Wifey Says No wall Speakers! Your Ceiling Suggestions?

[VideoGuy]

My wife layed down the law on my current home theater design. NO WALL GRILLS ALLOWED! I had planned on purchasing Polk LC in wall speakers with 3 LC65i for the front left- front center- front right and 3 LC60i in ceiling speakers for the rear surrounds. Without grills I am also hampered by no subwoofer(unless I can hide it in a cabinet at some later time).

I may be able to get one center speaker (LC65i) "approved", but everything else will have to go into the ceiling(Grills are O.K. there). How much am I compromising the surround sound experience if all of the audio is coming from the ceiling? Can anyone recommend the best ceiling speaker, that can also give me at least some low end(if the subwoofer never materializes)?

I thought that I would put Polk LC80i speakers in the front, and stay with the LC60i for the rears.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

How much am I compromising the surround sound experience if all of the audio is coming from the ceiling?

About all of it. Sorry to give you the bad news, but unless you and the wifey are on the floor staring at the ceiling, there's no use in spending big bucks on a home entertainment center with in ceiling drivers.

Think about it. Where are your ears when you are watching a movie? Unless you were born with abnormalities, your ears face about 10 degrees left and right. They in no way point upwards (unless you are a very lucky, lucky man each and every night).

Hasn't the wife every considered a corn plant, or a nice artifical ficus tree? They hide those ugly white wall grills, and even add some culture to the room. I think it's time to get the "ankle bracelet", don't ya think?

 

[MacManNM]

Tell the wifey she will have to learn to like what you get. Get some backbone and stand up for yourself man!

She has the rest of the house to decorate, you want a total of 10sq/ft for your speakers?

Come on!

 

[VideoGuy]

Tell the wifey she will have to learn to like what you get. Get some backbone and stand up for yourself man!

She has the rest of the house to decorate, you want a total of 10sq/ft for your speakers?

Come on!

After 15 years of marriage, I have learned when to push, and when to duck. This time it isn't something I need to get worked up over. It's a small family room. I think that any audio coming from the ceiling will bounce up off the floor and spill over the room. I assume any speaker no matter where it is placed would be an improvement over just the audio from the Big Screen.

Thanks..

 

[MacManNM]

After 15 years of marriage, I have learned when to push, and when to duck. This time it isn't something I need to get worked up over. It's a small family room. I think that any audio coming from the ceiling will bounce up off the floor and spill over the room. I assume any speaker no matter where it is placed would be an improvement over just the audio from the Big Screen.

Thanks..

Ok, then what about in wall speakers, with a grille that looks custom?

 

[av-man]

Hey videoguy,
I do a lot of home theater systems. There are a few in-ceiling speakers that will give you good results if your ceiling is not to tall.

The best of these in my opinion are from Triad. They are box speakers that fit in the ceiling. The speaker is built on pitch that pushes the soud toward your listening area instead of straight down.

The other brand I sell which I like a lot are from Tru-Audio. They are the "Revolve" line. These speakers are one of the best ceiling LCR's that you've never heard of.
You can find a link to them on my site at the bottom of my post.

 

[WooHoo]

You're sure she's a keeper, right?

 

[miklorsmith]

Odyssey

Odyssey makes speakers that hang on the wall - with a twist - they can have any picture you want on the face of them. They look like art hanging in the room. I read a few accounts of them after the Montreal show and folks were mighty impressed.

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/he2005/2.html

Win, win!

 

[JohnA]

Also there is MTX, they have come out with their Blueprint Home Theater line that has angled in ceiling speakers and also in ceiling bi-dipoles.

 

[JeffB]

Does anybody here have any understanding of why women hate speakers? It is as though it is lowering their self image to have speakers visible in the room. I just don't get it.

 

[NetGeek]

Good Question Jeff!

Why is it? I think Speakers are like a fine peice of furniture and enhance the room. Now I had some big athena B-2's mounted on my back wall and I did not need a woman to tell me that it looked really bad, but the Energy C-ST speaker stands turned the B-2's back into a work of art!

Now my girlfriend is in England right now so before she moves in I went out and bought the entire Audition Series so I have speakers everywhere in just about every room. I will find out next month when she moves to the States to live with me how she likes them, but I figgured it would be a lot eaiser to have them already in place then to show up with them one day after she has had a chance to "nest". But my speakers are not going, since I have two pairs of floor-standers & two pairs of bookshelf I might let her have some input on which ones to use in the living room, but they are her to stay. I always wanted a house full of speakers and I will be damned if she is going to make me get rid of them. Sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness that ask for permission!

