Ceiling mounted surround sound speakers - what would you do?

[caliviper]

OK, so here's my setup:

Probably getting the new Panasonic PT-AE2000U this week.

Also thinking of getting the Yamaha V3800 or the Yamaha RX-V861 (is the 3800 worth the extra cost to you?)

What I need now are speakers. My room is 21X18 (family room) and it connects to the kitchen via a 10 foot wide opening. The ceilings are 10 feet tall.

Because this is a family room and I am trying to keep the 'tech' side of things low key, I want to try to use speakers that sound incredible, give awesome surround performance with movies and music, but also stay somewhat hidden or don't have a big visual presence.

I went to Best Buy to hear some of their small satellite setups and they all sounded terrible compared to stand speakers. I dont want big stand speakers, but I dont have to have tiny 3 inch speakers either.

What do you guys recommend for a full speaker system (including a sub or 2) for under $2K for a room the size I have?

BTW, was thinking of a subwoofer like this one: Hsu Research VTF-2 MK3

The projector screen will come down from the ceiling in front of the fire place Mantle area, so I can place a center channel right on the mantel (which would fire right below the screen) as well as mount floor speakers if they are not over 24 inches tall.

For any side/rear speakers, because of how the room opens up into the kitchen and there's no walls there to put a speaker next to (the speaker on the right side would be sitting there in the middle of the large opening between rooms) I'll need to mount some smaller speakers up on the walls or ceilings.

So what's a good mix or speaker set up for this?

Ideally, anything I can mount on or in the ceilings would be great since that will make them a lot less visible.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

 

[Exit]

If possible, try to keep the front speakers freestanding or in-the-wall so they fire in a horizontal plane at seated ear level for best directionality and soundstaging. The other surround speakers are generally for spacial effects and special effects, and ideally would be floorstanding or in-the-wall also. You can however put them in the ceiling if need be and not loose too much surround effect. I have not really looked into purchasing in-ceiling or in-wall speakers but I would stay away from Home Depot or Lowes for these. You would probably be best off going with speakers from a good company that does good freestanding speakers. They are probably more expensive but if you go to all the trouble to get a good setup, you don't want to blow it with poor speaker selection. Here is one company that fits these criteria http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=0

I am sure there are other qualified companies also. Maybe the guys here can add some rercommendations. Also I don't think you can go wrong with a HSU subwoofer. You may want to add up all the cubic feet that are in your room and those that connect to your room and check with Hsu to be sure you have the right size of subwoofer to meet your needs.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

SpeakerCraft and Sonance make some fine in-ceilings and in-walls. Paired with a good sub they will work pretty good for HT. I use the Sonance in-ceilings for my surrounds.

 

[m_vanmeter]

please do a little research on Mirage OmniCans - 5" or 6" in-ceiling speakers. They use a sound dispersion cone to redirect the down-firing speaker output to a more horizontal soundstage. Worth looking at.

http://www.miragespeakers.com/v2/product_page.php?open=lines&subid=581&id=629

 

[Exit]

Here is a place that has Boston Acoustics in-wall and in-ceiling speakers advertised at a large discount.

http://www.audiophileliquidator.net/index.php?manufacturers_id=8&gclid=CMjRnMHa85ECFQEjFQodASkrxA

Here is Polks product line

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/hidden/

Here is Infinitys product line

http://www.infinityspeaker.com/home/products/category2.aspx?catId=ISP&Language=ENG&Region=USA&Country=US

Here is rbh product lines

http://www.rbhsound.com/products.shtml

Here is Aperion

http://www.aperionaudio.com/catalog/In-Wall-and-In-Ceiling,31.aspx

If you think of another brand, just google its name.