Best choice for in-ceiling surrounds?

[Rickmn]

I'm currently setting up my basement for a home theater and I'm stuck on which manufacturer I should purchase my L/R surrounds and L/R back surrounds from.

The two that I'm currently considering are:
Speakercraft AIM7 Three
NILES CM760DSFX

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated regarding this dilemma

 

[gcmarshall]

rick,

speaker preference and choice is largely a personal opinion; everyone has different ears. however, i will share some general opinions of my own, in no particular order:

1) try to get surrounds that are in line price-wise with the rest of your theater. for example, if you have a home-theater-in-a-box system, don't spend $800 for a pair of in-ceiling speakers. on the other extreme, if the rest of your theater is somewhat higher end, don't skimp on surrounds.

2) my parents have higher end Niles in ceiling speakers throughout their house and they sound GREAT for stereo. i don't know their model #. i have no experience with speakercraft.

3) recall that surrounds only produce "surround" noise, as opposed to dialogue or other prominent sounds from a movie. so, you do not need the ultra-top of the line in-ceiling speakers for your surrounds. that being said, and as i alluded to earlier, don't skimp on surrounds, especially if you do enjoy movie watching and want a good sound from your surrounds.

4) if you are retrofitting into an already built home, ensure you have the skill to install and the space in your ceiling (careful of joists, electrical wiring, strength in your ceiling board, etc., etc.) -- measure and inspect MANY times before you even consider drilling or cutting.

as for which speaker to choose - if you can listen to them in a store, do that and choose which sounds best to you. if you cannot demo in the store, make sure you can return them if you do no like the sound. but, as i said, surrounds are not the "main" sound from your movie, so it is likely that any respectable brand and a model further up the line will suffice.

good luck. this is a fun hobby.

 

[Rickmn]

rick,

speaker preference and choice is largely a personal opinion; everyone has different ears. however, i will share some general opinions of my own, in no particular order:

1) try to get surrounds that are in line price-wise with the rest of your theater. for example, if you have a home-theater-in-a-box system, don't spend $800 for a pair of in-ceiling speakers. on the other extreme, if the rest of your theater is somewhat higher end, don't skimp on surrounds.

2) my parents have higher end Niles in ceiling speakers throughout their house and they sound GREAT for stereo. i don't know their model #. i have no experience with speakercraft.

3) recall that surrounds only produce "surround" noise, as opposed to dialogue or other prominent sounds from a movie. so, you do not need the ultra-top of the line in-ceiling speakers for your surrounds. that being said, and as i alluded to earlier, don't skimp on surrounds, especially if you do enjoy movie watching and want a good sound from your surrounds.

4) if you are retrofitting into an already built home, ensure you have the skill to install and the space in your ceiling (careful of joists, electrical wiring, strength in your ceiling board, etc., etc.) -- measure and inspect MANY times before you even consider drilling or cutting.

as for which speaker to choose - if you can listen to them in a store, do that and choose which sounds best to you. if you cannot demo in the store, make sure you can return them if you do no like the sound. but, as i said, surrounds are not the "main" sound from your movie, so it is likely that any respectable brand and a model further up the line will suffice.

good luck. this is a fun hobby.

Thanks gcmarshall, I appreciate the response. I should provide a little more information that would be helpful. First off, my basement is unfinished at this point and I'm trying to stay ahead of the game. Construction is slated to begin the first part of Nov. and I hope by then all my questions regarding my components and set-up will be answered.

Here's what I have so far:
Panasonic 65" plasma TH-65PX600U
Magnepan MG12 or MG 1.6 front L/R channel
Magnepan CC3 center channel
Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXH receiver
Panamax MAX5300 power conditioner

I'm just kind of swaying between the Niles and Speakercraft for the rear L/R surround. I'm also considering the Magnepan MC-1's for the L/R surrounds. I grew up in White Bear Lake, MN where these speakers are manufactured and recently had the chance to audition them. They sound AMAZING!!
With the money I've invested here I certainly don't want to cheaten my system by purchasing cheap surrounds, although, I do not need to buy the most expensive either. That's why I narrowed my selection down to these two.

Any further help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gcmarshall]

the only other thing i can add is.....don't overthink this. you've selected as options in-ceiling speakers from good manufacturers. you seem to have a very nice system and a fair amount of money invested. err on the side of getting something nice and you can't go wrong.

just recall that, in my opinion, in-ceiling speakers are generally not a good match for "floor-standing" speakers. it sounds like you might be limited to in-ceilings due to design and the logistics of your basement. however, if not, you might consider magnepan surrounds in order to get a better voice-matching all around in your theater.

but, as i said at the beginning of this post, don't overthink it. you've done a great job narrowing it down.