in-ceiling advice

[Meatball]

I was wondering if anyone has any sound advice on Klipsch in-ceiling speakers. I was looking at the CDT-3650-C, the CDT-5650-C and the CDT-2650-SC for my rear surrounds to go with my 2 RB-35 fronts, and RC-35 center. Still shopping subs. Thanks for any help you might have.

[BluegrassBubba]

I posted the same thing about 2 mos. ago and got about as many responses as you are getting, seems not to many on here have in wall or in ceiling speakers, I'm glad to announce in a few weeks I will be able to report on this subject, I'm going with the 5650 in walls up front and a Def. Tech 10/10 inwall sub, and 5650's in ceiling in the rear, with a Denon receiver powering them, I'll let you know how they sound. Later.

[Meatball]

Thanks for the reply. I realize in-wall and in-ceiling's are probably not the most popular choice in this forum, but it's what I choose to do in my HTPC (home theater pleasure center). Do you know what the difference is beween the CDT-2650-SC and the CDT-2650-C is? I know the SC is labeled surrounds, but does it really matter which one you would use? I believe I'm going to go with the CDT-5650-C for my rear surrounds, but I'd like to know about the others. Definately let me know what you think when you're up and running!

Thanks a lot.

[PannyMan]

I'm installing CDT-5650-Cs in my ceiling this week. The HT is going in our Great Room and there is no where else to place my surround speakers.

They will be matched with a pair of RF-82s and a RC-62. I'll let you know how it works out!

[Klipsch_Geek]

The CDT-2650-SC has 2 slightly smaller tweeters (.75" each) vs the single 1" in the -C. These tweeters are angled opposite each other, and are ment to give a more diffuse surround field. I am getting ready to do an install in the next 2 weeks with a wide variety of in-ceiling and in-walls, including 2650-C's and the 5650-C's. As this is my first install of the In-ceiling's in a home theater configuration, I iwll be happy to give you a report once it is setup. I recommended 4 2650-C's instead of the SC's since I was doing a 7.1 setup with surrounds to the sides and rear of the listener.

[rlr267]

Where are you putting them (rear, surround, or both)?

I talked to one of the Techs at Klipsch before ordering my CDTs and the

advice was sound (no pun intended). If you want to match the 35's

sans 82's, get the 5800s. Here is why, the 5800 has an 8 inch

ceremetalic driver and 1 inch titanium tweeter just like your

35's. So, they are matched up in size and sound producing

materials.

I have the RF-82's with CDT-5800's as my rears, CDT-5650's for my

surround, and a RW-10 sub. I intend to post a subjective opinion

on the entire setup as soon as my RC-62 arrives. It is/was on

back order (I am told the supplier of the cherry veneer is the

culprit). Last week, I was told it was on Klipsch's dock ready

for shipment, so I hope to have it this week.

[rlr267]

Okay, I promised a while ago to post my opinion/review of the CDT series speakers. Here it is:

I still have not recieved the center channel, but could not wait any

longer. I have been playing music on the RF-82's nearly non-stop

since they arrived and the CDT5800's in the rear and CDT-5650's on the

side have been sitting idle. Tuesday, I got home early from work,

and pulled out the YPAO microphone to run auto-setup on my Yamaha

RX-V757. FYI, I had to manually adjust everything anyway, the

YPAO quantified the CDT5800's as "large" which could attest to

the capabilities of the Klipsch as opposed to any dificiency in the

recievers auto-setup.

Before I begin, my room does not have optimal accoustics. It is

19 feet wide, 22 feet long with the entertainment center in the middle

of one 19 foot wall, and has hard wood picture frame paneling on the

walls (which is why we went with ceiling mounted speakers to begin

with). The room also has 11 foot ceilings. According to the

Auto-setup my left main is 12 feet from the center listening position,

the center was set to none, the right main is 11 feet, the right side

surround is 10 feet, right rear is 10 feet, left rear is 11 feet, left

surround is left surround is 12 feet (form over function, WAF required

the speakers to be mounted equadistant from the walls and each other as

opposed to equidistant from the center listening position, which is

just as well, since someone sitting on the sofa would not be center

stage anyway). The sub which sits in the corner, hidden under a

decorative table was calculated at 13 feet. I put the

side surrounds slightly forward of the main seating position and as far

outboard as they could be placed (2 inches from the wall) whereas the

rears are set six feet apart and each centered 6.5 feet from the side

walls, and 2 inches off the back wall. All CDTs are aimed

(visually) at the center seating position which is approximately 11

feet from the TV directly in front if the screen. The RF-82s are

on either side of the entertainment center.

