff enough to use to position on the ceiling to chose a good position, so I used the cardboard piece used as packing. If I remember, it's the same size as the paper template, but holds its shape on the ceiling, can put the nail through its cnter, through the ceiling, then put the cardboard template over the nail tip like a record on a turntable when in the attic, then trace around it. Be sure to trim off the little square piece from the template so that it's a circle and so your helper doesn't trace around the extra piece and, gasp, cut a notch out of the circular hole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 Thanks again. I took a look at your your setup and all I can say is WOW! what a house. You have a beautiful setup there. Enjoy it! My setup was posted in tehre the other day too. Pretty similar accoustics in that we have hard floors and open space. I need a floor rug and maybe some wall hangings and drapes but I wanted my HT stuff first in this new house. The wife and her wants will have to wait a few more paychecks! Yeah, I wish I could find another deal on another set of THX's but I need to back off for now. I also found a deal on the outdoor AW-650's so I have to think about how I'm going to use those for the back porch. I was hoping to wire them as Zone 2 outside. Do I have to get the Sonance box you used or can I listen to the same source that is playing inside with a little louder volume on Zone 2 for the outside? I don't have a volume control box for outside either as I was hoping to be able to just use the remote somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Thanks for the compliment. I have a 9.1 set up and all the surround speakers are wired directly to the denon receiver through dedicated speaker outputs. I have four other pairs of speakers in ceiling that are connected to the Sonance four selector box and the box is then wired into Zone 2. With this Denon, I can play the surround system with one source and control its volume while playing a seperate source through the Sonance box and control it volume with the zone 2 volume control on the receiver. You can select thee source and voluume for zone 2. One little quirk is that if I set my system to 9.1, it borrows the zone 2 amplifier to run the front height/width speakers, so you can't run the surround system on 9.1 and listen to any of the zone 2 speakers, not that you'd probably ever do that. It had me stumped when I wanted to listen to a zone 2 speaker and it didn't work. Took me a while to figure out that I had to reassign the amp to zone 2, no biggie, just a little step made easy by the on screen denon menu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 The Sonance 4 speaker selector box is just a way to multiply the output. It takes the single pair of zone 2 outputs and gives you four outputs, but they all play the same source and are controlled by zone two volume. Sonance does make a six output model and also ones that have individual volume controls for each pair. I suppose it's possible to have a 4 pair box wired into each of the four zones my denon offers, therefore having a 16little pair network, all individually selectable and even possibly with volume control. Couldn't obviously run them all or very many at same time to avoid overloading and overheating the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 Ok, I gotcha about the Sonance now. So if I'm having a party and I want to have the same music playing inside on my Zone 1 and outside on my Zone 2 except I want the outside music to play a bit louder can this be accomplished just with the AVR? Most people who will be inside just want background music so they can talk and the others outside are partying and want it loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoctor Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 While I'm not 100% familiar with your Denon model, I figure it offers similar or same features as mine whn it comes to zones. Yes, you could have the same CD playing in both zones, the 'main' zone and 'zone 1'. You set the main volume to what you want, then select zone 1 and set its volume independently. Since you can have seperate sources for each zone, if you have two devices that can play CDs, e.g., a dvd player and a CD player, you could have two different CDs playing, each at its own volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFastr Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 Ok great. Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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