In our last house we had installed four in-ceiling speakers on the main floor. We really enjoyed having sound without speakers cluttering the living room, dining room or kitchen.
We’ve decided to do that again and now is the time given that we can run all the wires through the walls and in the ceiling while we are down to the studs.
Kirk took a trip to Bay Bloor Radio (every guy’s dream store) to purchase the speakers. He went with Totem speakers (handmade in Montreal) on the recommendation of Ryan Wright (his sales guy). In-ceiling speakers are not for audiophiles but they are great for background music when you’re not looking to blow the neighbors away with deep base or overly loud sound. He paid $500 a pair and bought two sets for the main floor.
Speaker wire was priced at $0.50 a foot and he needed 120 feet to wire all four.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Vaughan // Jan 5, 2008 at 4:46 pm
In ceiling speakers are adequate for other rooms such as bedroom, bathroom, etc… However they do not produce the sound qualitiy that would be much desired in a full blown home theatre setup. To hear a movie in full 5.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound, they way it was intended to be heard, there is no other option but to purchase real speakers that will in fact take up room space. I did not find the staff at Bay Bloor Radio to be as knowledgeble as thier commercials lead you to believe. The fact that they carry Bose line of home theatre equipment just contributes to my notion that they are not for a home theatre enthusiast. Canadian Sound (Oakville) or Peel Audio Video (Brampton) you will find has a much more knowledgable staff, and better quality products.
2 anke // Jan 5, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Thanks for your comment Vaughan.
You are absolutely right that this set-up does not work for home theatre. In fact, that is not what we are using it for - only for background music on the main floor. We have a seperate den on the second floor that has a full home theatre set-up.
Thanks for your suggestions regarding other good store options.
Kirk
3 Detox // Apr 7, 2009 at 2:32 am
Just wondering, how often do you use your in ceiling speakers? What would you have done differently?
We are about to gut ou rmainfloor and I want to wire something for ambience sound for parties.
4 anke // Apr 7, 2009 at 1:33 pm
We love them. Make sure you put in enough to cover all of the areas. Kirk wishes he had put a pair in the kitchen. Also, run a pair of outdoor speakers to your back deck (if it’s applicable). We’re going to add that this summer.
Cheers.
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