What is your experience with ceiling speakers?

[Duomi8]

I have been using trying out some Polk Audio RCI60 ceiling speakers connected to quite an old amp, with Amazon Echo dots providing the Aux sound source.

As expected, and possibly due to physical limitations, the resulting sound has slightly 'dull' results, compared to even smallish bookshelf speakers. Appearing to lack in both lower + higher frequencies, but not volume.

Given that the minimalist look of the speakers is extremely pleasing, does one have to accept lower quality sound from them? Does price have direct relation to performance? How important is the amp?


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[bebaldin]

Tried them in two rooms in my house a few years ago, but never really liked the sound at all. Thought they made everything sound like 'Muzak'.

Put in Sonos all over the house, and never looked back. Sound is awesome - so good in fact that it got me to retire my monster CV DX-9s, surrounds and sub after many years of great service.

[Pete]

I used the Polk Audio RCI60 ceiling speakers for my 7.1 set up and they sounded fine here.

Could be the Amazon Dot? An old amplifier sound quality should be fine. Then again today folks are happy with the audio coming from their smartphones similar to those that listed to miniature transistor radios of the 1960's. (it was not quality of the sound back then, just the ability to hear radio).

Over the years kept changing the speakers (going from 5.1 to 7.1) in living room / TV room. Rest of the speakers for the 7.1 sound were exteriorly mounted. I know this is not the thing to do but I did it anyhow.

I did do a 5.1 set up in the master bedroom with all in wall 5.1 speakers (and a powered mini subwoofer) and it was a russound sub zone. I did subzones in the bedrooms for the TVs.

I also utilize outdoor Russound speakers on the outdoor deck and garage. Been fine for over 10 years. Sun and weather didn't affect the plastic case and the sound on these.

All of the rest of the speakers where in wall mount for the Russound stuff.

Well and I got a deal on these purchasing them by the case.

I was in to audio stuff in the 70's (and 60's)....and last nice speakers were Altec Lansing voice of the theator, Bose 901's, Klipch (custom finished at the time), et al. Kept my old Nakamichi dragon, Marantz SD9000, Jensen stereo speakers (circa 1955) here...never used these days...just preserved.

Many folks here use Sonos server with a zoned audio system. (with wired speakers). Main piece is just an audio server.

Not in to wireless audio though (kind of still in the analog mode here).

I like the convenience of using a HS proxy for speech but personally here still do a direct speaker dot exe which works with SAPI speech and HS audio.

It is faster for me (and it is a bit more analog).

Note not knocking Sonos here.

They do an amazing job of promoting / advertising the system especially when I see an advertisement using a Sonos set up in a sound studio.

[sirmeili]

I use in ceiling for my surround speakers (7.1) and they sound great. They are Polk Audio 80-FX/RT speakers (4 of them). The staging is off since they are in ceiling as opposed to ear level, but the actual sound is great. I also have a polk audio stereo speaker in our master bathroom and it sounds great as well. In addition to that I have 2 monoprice stereo speakers in our foyer and guest bath and can't complain there either.

For me, the sound is great and as good as anything else. It's the staging in the living room that is my biggest concern, but due to my room layout, it was what I had to do and you do get used to it.

[happnatious1]

As far as speakers go you get what you pay for, I installed some cheap MCM speakers maybe 20 bucks in my living room and they sound terrible compared to the $250 speakers my brother just put in. There is also a formula that professional installers use to place the ceiling speakers so that the reflections off the walls yield good stereo results. Also, using streaming media as a source does not yield high quality. streaming music is compressed and usually equalized for streaming through cell phones and such.

[Pete]

minimalist look of the speakers is extremely pleasing

Radio Design decora active loudspeaker.

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The decora style here in the US is very popular can be considered an update to the old wall electrical toggle switch.

Another option is this. (I have used something similiar in commercial space).

Stealth Acoustics

[ATTACH]61705[/ATTACH]

There is a high end automation shop in the vicinity here and they utilize similar built in to wall speakers for their automation sound stuff.

