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Need advice: What speakers for 14ft ceiling?


Big Ears

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Hi all,

My first post in 11 years!

Need some advice. I'm building a new shop and casita next to my house. Shop is 1200 sq/ft 40x32 with 14' ceilings. I've got a 70" tv going on the front wall in the center. (Middle of the 4 Windows). I planned it and wired for 6 ceiling speakers and a sub to sit on top of my compressor closet. Not really worried about surround, will mostly be used for music and tv. Thought I would just get a Yamamha receiver and run it in 7ch stereo most of the time. I should say that I love It loud and it will be used from time to time as a PA for playing guitar backing tracks while I jam a marshall half stack, so need speakers that can take a pounding and stay clean.

Am I screwing up using in-ceiling @ 14' with concrete floors? Thought about hanging some boxed speakers or powered monitors up high where the walls meet the ceiling, which would probably sound better overall but not look as clean as in-ceiling. Would love to hear what you guys think...

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Edited by Big Ears
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No disrespect meant but in my opinion you are making a mistake using ceiling speakers for the sake of ceiling speakers.

 

My experience:  I have a neighbor who has a house that is about 12K sq/feet.  I think they have 14/15 foot ceilings.  I was once over there and the wife said "come here, you have to listen to our surround sound...."

 

I went into that room, TV was on.  Happened to be the evening news (which isn't necessarily a great 'show off' for a surround sound!)

 

Anyways, the TV was directly in front of me and the voice was overhead  It was as though God himself was telling us it was going to rain tomorrow.

 

It was a very unrealistic experience and a bit disconcerting watching something at eye level but the sound coming from above.

 

My opinion, it was an epic fail when presented as a "surround system"

 

Now, had they moved the speakers down to in-wall at the right height it would have worked much better.

 

I'm still a fan of a traditional speaker.  I wonder if you will have a lot of echos in there?  (of course, it's a bare room now, I have no idea what it will look like later)

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No offense at all, that's why I posted; to get opinions on the best route to take from people that know more than I do. When it's finished, it will have a 2 post lift and 4 post lift in two of the bays. I have 18' of tool box storage/work surface going under the TV. Not impossible to drop some wires for bookshelf's and a center channel to sit on top of the toolboxes, and then throw 4 speakers up in the ceiling....but it's probably a little late for in-wall's.  I've got blown in cellulose insulation, so pulling wires now will be a PIA.  rqtOgKYl.jpg

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Hi Big Ears, I own my own business and the shop I operate out of has 15ft ceilings. I had gone thru several Klipsch speakers in there and all I got was a lot of echo. I tried a pair of Heresy speakers, Forte's, RF3's and several bookshelf speakers with either 6.5 or 8 inch woofers.. For the most parts, they all sounded like 80% echo.. It seems the smaller the speaker the more echo there was.. So I figured I would go big, so I went out and acquired a pair of Cornwall II's (1985 era ) .. Problem solved! The Cornwall speakers sound great in my shop. By far the best speakers I have used in there. I listen to the CWII's all day every day Monday-Friday with a very wide variety of music. Im sure there is still a little bit of echo still there, but not noticeable at all. My shop is 1350 square feet with 15 foot ceilings.. I really hope this helps.

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... the shop I had before the one I am in now was similar in shape and I ran 6 surround speakers in the ceiling with a sub... it sounded ok, but you can tell that all the sound was coming from up top... no comparison to a pair of Cornwalls.

 

Bossman

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... the shop I had before the one I am in now was similar in shape and I ran 6 surround speakers in the ceiling with a sub... it sounded ok, but you can tell that all the sound was coming from up top... no comparison to a pair of Cornwalls.

 

Bossman

Interesting! We used 2 pairs of Cornwall II's for our graduation party set up outside my dad's shop. When the police came, they said they received a call from over a mile away complaining about the noise. lol. Where did you put your Cornwalls in the shop? They're BIG, so have to consider the real estate they take up. I've thought about some QSC K-10's mounted up high like you see in clubs. I have a pair of K-8's in my home office, used for backing tracks, that will make your hair stand up, BUT they can be really noisy during quiet parts.

