Bookshelf Surrounds in Ceiling

[SuperB69]

I am in the process of finishing my basement. I want to set up a 5.1 system I already have, but, my surround speakers are rather large bookshelfs, and are getting hard to place. As the framing is not yet done, I thought of mounting them in the ceiling, downfiring, before the drywall goes up. The speakers are all RBH Signature. 1044se for the fronts, 3 441se for the surrounds and center, and a 1010sep sub. Is this viable option, or should I just get different in ceiling surrounds?

 

[SuperB69]

Not running Atmos now, but may add other speakers for future upgrade

 

[TheWarrior]

Loudspeakers interact with all room boundaries that they are open to.

By placing a speaker intended for free standing use within a wall cavity, you will suffer booming bass and colored midrange sounds that will be far from accurate!

Further, I do not recommend in ceiling surrounds, ever. The sound clearly comes from the ceiling, rather than in its intended place, which detracts from the immersive experience of surround sound.

 

[SuperB69]

I agree. My situation is a kitchen with bay area on the back wall, makes it very difficult to place surrounds in the proper place. WAF is also a factor that doesn't allow for hanging down from the ceiling. If no ceiling speakers should I just forget 5.1 altogether?

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I would do in ceiling surrounds before I did NO surrounds, even if it is a major compromise. Keep in mind that atmos will never be an option with ceiling surrounds tho. What about in-wall speakers? Is that an option? They usually pass WAF.

 

[TheWarrior]

Are on On Wall speakers an option? Cables can be easily hid in base/crown molding so you do not have to do much to the wall itself!

 

[Dmantis10]

In ceiling speakers are not a major compromise. If you get matching In ceiling speakers to your main speakers they will perform quite well. Placing In wall speakers on the side walls if possible is so much better then in ceiling surrounds IF you are actually going to go with Atmos down the road.
I also agree with the above post about Id rather go in ceiling over no surrounds. A man needs his 5.1 and that is how it is. You gotta let her know that and I think the in wall or in ceiling will help her except that as they usually just go away in the room.

Good luck man.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Personally since the framing isn’t done, I’d make it how I want it. Mounting them in the ceiling will not only compromise the performance of the 441, and the surround in general but framing them into the ceiling might be a pain in the a$$ later on. Since the room isn’t framed, I would personally lay it out for 5.1 and wire for 5.1.4 so that’s already out of the way. How big do you plan on making the space?
Just curious why mounting them is potentially a problem.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

To add to this, if you do go with ceiling speakers I would buy in-ceiling speakers instead of using what you have. They are designed to be there and will sound better, plus they blend in with the ceiling better. Most have a paintable grill which can make them practically disappear.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

In ceiling speakers are not a major compromise. If you get matching In ceiling speakers to your main speakers they will perform quite well. Placing In wall speakers on the side walls if possible is so much better then in ceiling surrounds IF you are actually going to go with Atmos down the road.
I also agree with the above post about Id rather go in ceiling over no surrounds. A man needs his 5.1 and that is how it is. You gotta let her know that and I think the in wall or in ceiling will help her except that as they usually just go away in the room.

Good luck man.

I agree. My wife knows, “I live here too” and she doesn’t get absolutely power over my house. We do usually debate such things and find the middle.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I'm pretty lucky, my wife and I have the same taste so WAF does not exist. She gives me free reign over the electronics as long as she can put sensi candles everywhere. Works for me!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I'm pretty lucky, my wife and I have the same taste so WAF does not exist. She gives me free reign over the electronics as long as she can put sensi candles everywhere. Works for me!

Lol

 

[snakeeyes]

Pretty much the concept of the man cave theater is WAF doesn’t exist there.

My master bedroom 2.1 and living room 3.2 have had to deal with WAF though.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Pretty much the concept of the man cave theater is WAF doesn’t exist there.

My master bedroom 2.1 and living room 3.2 have had to deal with WAF though.

Same here. 5.1 in the bedroom. 7.3.4 in the LR. Compromises for sure. My “cave” is full of drums and guitars and my garage has a 1st gen Camaro so it’s not like I’m hurting either. It’s just the point really. We all live together so things should be fair. Waf exists for me too. But so is “waf”. That’s wills approval factor lol.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

my garage has a 1st gen Camaro.

Nice! I had a 69 when I was 20 years old. I was poor back then so the car was always primer grey, but looked mean as hell. Had some big fat tires on the back and the little ones up front. I rebuilt the entire interior. The owner before me did some modifications to the engine that made it pretty powerful. Automatic with a 350. I could step on the gas and burn out without the car moving forward at all. Every man has that one car in their life that they should have never let go. That one was mine. Fun car!

 

[snakeeyes]

Same here. 5.1 in the bedroom. 7.3.4 in the LR. Compromises for sure. My “cave” is full of drums and guitars and my garage has a 1st gen Camaro so it’s not like I’m hurting either. It’s just the point really. We all live together so things should be fair. Waf exists for me too. But so is “waf”. That’s wills approval factor lol.

7.3.4 in living room, cool. How did you setup the three subs? One in front and 2 on sides or back? Or two up front and one behind couch?

Edit: Sorry saw you posted about your subs yesterday in another thread. I had too many beers yesterday I guess. LOL.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Nice! I had a 69 when I was 20 years old. I was poor back then so the car was always primer grey, but looked mean as hell. Had some big fat tires on the back and the little ones up front. I rebuilt the entire interior. The owner before me did some modifications to the engine that made it pretty powerful. Automatic with a 350. I could step on the gas and burn out without the car moving forward at all. Every man has that one car in their life that they should have never let go. That one was mine. Fun car!

This particular car is the very first car I ever owned. I get what you mean man, the first time I ever saw it I knew it was mine, and the guy I bought it from actually had it sold, but I talked him out of selling to the other guy. That was 1994 and it was clean and looked like a Z-28. Red with white stripes. . I always loved first gens but ‘69 is the best year imo. Now it has a pro touring vibe with wilwood brakes and coilovers, and poly bushings and subframe connectors and on, and on and on...and a 4 speed automatic that still gets 3rd gear rubber. Needs a trip to the body shop but my wallet isn’t the same as it once was. Lol

“The heap”...

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

7.3.4 in living room, cool. How did you setup the three subs? One in front and 2 on sides or back? Or two up front and one behind couch?

Edit: Sorry saw you posted about your subs yesterday in another thread. I had too many beers yesterday I guess. LOL.

For a long time I had both PCs in the back. Since I’m on concrete(and also have huge airspace), I wanted to make it easier for them to shake my couch. I’ve had a couple mbms up front over time. Then we started to do some alterations to the LR and I swapped them. This works slightly better being closer to my mains but I have a minidsp and REW so it works fairly either way. I can say though, I ended up with a little more extension, and a free bump centered at 16hz. In the old days I used an spl meter, graph paper test tones, phase knobs, and distance settings in the avr. I don’t miss that shiit lol.