Ceiling Speakers

[Primered Thunder]

Wanted to ask opinions on affordable ceiling speakers for my workshop. I plan on using a Technics receiver for power/radio and an iPhone for other music. Not looking for bass thumpin' techno dance club type speakers but do want some semblance of quality.

Garage is wired for 4 speakers already just need a helping hand with the selection process. Need to keep this less than $200 if possible. Am I delirious with that small of a budget?

Talk to me ...

 

[Kevin_b_c]

Monoprice has some cheap options...
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10837

 

[hobie1dog]

You really should try to go out to the electronics retail shops and listen to them and check out the prices before you go and buy something you've never heard, that way you'll be happy with your purchase.

 

[Steevo]

I was considering ceiling mounted speakers for my shop, and found some good surround speakers on eBay for fair prices, with the insulation domes for the back of them.
I ended up getting the insulation blown in before I ever got around to installing speakers, though.

Examples here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-BOSE-FREE...77?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item4abf8265b5
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-Control...42?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item5aec577462

 

[fyrlt1]

Ceiling speakers would be somewhat directional and may also transmit sound through your attic space to other areas of the house unless they are enclosed. I think ceiling mounts are more suited to environments where you are in one listening area like a home theater and not moving around like in a garage.

If appearance is not crucial, consider some surface mount enclosed units.I bought 4 Yamaha exterior rated surface mount speakers off of Ebay for around 200 bucks. They have nice looking enclosures, ceiling/wall mount brackets, 6" woofers and can be oriented in most any direction to create a personal preference soundfield. This way you can direct the music to the area where you work most of the time or to create overall coverage.

 

[StevePgh]

I picked up a pair of refurb Bose 191 in-wall speakers at a Bose outlet for around $150. If in-wall is an option, and there is a Bose outlet near you, I'd give them a call and see what they have available. I'm using them in the house. The ceiling speakers (I can't recall the model #) are nowhere near as good in comparison but I think had a comparable price. I worked for a few years selling home audio and I never heard ceiling speakers that were worth a damn (granted that was over 15 years ago when small speaker tech was in its early days).

With your Technics, make sure to check the Ohms that it supports on the speaker outs and that whatever speakers you pick are within that range. The older Technics and Pioneer receivers had issues with long-term use on out of ohm range speakers.

In my garage I am using a Vizio sound bar with wireless subwoofer. I mounted the thing to the wall above my tool cabinet. They have an amp built in, takes very little space. I have the sub sitting on a shelf across the room. I have an old Sony Dash (Chumby based device) that I have attached to it. I can play MP3s and Pandora but unfortunately no I Heart Radio stations. The soundbar w/sub was free, the Dash was $50 used. I've been impressed with the quality.

 

[milner351]

I've picked up good old speakers at garage sales for almost free, I understand the clean line approach to in wall or in ceiling speakers, but I just can't get past the sacrifices required to make them work.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I have Dayton Audio brand from Parts Express. I have a pair of outdoor with 5 1/4 woofers and tweeters. I also have three 6" ceiling mounted with dual voice coil. You hook the left and right channel to the same speaker. They are in my basement. They are just for listening to music in the house. They sound pretty damn good for the price. I have an outdoor volume switch, and three interior volume switches from them as we'll. all the speaker wire runs to one junction box that allows multiple pairs to be fed from one source. There are banana plugs on the front of the splitter. You plug in the l/r from the receiver or amp and that feeds all the other speakers with a volume control on each speaker and the pair of outdoors.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I bought mine off Amazon. They work well, can be cranked pretty loud, have a little built in directional tweeter thingys, and are nice and clean at the ceiling. I unfortunately don't recall the brand but they were among the cheaper ones available.

 

[Primered Thunder]

Thanks for the input fellas!

Very nice Tim the Tool Man ... that's exactly what I was looking for. If you happen to remember the brand, power rating, size, etc please post here.

 

[PDXCummins]

My brother got some from Home Depot that he put into his kitchen. They were about 50 bucks for the pair and they sound pretty good. Not a lot of bass but if that what your looking for then get a sub.

 

[musgofasta]

Another vote for monoprice.com. Great bang for buck.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Thanks for the input fellas!

Very nice Tim the Tool Man ... that's exactly what I was looking for. If you happen to remember the brand, power rating, size, etc please post here.

I have a crappy memory for this stuff but I am pretty sure they are ~750 watt Infinity speakers. I got them from Parts Whorehouse through Amazon. I wired them up with 14 gauge in-wall type speaker wire and have a selector box that allows me to pick any or all three pairs of speakers I have in my shop and/or the outdoor speakers I put under the eves by my driveway...