I have nice big speakers with a silver front to match the big screen silver HDTV; color cordniated so what's not to like? Cannot women just not see the beauty of these boxes? Any women care to comment; Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[miklorsmith]

Yeah!

That IS a good question. I have these speakers I built in the living room and I just love them because I built them and they sound great, but man does my wife hate them. She doesn't like the big ones in the basement either, but that's OK because it's the basement.

In her case, it's because she honestly doesn't care what it sounds like. She doesn't understand why we can't get the smallest bookshelves made and put them on the bookshelf in our big living room. Sound to her is really a "yes or no" question. Any finer analysis than that is meaningless.

Her personal aesthetic is different than mine too. She can walk into a dirty kitchen, which is OK, but have to close all the cupboard doors. Open doors are like water dripping on her head. She actually told me she was embarrassed to have people over to our new house with the speakers in the living room. She said she just wouldn't invite anyone over. Really.

Of course, things are mellowing and I'm halfheartedly looking into other options for the speakers. Really, I'm trying to figure out how to refinish them to be less obvious. But. . .

This doesn't answer the first question of WHY do they have to torture us this way. I wonder if they have support forums for stupid audiohead men.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

She doesn't understand why we can't get the smallest bookshelves made and put them on the bookshelf in our big living room.

She actually told me she was embarrassed to have people over to our new house with the speakers in the living room. She said she just wouldn't invite anyone over.

You've just summed up Bose' mission statement.

WAF + 3.5" fullrange speakers = $$$$$

The only tower speakers in the 24 "Parade of Homes" in Columbus last week were those in dedicated basement HT rooms. Anything on the main level, in the living/great rooms were either in-walls, or bookshevles hidden somehow. Nothing was in site, and no way were there any subs visible. I guess architects, designers, real estate professionals, or women (for the most part) just don't see it the way we do.

The best decision I've made with my setup has been to purchase a set of dipoles and mount them on the side walls. Just getting rid of my rear stands did wonders for the WAF.

It just ticks me off that "WAF" is even an issue. I want to know what good a granite counter top, stainless steel appliances, and tile flooring do for the taste of food! (don't ask, she made me remodel the kitchen!) She certaintly doesn't cook any more often.

 

[SCompRacer]

Too bad about the in-walls. You can even paint the grills so they blend in. Has she seen a pic of them installed?

I chose in-walls when I did our family room. I started out with LC65i's for R, L and center along with a pair of LC60i's in the ceiling. Upgrading to LC265i's for the R & L made a huge difference, sounds much better.


The wife liked it much better than these, which are in the living room right now.

 

[AVRat]

In-wall/ceiling speakers have come a long way. Most of the quality speaker manufacturers have transfered their technology into the new in-wall/ceiling speaker product lines.

The Polks frequency response looks good down to 45Hz @ -3dB extending down to 30Hz. With the combination of the 60s & 80s I think you may be pleasantly surprised, maybe even blown away as you say your room is small. These speakers also have a tiltable (to 15 degrees) tweeter which will help with imaging.

I also noted that these are 4 ohm speakers. I hope your audio gear can handle this load. If not then I would suggest Definive Technology UIW 94/64s instead. They are 8 ohm, have a wider frequency response, and have a pivoting tweeter. I use a pair of the 64s for my rears and I love them. I am torn between running them full range or crossing them over at 80Hz, I get good results either way.

If you do get the chance at a Sub, my preference would be either Definive Technology SuperCube III (10in. cube) or Sunfire True Sub Super Junior (9in. cube), but not for in-cabinet installation. A sealed box Velodyne would be better for that.

Good Luck,
Paul (also)

 

[ahrensjt]

Great In-Ceiling alternative

Thiel Powerpoint speakers.

These are expensive, but near audiophile quality. Go for an audition, you won't regret it. Look good too.

http://thielaudio.com/THIEL_Site05/PDF_files/PDF_product_lit/PwrPt1_2_lit.pdf

 

[Tom Andry]

A couple of suggestions:

In her case, it's because she honestly doesn't care what it sounds like. She doesn't understand why we can't get the smallest bookshelves made and put them on the bookshelf in our big living room. Sound to her is really a "yes or no" question. Any finer analysis than that is meaningless.

