In-ceiling speakers

[MagicMonkey]

Anyone have experience with them?

My house came pre-wired for in ceiling surround sound. I just finished a project at work and will get a bonus next paycheck, so I figure it's time to get the speakers. I've never been in a room that had them, so I'm not sure how they sound. From what I've seen, they are very expensive. I already have some nice Kliptsch speakers, that I could just hang from the ceiling, but my wife think that will look bad. I would think that hanging speakers would give a better surround sound since I can direct where they go as oppessed to the in-ceiling speakers that only put straight down.

Any nudges in the right direction would be appreciated.

[Quads]

Spend the money on it. Just about every decent speaker mfg makes them for wall / flush mount. It's worth the extra $ IMO.

[Hirize]

I placed 4 in the family room and will be hooking up the HT this weekend.
Made drop down boxes for them........coooool!

I gotta go take a couple pictures this weekend, just picked up the granite for the countertop also.

Aloha, Pete

[MagicMonkey]

I placed 4 in the family room and will be hooking up the HT this weekend.
Made drop down boxes for them........coooool!

I gotta go take a couple pictures this weekend, just picked up the granite for the countertop also.

Aloha, Pete

I'm not sure what a drop down box would look like. Can't wait to see the pictures.

[Trann]

What are the concerns about placing them in a basement ceiling?

The space is effectively between floor joists so I'm betting the need to be sound insulated to direct their energy down and not up.

I never even thought of this for my man cave but it's now in the brane...

[Charlutz]

In ceiling/wall speakers are designed to use the wall space as an enclosure. You don't have control over it and the speaker companies don't know how you are going to use them, so it's impossible to predict whether it would better or worse to have more or less space behind the wall. Picking speakers is an art not a science. Pick what sounds good to you. If you like it, nobody can tell you you don't.

That said, I would try to only use ceiling speakers for the side and rears. The sound effects that go through those channels are usually planes flying overhead, falling rain, thunder, etc that sounds natural slightly overhead. For your fronts you want them at eye level and your center should be immediately above or below the screen and angled to eye level if possible. The dolby labs website has good explanations re speaker placement.

[IgotDANUTZ]

I bought 4 cheap ones from radio shack and they are awesome. They are used for the poker room and bar room and provide great background noise. I paid 100 for four of them and I love em

[MagicMonkey]

I'm finally ready to go on this project. I've got the speakers and am ready to cut the whole in the ceiling. I took the plate off the ceiling and pulled the wire down, but there is a plastic box in there attached to a beam. Looking inside, I can't see any way to remove it. Anyone know how to remove it so I can cut a whole for the speaker?

[Dr Lecterr]

A picture would be helpful

[MagicMonkey]

A picture would be helpful

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p127/gegenfunf/100_2117.jpg

Might not be the greatest picture, but you can see exactly what I see.

[Hirize]

The box has two nails going into the wood. They are almost impossible to get out except by cutting them.
Put a metal cutting blade between the box and the wood and cut through the nails.

BE CAREFUL not to cut into any electric wires running out the back of the box.

Myself, I would cut the opening bigger on the opposite side from the wood so I could pry the box away from the wood a little to see if any wires are on the wood just behind the box. This also lets you see the two nails / what you need to cut.

A Sawzall with a metal blade will cut through them in about 30 seconds or less.

Aloha, Pete

Check out my speakers
http://www.westhawaiiwoodturners.org/petespics/remodel.html

[Quads]

Cut it out.
There are two nails that hold the box in place (attached to the 2X4 stud)
The easiest way is to take a hack saw blade off the saw, and use it by hand, or buy a hack saw that will do it without taking the blade out.
Once in a while you can pry them out with a large screwdriver. (or at least pry it away from the stud, and shove it down the inside of the wall)

[km630]

If it was put in as new construction, the nails are not visible in that picture. They are behind the sheet rock, and go into the stud at an angle. As a result, prying them out is really hard to do. Since you don't really need the box, you can cut the box itself. Or, if you want to get out some frustration, us a hammer and a screwdriver/nutdriver to beat it out. .

[JumperJeff]

Check out my speakers
http://www.westhawaiiwoodturners.org/petespics/remodel.html

NICE WORK! You have a beautiful home. I love the wooden ceilings and might have to keep that in mind for when I finish my basement.

[Hirize]

Jeff,

That's just the family room and guest facilties :-)
Most of the house is upstairs.

Aloha, Pete

[MagicMonkey]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I ended up cutting the whole I needed using the opening the junction box was in as part of the circle. Once I got the drywall off, I could see the nails sticking out the side that were holding them in. I just used a screwdriver and hammer and pounded the nails out. Since my speakers were round and the opening was rectangle, I have a little tiny hole in the ceiling that I just need to cover up.