That's all I got, sorry if it is not much help...

 

[KCarGuy]

I Made my own Ceiling Speakers.
A Simple Wooden Box that will fit between 16" studs, I used a PVC 90 as a Bass Port that exits through the front of a Round Wooden Face Plate, where I used some Good Car Speakers and topped it off with some "Old School" Stainless Steel 10" Grills that I had picked up off of Ebay years ago (out of a School or Church or something).
They sound great, and can take some serious volumn.

I use 4 in my Loft/Man Cave area in the Garage (Aftermarket Speakers) and another 4 in my Basement Ceiling around my Pool Table (those have Stock Delco Avalanche speakers in them)
why throw them away, when they work just fine...
Cheap, Easy and Take up Zero Room!

 

[mayday0017]

Sonance, Sonance, Sonance!

VERY VERY high end speakers, VERY VERY high end prices (new), But because they are high end product the general public doesn't know much about them....

I picked up 9 speakers that are $1k ea for $500 w/ an amp and put them in my living room and love them, I get so many complements! I did car audio for about 10 years too so I have some background in speakers and sound as well....

At least jump on ebay and check them out, I purchased 14 more of a lower level and have about 1/2 of them installed in my house and plan on finishing the rest over the holiday...

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Sonance, Sonance, Sonance!

VERY VERY high end speakers, VERY VERY high end prices (new), But because they are high end product the general public doesn't know much about them....

I picked up 9 speakers that are $1k ea for $500 w/ an amp and put them in my living room and love them, I get so many complements! I did car audio for about 10 years too so I have some background in speakers and sound as well....

At least jump on ebay and check them out, I purchased 14 more of a lower level and have about 1/2 of them installed in my house and plan on finishing the rest over the holiday...

Mine are VERY, VERY low end speaker that cost me under 30 bucks a pair! I am not an audiophile, can't carry a tune, can EITHER clap or sing at church (but definitely not both!), and only wanted background sound in my shop so I'm happy with my purchase.

 

[Twomato]

I think I've seen the in-wall type Sonance brand at COSTCO for < $100. I was going to pick some up for my surround sound. I have some Bostons in the ceiling now and I would highly recommend, however, they're not cheap at >$300/each.

 

[hifi_hokie]

Can't remember how many JBL Control 24s we sold. Cheap, decent sounding, easy to install - just your basic 4" coax.

Just make sure to get the non-70V models, and you should be well under your budget for a pair.

 

[miketyler]

Monoprice has great products for the price. I installed five of their in-wall speakers in my living room for 5.1 surround. Awesome sound for the price.

I also am running a Niles zoned audio receiver with six zones. Most of the ceiling speakers were in the house when we bought it but I did find a set of used Klipsch on Ebay that I put in our gameroom. They were larger 8" drivers and sound great.

 

[Canoman]

Check out HTD.com. They have a number of ceiling speaker choices at affordable prices.

http://www.htd.com/Products/In-Wall-Ceiling-Speakers

MPR50 = 5.25" in-ceiling @ 60W RMS; $59/pr
MPR65 = 6.5" in-ceiling @ 75W RMS; $79/pr
MPR80 = 8" in-ceiling @ 90W RMS; $99/pr
MPS65 = 6.5" in-ceiling stereo (two tweeters, one woofer) @ 80W RMS; $49/ea
HDR65 = 6.5" in-ceiling @ 100W RMS; $129/pr
HDR80 = 8" in-ceiling @ 110W RMS; $179/pr

Could get away with 2 pairs of MPR65's for under your budget, or 2 pairs of MPR80's for right at your budget.

I'm thinking about putting some of the HD series in-ceilings in my living room as the house was pre-wired to 4 locations in the ceiling for fronts/rears. Their showroom is close to me, but I haven't been yet. They do have good customer service, as I've asked questions via email and received quick responses.

I don't hesitate to buy cables at monoprice, but for some reason I want to avoid their speakers.

 

[GarageEnvy]

I have Monoprice 3-way in wall speakers in the rear wall of my garage and JBL Control Now speakers on the front wall. The JBLs are better. Cost was about the same since I bought the JBLs as factory refurbs off Ebay. The JBL control series has very creative mounting solutions. You can even build a 360 degree array.

Sonance is nice. I put Linn in my living room but I wouldn't spend big bucks on speakers in an area with poor accoustics and tools going all the time.

 

[911mike]

I have a few pair of both the 2way and 3way in the 8"in wall from Monoprice. Sound is OK but for the cost there a good deal. Just don't drive them with a crappy amp. I have an old Hafler 500 driving a pair and there pretty nice. My old 5.1 POS Sony amp ate 2 pairs.