Tell me about in wall/ceiling speakers
July 8, 2020 9:38 AM Subscribe
We're getting some drywall repairs done, and I have an opportunity to install in wall speakers. Is it a good choice?
I'm looking to install a 5.1 system (center, left/right, rears and a sub):
- has anyone regretted it? Other than not being able to move the speakers, any other issues?
- any particular brand suggestions?
- size suggestions?
- should I look at ceiling speakers as well?
- should I mix and match: external center channel and sub and in wall everything else?
We have quite a small space, so I like the idea of hiding the audio equipment as much as possible. I'd also like decent sound for TV/music listening experience.
I'm looking to install a 5.1 system (center, left/right, rears and a sub):
- has anyone regretted it? Other than not being able to move the speakers, any other issues?
- any particular brand suggestions?
- size suggestions?
- should I look at ceiling speakers as well?
- should I mix and match: external center channel and sub and in wall everything else?
We have quite a small space, so I like the idea of hiding the audio equipment as much as possible. I'd also like decent sound for TV/music listening experience.
I have no actual experience, but this is on our list for "when we buy a house" projects. One of my concerns about doing it is that I don't want to end up with dead, useless speakers that are installed, so ease of repair/replacement in the future is something we'll be giving heavy consideration to. (I have a similar issue with the bathroom fan; it will be replaced with one as-quiet-as-possible; we're discussing either an integrated speaker, or separate speaker, but again, ease repair/replacement must be a consideration.)
posted by stormyteal at 10:27 AM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by stormyteal at 10:27 AM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
For a while, I lived in a house with an already set-up surround sound system in the walls / ceiling. Yes, this did sort of dictate the layout of the room, but it absolutely made movie-watching a more immersive experience, and hiding the cabling (especially for the speakers in the back) was really pleasing, aesthetically.
posted by hanov3r at 10:39 AM on July 8, 2020
posted by hanov3r at 10:39 AM on July 8, 2020
We have our speakers wired through the walls and while it's awesome to have the look of no wires, we're currently having an issue with one of the speakers cutting out and it makes finding the source of the issue a complete PITA. They're nice, but introduce a whole new level of troubleshooting when something goes wrong because the speakerwire is in the wall and we're not really sure who can even fix it.
Plus my partner did the setup before we got together and didn't have anyone tell him what a proper orientation of a speaker system was so they are in a pretty silly spot. We only use it for music though, so it's okay.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:56 PM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Plus my partner did the setup before we got together and didn't have anyone tell him what a proper orientation of a speaker system was so they are in a pretty silly spot. We only use it for music though, so it's okay.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:56 PM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
I actually feel that a sonos sound bar/wireles system is just as good and breaks even on the price as a wired system. Receivers are expensive, don't play well with smaller media cabinets, and can be fiddly to set up. If this is something you enjoy and is very important to you, than by all means invest in a good sound system.
But, for the love of god if you are setting this up, put your speakers on independent channels so if needed down the line you can change your room layout. The prior owners of my apartment installed speakers mounted extremely high and only on two channels- left and right. Or as we called them for a while- front and back. We have 12 ft ceilings and the speakers were mounted... at the ceiling- one of our very first projects was to buy extra speaker wire, and drop the speakers down 2.5 feet so that we didn't have to blast music anytime we played it. include extra wire wrapped up/bundled neatly as well. Splicing wires down the line is never as clean as you'd like it to be.
The wired system is quite nice though--I do enjoy having the surround sound now that we've given in a reoriented the living room towards what it was wired for, and it's rather lovely to be wrapped in good sound on a chill evening while reading a book.
posted by larthegreat at 1:01 PM on July 8, 2020
But, for the love of god if you are setting this up, put your speakers on independent channels so if needed down the line you can change your room layout. The prior owners of my apartment installed speakers mounted extremely high and only on two channels- left and right. Or as we called them for a while- front and back. We have 12 ft ceilings and the speakers were mounted... at the ceiling- one of our very first projects was to buy extra speaker wire, and drop the speakers down 2.5 feet so that we didn't have to blast music anytime we played it. include extra wire wrapped up/bundled neatly as well. Splicing wires down the line is never as clean as you'd like it to be.
The wired system is quite nice though--I do enjoy having the surround sound now that we've given in a reoriented the living room towards what it was wired for, and it's rather lovely to be wrapped in good sound on a chill evening while reading a book.
posted by larthegreat at 1:01 PM on July 8, 2020
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The sub is external and separate from the above.
The only downside is really what you say. It makes the orientation of the room pretty permanent. This is not necessarily bad. We had all this put in when we were building our house and I've been happy with it. I did have them run cables to two places because I wanted to move the equipment to a closet eventually, but I've never actually done it.
posted by cmm at 10:25 AM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]