In Ceiling Speakers Questions

[perfectdark]

Hi all,

I'm out of town for work at the moment so I can not upload any new pictures or even a picture with the layout of my basement. I have a 6 year old and a 4 year old who own the basement and it is there play room. So I can not have expensive equipment down there, not too mention I am on a one income family. So all that being said I have the Optoma HD65 Front Projector, entry level but it suits my needs well. I have a B-Tech 90" motorized screen which is ok and a home theatre in a box from 8 years ago RCA. I had the speakers on stands on the floor but the kids kept knocking them over or writing on them and I got sickof Barbie always turning my center channel into a tea party for ken So I tookmy speaker stands, old as well, cut them in half and mounted them upside down from my drop ceiling with the speakers attached. So left, right, both rears are lowered from the ceiling and it looks ok but i'm not happy with it. The center channel is sitting on top of my 8" Cerwin Vega sub undermy screen and is still a Barbie play place (for now)
So I have been looking at ceiling/in-wall speakers and I like the in-wall speakers the best but my problem is I cannot place a center channel in the wall. The bottom half of my basement is hard wood paneling and the top is regular dry wall (i didn't do it, it's from the previous owner and I have no interest in destroying it or cutting it) So I thought maybe I could lower my screen a foot and have the center channel above the screen (and all other speakers in the walls) , but I'm not sure about this either. Or put them in the ceiling and get a ceiling center channel that has the tweeter/driver pivoting so it can face towards the sofa.
So my long winded question is, what would be better?

1)In Wall Speakers and have the center channel 1 foot from the ceiling (after lowering the screen by 1 foot)
or
2)Ceiling in wall speakers, mounted in drop ceiling and get a center channel that can pivot towards sofa.

If ound this speaker from Polk that can pivotand the support rep fromPolk said it can be used as a center channel
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...0127960&catid=

Before I buy any of these speakers, I thought I'd remove my old RCA speakers from their box and temporarily place them in the ceiling to get a feel for how it will sound, is this a decent idea? (I will be throwing them all out after the upgrade)

[Mordir]

Discipline the kids so they don't touch your HT equipment. Problem solved.

Aside from that, ceiling and in wall speakers will not compare well with the audio quality you can get from floor standing speakers. Try to avoid it if at all possible. I have heard the speakers you linked. They sound ok under the best conditions but you're paying for convenience, not audio quality, when it comes to in wall speakers. I suggest mounting your center channel 1 foot from the ceiling and angle it towards your seating position.

If you can get your kids to stop messing with your gear that would be best. The same amount of money you were going to spend on the in wall speakers will get you floor standing speakers that will leave your jaw on the floor in comparison. Good luck!

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Mordir

Discipline the kids so they don't touch your HT equipment. Problem solved.

Aside from that, ceiling and in wall speakers will not compare well with the audio quality you can get from floor standing speakers. Try to avoid it if at all possible. I have heard the speakers you linked. They sound ok under the best conditions but you're paying for convenience, not audio quality, when it comes to in wall speakers. I suggest mounting your center channel 1 foot from the ceiling and angle it towards your seating position.

If you can get your kids to stop messing with your gear that would be best. The same amount of money you were going to spend on the in wall speakers will get you floor standing speakers that will leave your jaw on the floor in comparison. Good luck!

Kids disciplined

Of course when I am home I discipline my kids for touching or playing with my equipment. but the fact remains this room is primarily for them,soit is not them who are invading my space,it is I who is invading their room. Also, I'm sure you'reaware that with a 4 and 6 year old who go tobed around 9pm I cannot have my surround sound very loud and in fact have to sit there with the remote to raise the volume for the dialgoue parts and lower it for the loud action sceens (very anonying) So sound quality is not high on my list,just a decent sound and an invisible look is more desirable for me.

Can I not just take my exhisting speakers and place them in the ceiling. Cut a whole, mount them and buy a white grill to make it a smooth look? Would save some money on new speakers and my current speakers are just from an 8 year old HTIB so i'mnot worried about putting screw holesin the case

[neogeo64]

Is your RCA HTIB 8 ohm? if so will it have enough power to drive those 100w speakers?

Parts express has a good selection of in walls for a lot less.



You may need a new rec, i know onkyo's have a night mode where the sound is normalized and the sub is kept low for night viewing.

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by neogeo64

Is your RCA HTIB 8 ohm? if so will it have enough power to drive those 100w speakers?

Parts express has a good selection of in walls for a lot less.



You may need a new rec, i know onkyo's have a night mode where the sound is normalized and the sub is kept low for night viewing.

I'll check that site

good question... my current HTIB speakers are 4 ohm so (i'm not at home) but i assume the receiver probably can't power those speakers

Do you think I could customize my speakers for in ceiling?

[Mordir]

Originally Posted by perfectdark

Also, I'm sure you'reaware that with a 4 and 6 year old who go tobed around 9pm I cannot have my surround sound very loud and in fact have to sit there with the remote to raise the volume for the dialgoue parts and lower it for the loud action sceens (very anonying) So sound quality is not high on my list,just a decent sound and an invisible look is more desirable for me.

In that case, in wall/ceiling speakers are even worse for your situation. With in wall/ceiling speakers you will lose much more audio into the walls which will come out of your vents in other rooms and radiate through the house than you would with cabinet speakers. Either way you'll have to control the volume because of the kids but it would be much worse with in wall.

Since you're not concerned with screw holes in the cabinets of your existing speakers I would look for mounting kits instead. It will be cheaper and get the speakers out of your kids reach.

Up to 8 lbs per speaker:
http://www.mountsandmore.com/OmniMou...es-OM0107.html

Up to 20 lbs per speaker:
http://www.mountsandmore.com/OmniMou...es-OM0014.html

Those are just examples. You can find them at most electronic stores or sites. Check with your favorite vendor and go with something like that. Just be sure they can support the weight of your speaker.

[STARSCREAM]

I have some Speakercraft AIM series speakers that are supposed to be great but I didn't install them in my setup so they are just sitting unused. I'll sell them to you for super cheap if you want to get something to try out. These are supposed to be great in ceiling speakers and they have aimable tweeters.