Ceiling Speakers and home set-up HELP ! (1 Viewer)

[mjrcpd]

Hello gang,

I'm new to the site and this is my first posting. I have a couple things I'm hoping to find help with doing. We had our home built and opted for speakers mounted in the ceilings. Unfortunately, the builder obviously "skimped" on the quality as they almost appear like speakes found in a hospital or other "P.A." application. The sound quality is marginal at best. The wires are all run to my family room where we have an entertainment center housing my stereo receiver. (Yamaha CDC625 RS) We also have Direct TV box etc. My wife and I have limited knowledg on this stuff and I have 2 questions: 1. Can someone recommend a ceiling mount speaker for a cathedral ceiling as I'd love to replace the 4 existing speakers that I have now. I love Bass in my music. 2. Is it possible to use my existing equipment to run my current television (Sony Trinitron WEGA) through my stereo receiver and ceiling speakers? Please accept my apologies for being wordy and thank you in advance for any help you can give us.

 

[LanceJ]

Hi Mark.

Not trying to sound pessimistic with your very first post, but ceiling-mounted speakers are, in my opinion, THE worst location for trying to create a surround soundfield. To my ears what you'll mostly experience is more of a glorified P.A. system effect than a movie soundtrack, partly because the sound your ears will hear and the image your eyes will see will be completely disconnected.

On the other hand, in-wall speakers - slightly above ear level in back and even with your TV in front - would be a much better choice and free standing (or wall mounted) speakers are better still.

There are many brands of ceiling speakers (if you have to stick with those) and in-wall speakers out there, at all price points. What is your approximate budget?

 

[mjrcpd]

Well that really stinks ! I guess I'll have to live with the location of the speakers in the ceiling, as I don't plan to run more wires to wall locations. There are 4 speakers in my cathedral ceiling now, so I'll need 4 speakers. I guess I'd be willing to spend around 150 a pair, totalling approx 300. Maybe a touch more if I can somehow tie them to my television and satelite receiver. I'm guessing this may end up being a complicated mess of wires?

 

[mylan]

The Yamaha CDC-625 is a CD player not a receiver so I am afraid it gets worse. You'll find this hobby can get expensive even if you try to contain costs.
Just the basic 5.1 surround speaker system uses five speakers and a subwoofer unless you were not planning to use a center channel speaker, so I don't know how you came up with four. A cathedral ceiling presents special challenges for sound anyway due to reflections so having ceiling speakers at odd angles and/or varying heights is going to do very bad things for a movie soundtrack. I have ceiling speakers in my 12 ft. flat-ceiling greatroom just for whole-house music and I had to get used to sound coming down at me instead directly at me.
We need some additional information as to your second question, what existing equipment do you have? What is your budget?

 

[mjrcpd]

When jotting down the model numbers, I did in fact make an error. The numbers I gave were for my CD player. My Yamaha receiver is an R-8. I'd really like to stay under 500 for the entire project. Is it possible? We've made several attempts to get the sound to travel from my TV through the stereo with no results. I wish we could make this happen. I again appreciate everyone's patience and assistance.

 

[LanceJ]

Don't know the exact size of those ceiling locations but here's some speakers from brands I trust or at least have good reputations to get you started.........


Boston Acoustics DSi255 - a 2-way design (woofer and a separate tweeter) using a 5.25" woofer, which is the smallest I recommend using for an HT system. My own left/right front mains (10 years old now) are from Boston Acoustics. $170 per pair.

Dayton Audio 2-way with 8" woofer - I've ordered gear from parts-express.com several times w/no problems & their subs usually receive very good reviews on the HTF. $107 per pair.

Infinity CS60R with 6.5" woofer. I also own some Infinitys, precise sound without being harsh or overly-bright. $180/pair.

 

[LanceJ]

Usually all that is required to make that happen is to connect the TV's left/right audio output to one of the receiver's unused left/right inputs (NOT the "phono" input!).

 

[mjrcpd]

hmmm......not working? I hate being A/V challenged !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!