Best in-ceiling speakers for front speaker HT set up

[PeteMac]

I know in-ceiling speakers for the front speakers in a home theater setup are not the way to go for audio quality, but it's what my wife and her interior designer have insisted on to keep the look clean around our new Sony XR 75X93L with the Leon Speakers Studio Frame. The primary sofa for watching the TV will be ~15 feet back from the TV. From what I've read, getting speakers angled toward the viewing location is quite important, so I was thinking about the Focal 300 ICLCR5 speakers. My home theater/automation guy is recommending the Totem KIN Architectural AIC speakers instead, but I can't find a dealer in the Bay Area that carries those nor have I seen much online on those speakers. Given my requirements, which speakers would you recommend? I'll use it with a Marantz Cinema AVR.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Given this forum is what it is, I’ll be surprised if anyone here has heard either one. That said, I like the design of the Focal better. It has a harder angle (which you need). I don’t like that the Kin is designed like a center channel speaker.

Any reason why the wife and designer object to in-wall speakers? Much better option if you’re stuck with recessed mounting.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[PeteMac]

Given this forum is what it is, I’ll be surprised if anyone here has heard either one. That said, I like the design of the Focal better. It has a harder angle (which you need). I don’t like that the Kin is designed like a center channel speaker.

Any reason why the wife and designer object to in-wall speakers? Much better option if you’re stuck with recessed mounting.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Thanks, Wayne. The TV in the Leon frame will be used as an art/frame TV, and they don't like the look of in or on wall speakers or a sound bar as they would detract from the look of the framed art. It unfortunately is what it is.

 

[TLS Guy]

I know in-ceiling speakers for the front speakers in a home theater setup are not the way to go for audio quality, but it's what my wife and her interior designer have insisted on to keep the look clean around our new Sony XR 75X93L with the Leon Speakers Studio Frame. The primary sofa for watching the TV will be ~15 feet back from the TV. From what I've read, getting speakers angled toward the viewing location is quite important, so I was thinking about the Focal 300 ICLCR5 speakers. My home theater/automation guy is recommending the Totem KIN Architectural AIC speakers instead, but I can't find a dealer in the Bay Area that carries those nor have I seen much online on those speakers. Given my requirements, which speakers would you recommend? I'll use it with a Marantz Cinema AVR.

Fire the interior designer with a good tongue lashing. You need to make people of that ilk wish they had never been born.

Ceiling speakers will make a lousy system, and be a total waste of money.

 

[PeteMac]

Okay, so I talked to the wife, and she'd agree that I could get a built in under the TV and we could paint the grill the same color as the accent wall. Should I put a sound bar inside that recessed area (perhaps the Sony
HT-A7000 or Bravia Theatre Bar 9)?

 

[Golfx]

Okay, so I talked to the wife, and she'd agree that I could get a built in under the TV and we could paint the grill the same color as the accent wall. Should I put a sound bar inside that recessed area (perhaps the Sony
HT-A7000 or Bravia Theatre Bar 9)?

Perlisten https://www.perlistenaudio.com/products/r3ic/,
Revel https://www.revelspeakers.com/products/types/in-ceiling/ and
Focal https://www.revelspeakers.com/products/types/in-ceiling/
have terrific in-ceiling speakers that have very high quality FR and can be aimed toward MLP.. Totem are rare ducks and likely give a nice margin to your installer.

 

[DigitalDawn]

You should difinitely give Triad a look. Their angled InCeiling speakers sound fantastic and the angled baffle directs the sound to the wall in front of you. Triad will also paint the grills to match your ceiling.

Triad Bronze Series In-Ceiling LCR Speaker - 5.25" Woofer | Snap One

www.snapav.com

 

[TLS Guy]

Perlisten https://www.perlistenaudio.com/products/r3ic/,
Revel https://www.revelspeakers.com/products/types/in-ceiling/ and
Focal https://www.revelspeakers.com/products/types/in-ceiling/
have terrific in-ceiling speakers that have very high quality FR and can be aimed toward MLP.. Totem are rare ducks and likely give a nice margin to your installer.

The brain is not that easily fooled. You can aim speakers wherever you want in the ceiling, and the voices will still come from "on high" however you aim them and whatever brand you select.

Interior designers as a whole are dedicated to disallowing people to enjoy the spaces they have paid for.

The fact is that good AV systems add enormous enjoyment daily to peoples lives. Sterile useless spaces do not. The interior designer of the builder ended up exiting the project and that was a huge bonus.

Tell your wife to rid her head of the BS the interior designer has filled it with. Then get about building spaces you will both enjoy for the ages. Spaces can be both beautiful, functional, relaxing and enjoyable. None of those are in conflict unless you are an interior designer.

An architects rule, a big piece of paper and a sharp pencil, have always been my best friends in these matters.