Kole Digital

In the 80's here just used little box speakers (white or black) with a separate amps on each floor. Recall burning up an in wall volume control during a little get together in the 90's. One guest noticed smoke coming from the wall at the time. Switched over then to the Leviton digital Chopin volume controls.

[waynehead99]

When i put in my Russound unit, I bought ceiling speakers from Mono Price. Bathroom only has one speaker, so I bought a dual voice coil speaker that was humidity resistant (made for bathrooms), and have to say for 100 bucks, I was pleasantly surprised by the audio quality. I have Polk Audio ceiling speakers in the kitchen (left by previous owners), and they sound good as well.

Something to consider, and this is just opinion (as it always is with audio preferences), when I setup my Russound unit, I lowered my expectations to what I thought was a realistic level considering 25 watts per zone and small 8 inch ceiling speakers. We use them when we are entertaining and just want some background noise when doing chores and such. They do very well and fill the house with music all over. If I want the true audio experience, I crank up my Yammy receiver that has much nicer speakers and better sound quality (I also have it automated to come on if the kitchen zone is on for music to give it a little extra bass from the subs).

Also when installing ceiling speakers, make sure you get the case that goes behind it... leaving a speaker open to the attic will affect the sound quality in a pretty significant way.

[Duomi8]

Thanks for the feedback. I am aware that generally ceiling speakers are less likely to have the performance of other speaker types, in fact a friend also warned me away from them with the 'muzak' comment. And I have listened to and considered the Sonos system, wireless speakers with amps in them. Sound great. If Sonos would have sold ceiling speakers I would have considered them

The general intention behind our smart home setup is to make the technology invisible, including speakers where possible. The Polk Audios have 313 Amazon reviews with 4.5 out of 5 stars, which supports the positive experience of people here. Therefore there is hope to do some tweaking to get slightly better performance.

As suggested, will try connecting the Echo Dots to alternative active speaker to confirm if it is the Echo. In addition, there is a small chance it is the old amp sourced from a friend. Lastly will try putting fireproof ' boxing' of some nature directly around and behind the speaker.

[Pete]

Here only utilize the Polk ceiling speakers for multimedia / TV set up. Over did the in wall speakers here as they are in every room and hallway. Wiring here is 16/4 to a wall box near each pair of speakers. From the wall box it goes 16/2. There is also one cat5e going so same wall box for the Russound keypads. Over did the control as the Leviton HAI Omnitouch screens also control the Russound audio. Each bedroom (over doing it) has a sub zone and multimedia. IE: there is a Russound AB switch for local audio and Russound amp audio. The master bedroom / master bathroom are Russound zones again AB sourced local or Russound. Thing is you do see the speakers but they do sound nice. The Russound amps are also connected to Homeseer via a litte mini serial server which buffers and splits two serial ports.

IE: master bedroom is a bit over the top and has low WAF (wife acceptance factor). Touchscreens on the two nightstands, wall, media center and bathroom. The do all go off at night. Just moved the Amazon Alexa out of the bathroom as I like using the touchscreen better and sometimes Alexa would speak randomly.

[S-F]

Ceiling and wall speakers are fine. Just make sure they have a filled enclosure behind them.

[morrisdlx]

Ceiling speakers and more

Recommend you consider a company that is almost totally known through word of mouth referral.

I did a lot of research and came across Home Theater Direct. These folks have a wide range of speakers and amps for whole house solutions.

Also, there is an existing Homeseer plugin. The combination of the control from anywhere capabilities from the HTD zone management pads and the plugin from Ultrajones results in tremendous flexibility.

As for the speakers, they are on par or better than their main competitors (Niles and Polk) ... and best of all... at a lower price.

www.htd.com

[S-F]

Recommend you consider a company that is almost totally known through word of mouth referral.

I did a lot of research and came across Home Theater Direct. These folks have a wide range of speakers and amps for whole house solutions.

Also, there is an existing Homeseer plugin. The combination of the control from anywhere capabilities from the HTD zone management pads and the plugin from Ultrajones results in tremendous flexibility.