After a couple test runs with a little John Lee Hooker with the sub

turned off, I found the sound that worked for my room. It

literally sounded like I was center stage at BB King's club in Memphis

hearing the late great Mr. Hooker live.

Next, I put in some Eagles (Hotel California, Get Over It, Sad Cafe)

followed by Joey Walsh (Rocky Mountain Way, Life's Been Good to

Me). With the reciever set to Pro-Logic to immitate 5.1 the

CDT-5650's picked up the high notes with a muted background

level. Ergo, the manual reset, where I changed the Rears to

"small" and increased the volume on the 5650s. Don Henley has not

sounded so good since I heard him live at the Pyramid in 1994. My

wife and I are neither one bass fanatics, so we left the bass off

during music and the sound filled the room. This is going to make

our next party the talk of our friends for months. Just to round

out the sound, we tried a little Celtic Women. By this time, I

have discovered in pro-logic music setting the 5800s are laying silent,

but the 5650s are alive and filling in the gaps. The 5650s really

brought it home with the high end, so much my wife looked at me and

said she wants two more pair, one pair for our room and another for our

daughter's room. As for me, this weekend I am going to find and

buy the Eagles in Concert DVD that is supposedly recorded in 7.1

channels.

Finally, I had to do it. Our seven month old was growing tired

and it was approaching her bedtime, so I could only get a little time

and I had to make it count. Bring on StarWars Episode I, the Pod

Racer scene, and the sub. I set the sub to pick up at 60 htz

(still not sure what setting is appropriate) and mid volume. It

was like seeing the movie for the first time. The 5800s came to

life as the pod racers ran circuits around my living room, booms and

crashes were picked up and the bass rumble of the 5800s augmented with

the sub made my wife get up and touch the walls to see if the house was

shaking (it is a brick house on a slab, no shaking here) but I do think

my seat may have been vibrating. The 5800s definately have more

sound than the 5650s and in some ways I wish I had opted for four

5800s, which is still possible, just cut the hole larger, push 5800s in

and move the 5650's to another room. The 5650's however, picked

up the high ends better. Someone with more experience in HT may

be able to provide a logical explaination other than the speaker (Does

a reciever playing a 5.1, splitting the signal to create a virtual 7.1

automatically split at a particular frequency and send the top end to

the sides and the bottom end to the rear?)

This is my first forray into HT, and in fact, I am sad to report, my

first real stereo system (before all I ever owned were cheap bookshelf

system from Wal-Mart). Someone with more experience and higher

end equipment may not be so impressed, but I am proud of this system

and am happy to report it is spectacular. If you doubt the

CDT5800 or 5650 can deliver, stop worrying. It took me less than

2 hours to mount all four speakers, including pulling cables through

the wall and crawling around in the attic (which I recommend you not do

on a hot Texas day). They sound great. For music, they do

not produce as much as I wanted, but they are in the same room as the

RF-82s so they do not need to. But for movies . . . they look great,

sound great, and fill the gaps that I never knew were missing

before. If WAF is a concern, the CDTs are an excellent

answer.

Overall, I could not be more pleased. My application is 90% music but

based on my few minutes of playing the HT, things may change. I have

to renew my Netflicks account now.

Used in this review were:

Reciever = Yamaha RX-v757

CD = Pioneer PD-1009

DVD = Apex 5800W (old model, but still working)

Front Main = Klipsch RF-82s

Center = (ETA anyday now) Klipsch RC-62

Side Surround = Klipsch CDT-5650-Cs

Rear Surround = Klipsch CDT-5800-Cs

Sub = Klipsch RW-10

I also have four brand new Klipsch AW-650's that I have to get mounted

on the patio and on either side of the pool so my neighbors can enjoy

the experience too.

[kelA]

I still have not recieved the center channel, but could not wait any longer.

If you think it sounds good now, just wait till you get the center channel into the mix. New toys are always fun. I still get a big grin on my face when showing off my system to new friends.