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Now that's a shop!  I would also consider scrapping the ceiling speakers if you're listening for more than background noise and from your OP, you want to be jamming in the shop, and that's exactly what I do.  I think that looking for some KP's might better serve you in a shop situation but Cornwalls (KP301's) or KP250's coupled with a couple of solid subs should give you what you're looking for.  My little shop (24'x24') with 10' ceilings by no means is a comparison to what you have to fill, but a set of 250's and a big horn loaded sub actually rattled the gutters off and caused Denise to voice her opinion about how loud it was and she was inside the house (brick) separated by 80' and my shop is fully insulated, so I can get it playing clean at some high levels.  You could fly all the speakers to keep them off the floor and out of your way and just worry about placing a center (one more of whatever you decide to run) properly for the T.V. so it sounds right.  Many options, what's your budget for getting this rigged up?

 

Welcome back!

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Now that's a shop!  I would also consider scrapping the ceiling speakers if you're listening for more than background noise and from your OP, you want to be jamming in the shop, and that's exactly what I do.  I think that looking for some KP's might better serve you in a shop situation but Cornwalls (KP301's) or KP250's coupled with a couple of solid subs should give you what you're looking for.  My little shop (24'x24') with 10' ceilings by no means is a comparison to what you have to fill, but a set of 250's and a big horn loaded sub actually rattled the gutters off and caused Denise to voice her opinion about how loud it was and she was inside the house (brick) separated by 80' and my shop is fully insulated, so I can get it playing clean at some high levels.  You could fly all the speakers to keep them off the floor and out of your way and just worry about placing a center (one more of whatever you decide to run) properly for the T.V. so it sounds right.  Many options, what's your budget for getting this rigged up?

 

Welcome back!

 

Thanks for the reply! Good point about hanging them. I budgeted $5K for AV. (2 TV's, receiver and speakers.) KP250's are a great idea, the problem is finding a couple pairs in decent shape. Looking around now.  

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Now that's a shop!  I would also consider scrapping the ceiling speakers if you're listening for more than background noise and from your OP, you want to be jamming in the shop, and that's exactly what I do.  I think that looking for some KP's might better serve you in a shop situation but Cornwalls (KP301's) or KP250's coupled with a couple of solid subs should give you what you're looking for.  My little shop (24'x24') with 10' ceilings by no means is a comparison to what you have to fill, but a set of 250's and a big horn loaded sub actually rattled the gutters off and caused Denise to voice her opinion about how loud it was and she was inside the house (brick) separated by 80' and my shop is fully insulated, so I can get it playing clean at some high levels.  You could fly all the speakers to keep them off the floor and out of your way and just worry about placing a center (one more of whatever you decide to run) properly for the T.V. so it sounds right.  Many options, what's your budget for getting this rigged up?

 

Welcome back!

 

Thanks for the reply! Good point about hanging them. I budgeted $5K for AV. (2 TV's, receiver and speakers.) KP250's are a great idea, the problem is finding a couple pairs in decent shape. Looking around now.  

 

I would post something in the garage section and start fishing the CL areas where you're at.  They are out there but you need to be ready to move on them if they're in your range.  As long as the drivers are good and they're working, the crossovers can be freshened up reasonably (mine are still original and sound great) and if they are dinged up and scratched on the outside, a gallon of Duratex for the cabinets and a can of spray paint for the metal grills and you're done, which is why I think the KP's all around are great for a shop as they were built to take some abuse.  I picked up 2 pair of the 250's and a pair of 115's a few years ago thinking I would flip a pair, but they are a stout little speaker with a sub.  Now, if a set of 301's come up, I would jump on those too, heck, about 25 years ago I had a set of 2 way Community's set up in a bar mounted around 9' and angled down and they were quite impressive also.  Lots of options.  Good Hunting!

 

Roughly where are you located? We love helping other people spend their money on gear!  :)

+1, Many of these people sure helped me spend mine.  I came on here looking for a replacement woofer for one of my RF7's, that damn woofer cost me about 12,000.  LOL

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I think that looking for some KP's might better serve you in a shop situation but Cornwalls (KP301's) or KP250's coupled with a couple of solid subs should give you what you're looking for.

 

Best advice as far as I'm concerned.  KP-301-II's will let you get by without a sub unless you need the really low stuff.  250's and a sub are great as well.

 

 

Pete, KP-301's were based off of a Chorus.

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