As for the speakers, they are on par or better than their main competitors (Niles and Polk) ... and best of all... at a lower price.

www.htd.com

Yep. HTD is pretty good. BUT! For our purposes their amps are not the best though their speakers are right up there. For wired, distributed audio Russound is currently where it's at with HS because we have integration with BLSpeech. The combination is stupid fantastic. Russound CAA systems are not too pricey in comparison and you have MUCH better integration with your HS system. Night and day.


Or go ahead and get a second mortgage for Sonos. And still not get the benefits of BLSpeech.

[Pete]

Hear! Hear! S-F

Many long time Homeseer folks here have created an autonomous for Homeseer TTS distributed audio configuration.

Here is the timeline / stuff that I have done relating to Homeseer text to speech sound.

1 - Homeseer in the 1990's

Installed Homeseer server in the attic. Built a chase from the attic to the basement.
Installed three el cheapo speakers for Homeseer using built in PC audio output. Speakers were in installed in the second floor hallway, main floor hallway and finished basement wall. Nothing fancy and not connected to then amplifiers for distributed music.

2 - late 1990's-early 2000's

Ran 16/4 speaker cabling and cat5e cabling just for audio. Purchased an AB8SS, Audio 100 Watt amplifier (Audiosource) and a Leviton Digital chopin system and in wall speakers. (actually did two homes this way - bulk purchasing in wall speakers).

3 - 2000's - Homeseer 2 - it was decided back then that ceiling speakers were the best for distributing Homeseer audio - too late for me as I had already installed in wall speakers. They looked fine for me and OK on the WAF (used for distributing regular audio and HS stuff).

Initially purchased a Russound CAA44 and continued to utilize the AB8SS. Then purchased two CAA66's and KPL digital keypads for each zone. (well kept the AB8SS on line but switched the speakers over to the Russound).

So in a recap from OP - best ceiling speaker.

1 - Distributed hi fidelity audio and Home seer sound can be two autonomous endeavors or one. I am analog still here and prefer the wire versus wireless. On the forum many years ago it was decided most esthetically pleasing Homeseer audio was best installed in the ceiling with whatever you chose. (70w or conventional speakers). Some folks went to hiding their Homeseer audio under furniture and stuff.

2 - best distributed audio for music and the such was or similar to Russound. Wired speakers and wired controllers and integration to Homeseer. Speakers here can be in wall or ceiling mounted or exterior mounted of a variety el cheapo or high end or seen or not seen. It is up to you.

Over the years here have kept Homeseer automation to it's own world. Multimedia including TV and IR blasting stayed separate mostly with no interdependencies.

Audio sources for Russound are: AVR's, Jogglers with Squeezeplayer or Kodi and can be a Sonos mm server if I choose. (have a 12 source option).
I like my audio collection here so that is my preference (over satellite or streaming internet). (audio collection is replicated to two cars today). Yesterday while doing the WAF errands ( I was chauffeuring her) I chose to listen to Billboards top 100 songs starting in the 1940's and watched one episode of Amazing stories (Television series from 1985 to 1987). Higher priority here is music over an automated light switch (or weather station or CCTV or security - but that is me).

My multimedia doesn't have Homeseer dependencies and in fact has a higher priority to lighting automation. That said Homeseer does tap in to the multimedia. Same here with Security and Weather et al.

[Duomi8]

Thanks for the tips on htd.com, they don't deliver to Uk but when the time comes I would to try one of their speakers. The problem of Alexa talking without request is having her there to control lighting & devices mainly, since is hard wired to aux will only utter anything if command 'turn on speaker' is given. If the amp is still on after 15 mins without motion detected, amp is switched off. This works in bathroom but not sure that is appropriate elsewhere. It was useful and interesting to read about other people setups. Russound or similar is I think the way to go.


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[Duomi8]

That's not totally correct, Alexa is also there to provide easy access to music, but having her voice defaulted to 'off' is quite beneficial. If she can't understand something it just doesn't get done, rather than her bellowing a negative statement about not understanding something.


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