ajrsiu Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) I am having a house built and the builder's automation/video/sound guy recommends placing 5 speakers in the ceiling in the grand room. Three above the t.v. (front left, center and right) and two behind the viewer. The room is 21'x28' with tile floors, 12' ceilings and is wide open to the kitchen and dining areas. Very hollow area. They install Klipsch 6" speakers in the ceiling. I can certainly use stand mounted or wall mounted speakers for the front by the t.v. but I have no way to run wires or power to the rear surround speakers and no place really to hang them w/ 12' ceilings. Personally, I do not think having the speakers up above directing sound down towards the tile floor is the best option, especially for the high frequencies. It's convenient and out of the way, not to mention they look nice, but maybe it works as they are doing this in all the new homes. Any thought/ideas? Edited December 11, 2015 by ajrsiu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Ajrsiu, Welcome to the forum. If you "must" have built in speakers and you really want a somewhat realistic HT experience, then I would go L-C-R in walls up front at near seated viewing/listening level framing your video monitor/screen and go in ceilings for surrounds. If you can go in walls for side surrounds that would be better. Now if this room is more for casual TV watching and you have another room you could dedicate for movies, then the builders suggestion could work ok. Bill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajrsiu Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) Thanks, Bill. Unfortunately, side walls are not an option. I have an 18' sliding glass door on one side and the wall on the other side is about 20' away. Speakers in the wall behind the t.v. are not an option as it is a faux stone wall. So they will need to be on stands next to the entertainment center below the t.v. or well off to the sides at least 6' on either side of the t.v. to get to bare wall where there is no stone. I uploaded a photo that shows my scenario. Edited December 11, 2015 by ajrsiu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) Personally, I do not think having the speakers up above directing sound down towards the tile floor is the best option, especially for the high frequencies. It's convenient and out of the way, not to mention they look nice, but maybe it works as they are doing this in all the new homes. Any thought/ideas? Based on your concern and usage, I would look at the Klipsch THX line, they have angled horns that are supposed to trick you into thinking the sound is coming from in front of you. The tile floor would be an issue no matter what type of speakers you get. A nice large rug should always be considered. There's also the pro line you may want to consider, it has soft dome tweeters that fire off at an angle, they're pretty nice. Edited December 11, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) There are many concerns that enter into this equation not the least of which is how your wife or significant other wants the room to look. IMO the front three need to be "real" front firing speakers. The surrounds and rear surrounds can be in ceiling, again just my opinion. Since you are building you could also consider an IB sub in the ceiling. BTW Welcome to the forum. Let the madness begin. Edited December 11, 2015 by babadono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/gallery/image/1263-in-ceiling-with-grills-high-waf/ I did my surrounds in ceiling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajrsiu Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 All valid points, thank you. I think I will do the surrounds in the ceiling. We'll look at options for the front and center. My wife does nothing more than watch boring reality shows so she's not concerned w/ the sound nor the look as long as it's not too imposing. I'm more interested in the theater presence and high quality music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I'm more interested in the theater presence and high quality music. Cool. I was going to ask if you were concerned about how music is going to sound. Because if that's important to you(as opposed to just background muzak) then the front speakers ARE important to you. Again just IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 All valid points, thank you. I think I will do the surrounds in the ceiling. We'll look at options for the front and center. My wife does nothing more than watch boring reality shows so she's not concerned w/ the sound nor the look as long as it's not too imposing. I'm more interested in the theater presence and high quality music.that fancy looking wall is screaming for a couple palladium bookshelves and center. Works of art! And man do they sound good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 What model of in-ceiling speakers do they install? I agree with the other responses, I can't imagine that in ceiling lcr would sound as good as front firing speakers. Welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I would get an IB sub so your wife wont notice it then tell her how much Vintage is "IN" right now and then suggest a really cool unique speaker that is a fine vintage piece of Americana. Then show her some LaScalas in a nice finish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) ... maybe it works as they are doing this in all the new homes. That's no indication. Neither our (helpful) contractor nor our designer knew a thing about sound. Many architects do not, either. This is nothing new. Decades ago, my father, who was a master carpenter, told me about a wealthy person's house (nine bathrooms, reflecting pools, etc.) with an audio room with speakers mounted in a large plywood baffle wall that resonated like mad. It went well with the springy balconies, though. Some "builder's audio/video/sound guys," are 30 day wonders who were attracted to the field because of the current popularity of elaborate (and sometimes good) audio/video in the home. Some Exceptions include some in those professions who are members of this forum. You would be best off with the best speakers you can afford, floor standing or on stands, with a good subwoofer or two, and a way to reduce reflections in your room, plus good room/speaker EQ software, like Audyssey XT32 (built into some new AVRs and pre/pros). The size and openness of the room may be a problem in getting good bass. Later, keep in mind that many (most?) people turn up their subwoofer a bit after running room correction software. 6" ceiling speakers are not going to be very good, IMO, even though they will get some loading from the ceiling. By the way, for good loading, the surrounding ceiling should not be just sheet rock, but sheet rock backed with 3/4 plywood, screwed and glued, staggered, and well braced. I would stay away from ceiling speakers, though, except for surrounds, especially with a tile floor. The room looks great. Edited December 11, 2015 by garyrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I am having a house built and the builder's automation/video/sound guy recommends placing 5 speakers in the ceiling in the grand room. Three above the t.v. (front left, center and right) and two behind the viewer. The room is 21'x28' with tile floors, 12' ceilings and is wide open to the kitchen and dining areas. Very hollow area. They install Klipsch 6" speakers in the ceiling. I can certainly use stand mounted or wall mounted speakers for the front by the t.v. but I have no way to run wires or power to the rear surround speakers and no place really to hang them w/ 12' ceilings. Personally, I do not think having the speakers up above directing sound down towards the tile floor is the best option, especially for the high frequencies. It's convenient and out of the way, not to mention they look nice, but maybe it works as they are doing this in all the new homes. Any thought/ideas? Just to clarify, is this a photo of your current room or a photo to show what the ceiling speakers will look like? This will help a lot with suggestions in matching a good sound system to your room. If you could list your budget it would help to as there are great speakers in quite a few different price points as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Just to clarify, is this a photo of your current room or a photo to show what the ceiling speakers will look like? My question also. I was thinking it is a photo of the model home. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stygz Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) Similar to you we had a house built this summer. I used my RF-62-ii for the mains and a RC-62-ii for center from my old house. As for surrounds an inceiling speaker was my best option for looks and sound. I choose the Klipsch CTD-3650-Cii because like you stated before you do not want the highs simply pointing straight to the floor. These speakers tweeters swivel so you can aim it in your seating direction. I have been using them for about two months and have been pleased with them and would buy them again. Klipsch offers a mounting ring with straps that offers a fairly ridged mounting area the fits between the ceiling rafters. This is a better option to simply cutting a hole into sheetrock. Also I do believe they offer this speaker in an 8" woofer. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_714C3650C2/Klipsch-CDT-3650-C-II.html Edited December 13, 2015 by stygz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete H Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I would also like some clarity regarding the photo and if this is what they are telling you that yours will look like or are you done and moved in? If this is a stock photo, then I need to know specifically where the building process is at because I am a builder and can't is something that rarely comes up, cost is something that does, so if the build is in process, then pictures of the actual state of the build would be relevant, followed by what you actually want out of your system and I will try to give you some suggestions. If you are just in the framing stage, then plans would help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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