AV system in our great room.

We decided to match the speaker grill with the TV rather than the wall color.

Other views of the great room.

So you absolutely can have great AV and elegant interior design, they are NOT mutually exclusive.

My wife just loves that system and it sounds excellent. Left right and center speakers and a high performance in wall sub.

This is the AV room which the whole family love and enjoy.

Our outside kitchen.

We love this home, and our whole family enjoy it. The interior designer would have ruined it.

She got read her pedigree on a regular basis. I hold them in low esteem and you and your wife should too.

 

[TLS Guy]

You should difinitely give Triad a look. Their angled InCeiling speakers sound fantastic and the angled baffle directs the sound to the wall in front of you. Triad will also paint the grills to match your ceiling.

Triad Bronze Series In-Ceiling LCR Speaker - 5.25" Woofer | Snap One

www.snapav.com

Digital Dawn, the brian is not confused by any of those type of contraptions.

There is no neurophysiology to support what you have to say. If the brain was so easily fooled we would not have survived as a species. With two good ears we all know where the sound is coming from. It is all part of our self preservation.

 

[DigitalDawn]

It's not a brain thing at all. The speaker is designed on a 45 degree angle and directs the sound diectly at the listener.

 

[Golfx]

The brain is not that easily fooled. You can aim speakers wherever you want in the ceiling, and the voices will still come from "on high" however you aim them and whatever brand you select.

Interior designers as a whole are dedicated to disallowing people to enjoy the spaces they have paid for.

The fact is that good AV systems add enormous enjoyment daily to peoples lives. Sterile useless spaces do not. The interior designer of the builder ended up exiting the project and that was a huge bonus.

Tell your wife to rid her head of the BS the interior designer has filled it with. Then get about building spaces you will both enjoy for the ages. Spaces can be both beautiful, functional, relaxing and enjoyable. None of those are in conflict unless you are an interior designer.

An architects rule, a big piece of paper and a sharp pencil, have always been my best friends in these matters.

AV system in our great room.

We decided to match the speaker grill with the TV rather than the wall color.

Other views of the great room.

So you absolutely can have great AV and elegant interior design, they are NOT mutually exclusive.

My wife just loves that system and it sounds excellent. Left right and center speakers and a high performance in wall sub.

This is the AV room which the whole family love and enjoy.

Our outside kitchen.

We love this home, and our whole family enjoy it. The interior designer would have ruined it.

She got read her pedigree on a regular basis. I hold them in low esteem and you and your wife should too.

So you took my recommendations about speaker brands (provided to help the op) and used it to rant about why we should want your house and not ceiling speakers??

 

[TLS Guy]

It's not a brain thing at all. The speaker is designed on a 45 degree angle and directs the sound diectly at the listener.

Exactly as you say, and it the sound will come and be heard to come from the ceiling and NOT the TV.

 

[TLS Guy]

So you took my recommendations about speaker brands (provided to help the op) and used it to rant about why we should want your house and not ceiling speakers??

Precisely and I will continue to warn people that ceiling speakers are for background, public address and Atmos ceiling speakers and that they are useless for anything else. That is dictated by physics and the neuroscience of human hearing. You can talk rubbish all you want, and I will confront it, to save people wasting money and being disappointed.

 

[Bobby Bass]

I have in-wall speakers that were painted to match the wall. The painter said it took some extra time and effort following the instructions but they turned out looking great. Blend in pretty well and you don’t really notice from a distance. My wife is happy so it’s all good

 

[DigitalDawn]

Exactly as you say, and it the sound will come and be heard to come from the ceiling and NOT the TV.

Not true. We have installed tons of these, and they really do sound like the audio is coming from in front of you. The only caveat is that the speaker needs to be no more than 3 feet away from the wall.

 

[Eppie]

I have in-wall speakers that were painted to match the wall. The painter said it took some extra time and effort following the instructions but they turned out looking great. Blend in pretty well and you don’t really notice from a distance. My wife is happy so it’s all good

I have in-walls in the living room and the latest versions from Paradigm have very small perforations in the grills so they blend in even better than my older ones. My son didn't even see the new centre until I pointed it out. The bezels are quite thin so you just get a slight shadow from lighting. They are harder to paint because of the smaller perforations but I just used a relatively dry brush and stippling technique to prevent the paint from clogging the holes.

 

[TLS Guy]

Not true. We have installed tons of these, and they really do sound like the audio is coming from in front of you. The only caveat is that the speaker needs to be no more than 3 feet away from the wall.

That might be true if you mount the screen close to the ceiling!

 

[lovinthehd]

That might be true if you mount the screen close to the ceiling!

People often have pretty good luck mounting a center under a tv, close to the floor, without it sounding like it came from the floor, too. Anything with a tv is a basic compromise of course....