Time has come to think about more building work at Chez P..
Our plan is to make a large kitchen/diner, with a lantern roof and bifolds - probably making a 'new ceiling' of about 4-5m deep, 3.5m wide.
I was toying with the idea of having in the 'ceiling space around the lantern' having some ceiling mounted speakers (4 probably) alongside LED downlighters.
My thoughts were to have them powered from a discreet amp hidden in a cupboard, that I'd probably feed an amazon echo dot into..spotify, radio etc
Do they sound awful? Would small wall mounted speakers (like, BOSE surround small) be better, but a cobweb nightmare?
DrP
So the Amazon Echo's speaker isn't good enough eh..? Good thing about ceiling speakers is you can have a woman shouting about testing the fire alarms every week right above your bloody head.
Sorry, that doesn't help does it.
The Echo is brilliant (speakers are as expected for a small unit) - in fact I bought another one for the bedroom...!!
It's just that if I'm building something from scratch, I'm not sure I want to clutter up the work surfaces if I can plan for a neater solution...
However, TBH, I'd be quite happy if the consensus is "ceiling speakers are carp" to have an echo/sonos/"whatever fad I'm into" on the side!
DrP
@DezB "The fire alarm is about to be tested, please take no further action", followed by the fire alarm? Unless security get it the wrong way round like they did this week. Alarm first, everyone gets up to leave, then, 3 minutes later, "The fire alarm is about to be tested, please take no further action". Muppets.
Ceiling speakers are great for kitchens and the like as they give a nice, even spread of sound so perfect for parties and background music. It's not hifi but that's rarely what you want in a kitchen/diner!
You could power them from a small power amp (50 watts per channel is plenty).
Any idea on budget? B&W make nice ones but are circa £300 a pair for the CCM665. KEF and Monitor Audio make some cheaper and less nice sounding ones.
I've got four of these - [url= http://www.blucubespeakers.co.uk/cxcl-650/ ]BlueCube cxcl-650[/url], in my kitchen ceiling - room is probably 3.5m * 7m * 3.5m tall. Powered by a [url= http://www.simplysoundandvision.co.uk/sonos_system__the_full_range/sonos_connectamp/25158_p.html?gclid=CNPgivOMqdECFVAQ0wodI28P_A ]SONOS CONNECT:AMP [/url].
It sounds ace - really kicks out the tunes. Quite a stealthy installation - you don't really notice them against the ceiling. We did use quite a bit of lambswool insulation in the ceiling void in the area around where the speakers are to stop echo and vibes.
The only thing I would do in hindsight and was blocked from doing at the time we refurbed the kitchen, would have been to add a stealthy sub woofer but apparently .... the kitchen cupboards are for kitchen stuff not for stuffing huge speaker boxes into the back of.....
Probably the most used bit of audio equipment in our house.
There's nothing quite like doing some serious cooking to some serious tunes.
It's a must have.
Mixed feelings on these. Any hifi expert will tell you a wall or ceiling mounted speaker compromises sound quality. Upside it it's neat and in "dead space" and will fill the room with sound.
Ok, looks promising...
Will have a peek at the suggested speakers, and think about driving them.
The issue would be 'which is left and right' in a kitchen!!
DrP
Paulx. - you could add a Sonos Sub to you system. Now available n black or white.
I have one in my lounge and it rattles pictures in other rooms when really cranked up!
I think your original ceiling idea is great, how about 4 x 12" Celestion Alnico creams mounted in the same material as your work surfaces. A Marshal Fridge with a 150W Fender Mustang V head on top of it, a blue tooth receiver plugged into the AUX and a Telecaster plugged into INPUT. A small bowl of ear plugs placed on top of the amp.
If you're designing it all then just design boxes in for the speakers. Will improve their response no end, especially for bass notes.
Alternatively place some SONOS units elsewhere in the kitchen on top of units or similar.
I'm sure that blue cube and sonos amp set up is good, but at the thick end of £900 for two pairs and the amp i'd expect it to be. You can get a Sonos 5 and a brace of 1's for that which will sound great and will give you alot more flexibility to move speakers throughout the house and double up in one room if you've got a party in full swing. I've got a Sonos 1 in our open plan kitchen/diner/lounge which is about 8m x 8m and had a bit of a soirée over the holiday and a single Sonos 1 was not lacking grunt to fill the area with good sound. A few people commented on it in fact so was impressive enough to be noticed. OK it wasn't like being in a nightclub, but if I had 2 1's or even a 5 it would have been kicking out as much as we could have handled.
I've got quite a bit of Sonos gear and personally would not buy another Play 5. The kids have Play 1's and in the lounge we have a full 5.1 set up using Sonos.
Our Play 5 is in our kitchen/dining room and easily fills this space and into the conservatory.
However what I would do now is to buy 2 x Play 1's and run them as a stereo pair. Cheaper than a 5 and with better overall sound and more flexibility.
Are ceiling speakers any different to car speakers? They're white obvs....
Are ceiling speakers any different to car speakers? They're white obvs....
That is a valid point!
When you say 'boxes for the speakers' - you mean actually contain the speaker in an MDF surround (in the roof space obvs)? Also sounds sensible..
DrP
Surely speakers in a ceiling project sound in to the ground? So unless you are underneath it, you will miss the sound?
At least normal speakers project sound in to the room.
Could be talking twaddle of course.
It does create issues for upgrades/changes etc too.
When you say 'boxes for the speakers' - you mean actually contain the speaker in an MDF surround (in the roof space obvs)? Also sounds sensible..
That is what I was referring too. Most speakers are designed to perform better in an enclosure, some may be car doors, some may be ceiling spaces but it's worth taking it in to account when designing them in to the space to get the maximum benefit from what you do install.
Surely speakers in a ceiling project sound in to the ground? So unless you are underneath it, you will miss the sound?At least normal speakers project sound in to the room.
Yeah, I'm not sure... Kind of why I asked...
There's a few websites that suggest (clearly) freestanding is best, but I quite like the idea of having the amp/driving unit (currently thinking echo dot) hidden in a cupboard.
I'm sure I could mount the echo dot UNDER a unit, so as to keep the sides clutter free *.
DrP
* Myself, my wife, and children, are clutter magnets. So though it would be echo dot free, there's be marbles, cranks, pegs, pens without lids strewn all over the place..
FYI we stuck a cheap speaker on top of a kitchen cupboard with a long jackplug wire lead down to a shelf where we plugged in a phone/ipad (drilled a small hole in unit to lead wires down), did the job and cost £50. We had a spare socket under the cupboard so could lead the power up that way. Music to cook by or streaming Radio 4 / Five Live. Nothing fancy required.
I can't help feeling that ceiling speakers or any speaker built into a room and hidden behind a grille is deeply naff; it's what people did in the 60s. It says to me: "I'm going to play my musak to you and I don't care if it sounds terrible".
Last place I saw this was in the dining room of the awful Nunsmere Hall Hotel in Cheshire, a ghastly place that is living on its old reputation and in dire need of a facelift and some trained staff.