[Meatball]

Hey, thanks for the great review! It was a big help. I could almost hear the sound coming out of your system the way you described it. This is also my first real HT and I'm getting very anxious, but I want to do it right so I'm taking my time. I'm using the CDT's for the rear surrounds. I'm starting off with a 5.1 system. So do you think the 5800's are better for that application or are the 5650's appropriate? I'm probably 80% movies and 20% music. Also, I was going to purchase the RC-35, but for the few extra bucks, should I purchase the RC-62? It is the replacement of the 35, isn't it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[TheSoundBroker]

I've done several Klipsch in-wall/in-ceiling theater systems and have their bigger in-walls and in-ceilings in my own house. They sound great!

THE subwoofer to use with them, if you want to stick with an in-wall setup, is the Earthquake Thor. It has the cojones to easily keep up with even the floor standing Ref series and I've put a bunch of them in as combos.

[rlr267]

Hey, thanks for the great review! It was a

big help. I could almost hear the sound coming out of your

system the way you described it. This is also my first real HT

and I'm getting very anxious, but I want to do it right so I'm taking

my time. I'm using the CDT's for the rear surrounds.

I'm starting off with a 5.1 system. So do you think the 5800's

are better for that application or are the 5650's appropriate?

I'm probably 80% movies and 20% music. Also, I was going to

purchase the RC-35, but for the few extra bucks, should I purchase the

RC-62? It is the replacement of the 35, isn't it? Any

advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I like the 5650's in my house, but honestly, I am probably going to

upgrade them to 5800s. I am really debating it, my wife told me I

could up the sides, but the 5650's have to go to the bedroom, and I had

hoped she would let me have a pair of RF-52's for the bedroom.

The CDTs have high WAF ratings in my home.

I am running 7.1 and I swear after listeining for a while, the channels

are split with higher frequency to the side/surrounds and more bass to

the rears. That could be my imagination though. IMHO, if I

were running only 5.1, I would use the 5800s over the 5650s if my

budget would allow. I can't say the 5800's cross a point of

diminishing returns, but that is because I have not heard a true 7.1

DVD/CD yet, but I do have the opinion that they are worth the extra

cost for the rears.

As for RC-35 v. RC-62: The specs, someone correct me if I am

wrong, are similar but the RC-62 is marginally slimmer, weighs in

nearly 25% heavier, and has a broader frequency response range (I am

sure it also has the new tweeter that distinguishes the RF-82 from the

RF-35). If you have the RF-35's up front, then I may suggest the

RC-35, otherwise, I would recommend the RC-62.

[Meatball]

Thanks again for your input concerning the CDT's. I just may spend the extra $ for the 5800's because I want the best sound I can get for the rear surrounds. It's important to me to get an opinion from someone who has heard them first hand. In your answer to my question regarding which to use...RC-35 vs RC-62...you stated that if I had the RF-35's use the RC-35, but I have the RB-35's, does the same hold true for those? I know the RC-35 works well with the RB-35's but will the RC-62 work even better?

I can't wait to get the whole system together, but I must admit that I really enjoy the learning process that goes along with it. I can tell that everyone who participates in this forum also enjoys the the entire process, especially the end result. Thanks to everyone who gets involved.

[rlr267]

You should check the spec sheets to verify this, but I think the RF-35

and RB-35 have the same tweeter/horn (K137) and driver (K1123).

If so, the RC-35 is designed as a match for either speaker.

As for the RC-62 sounding/working better, I have read a few posts on

this forum and another about the importance of matching timbre of the

speakers. Most of these post were on another forum in regards to

mixing speakers (ie: one brand up front and another brand for side or

rear, etc.). I really don't know how much difference it makes one

way or another since I am positive that even with the new tweeter, the

RC-62 is going to be a good match for the RB-35 even if the RC-35 would

be a closer match in tone/timbre. It will really come down to a

personal choice. The best thing you can do, if possible is listen

to both and even better is if you can incorporate your RB-35s into the

audition. You may consider talking to a local dealer, see if

he/she has one of each and if they will let you take them home for a

day, even if you have to buy them both with the understanding one is

coming back for a refund the next day.

[Meatball]

Thanks again for your input. I'll do some more research and I'll see if I can get an audition with both centers.

I think I'm may go with the CDT-5800's for the rear surrounds and I was wondering where you purchased yours? Did you pay retail?

[rlr267]

I am going to get in trouble one of these days for this, but I paid

$230 each for the CDT-5800's I bought. I paid $185 each for the

5650's. I bought them from a dealer here in the DFW area.

[Meatball]

Your secret's safe with me. I saw the 5800's on-line for $235 each. I think I'm going to purchase them this week.

Thanks again.