When I got married, part of the dowry was the biggest TV I'd ever owned (27" - woop). Anyhoo, she had owned it for 5 years and had almost NEVER WATCHED IT! Yeah, man, now I had to convince her that my mismatched speakers and aging (ailing) Onkyo was absolutely inadequate for our needs. Luckily, she either took it on faith that I was right or decided that I was never going to shut up until we upgraded. Either way, I got new speakers and a new receiver a few months ago. This past weekend I got her all liquored up and popped in the Diana Krall - Love Scenes DTS CD and man - all of a sudden, she got it. The explosions, the butt numbing power of the ep500 - she could care less. Fast forward to track 7 of Love Scenes and point out how you can hear her take a breath between phrases and BAM! her eyes got wide, her mouth dropped open, and all she can talk about the next day is how much fun she had listening to the system the previous night.

She actually told me she was embarrassed to have people over to our new house with the speakers in the living room. She said she just wouldn't invite anyone over. Really.

And this is a bad thing….how? Since you seem to care about having people over, all I can say is NAKED WEEKENDS. Either she gets over the speakers and starts inviting people over or you get to let it all hang out between 5:30pm Friday and 7:30 am Monday.

 

[Lincoln]

I agree, pricey but awesome if you need wall/ceiling mount. The problem with the Thiels is that they are pretty darn ugly compared to most in-wall/ceiling speakers (being surface mount instead of flush).

I'm just going to avoid getting one of those wife thingy's until after I build my house and get all the electronics in order. Honestly, my old common law wife and I had and agreement. I get two rooms to do whatever I want with and she understood if that one room was the garage (my choice) and the other would be a study or second living area. She also understood that whatever room she picked for me would be the room I spend the most time in and she would also need to be OK with that. Our relationship didn't work out for other reasons but this was a good arrangement. I have a friend currently building a 7000sqft home and he has the same agreement with his wife, she just doesn't understand that he will be living in his six figure HT room upstairs above the garages and she will never see him again if she plans to hang out in the intended living areas of the house. She might not ever see her son again since he likes to hang with dad at this stage in his life

Thiel Powerpoint speakers.

These are expensive, but near audiophile quality. Go for an audition, you won't regret it. Look good too.

http://thielaudio.com/THIEL_Site05/PDF_files/PDF_product_lit/PwrPt1_2_lit.pdf

 

[rschleicher]

If both free-standing and wall-mounted (or even in-wall) speakers are all verboten, then maybe you are a good candidate for the Yamaha YSP-1 "sound processor", which produces a reasonable facsimile of 5.1 sound, out of a single box that looks more or less like a long center-channel speaker. You need a fairly regular-shaped room, as the front L/R and surround L/R channels are "beamed" off of walls. Also, to get good bass you still need a sub, but that can maybe be hidden someplace. Of course, you also need a place above or below your TV or screen to put the YSP-1 itself, but other than it and the sub, there are no front speakers and no surround speakers to deal with. List price is somewhere around $1400, but I don't know what a good discounted price would be.

Alternate plan B would be to try and convince your wife that speakers can be like fine furniture pieces - focus on speakers with cabinets that match the decor of other furnishings in the room, in terms of color, wood type, etc. It would be nice if magazines like Architectural Digest and other Home decorating magazines would show home theater set-ups, instead of them only showing up in dedicated home theater magazines. But interior decorators and designers by and large haven't made the mind-set leap necessary to incorporate the needs of a home theater into their interior designs. (In contrast, home architects ARE starting to pay more attention to room layouts that are better for home theater - and you are also seeing new model homes with decent set-ups, either real, or with reasonably-placed cardboard fakes..) Ten or 15 years ago the problem was finding an armoire or cabinet that was deep enough for a 32 or 36 inch CRT. Now it is finding a room with good places for 5-7 speakers plus sub, plus a good location for a big-screen TV and/or flat panel display. I think that a large percentage of plasma and other flat-panel sales are due to the phenomenon of the best spot in the room being right where the fireplace is, so now you can put the TV above the fireplace. Eventually the architects will put the fireplace in the corner, so the TV doesn't have to go there. And then the TV will be the "focal point" of the interior design for the room, and not the fireplace.

 

[jonsd]

I just bought Ceiling speakers

Wow somebody else with ceiling speakers.....

I just bought some 8" Kevlar woofer ceiling speakers from SpeakerCraft. I have not installed them yet but these things are cool looking. You can actually angle the speaker to the listening area behind the grill. I also know that Elan Systems has some ceiling speakers. Both are high end audio speakers.

My 2cents...