In-ceiling Speakers

[Rhino Chaser]

Any prefs for in-ceiling speakers with directional tweeters, running about $100 each, for a surround system?

[Peench]

Not sure the cost, but my wife's friend bought a few in-ceiling Paradigms and had them installed at their new home. They sound great.

[KEEZY]

Where do those fit into the 5.1/7.1 scheme? Rears?

[Rhino Chaser]

These would be for a 6.1 surround sound set up (fronts and rears), which is why we would want directional tweaters (there is a fairly high ceiling in this room).

[alter_ego_trip]

Rhino, is there not any way for you to incorporate non in ceiling surrounds into your system? They are great for multi room listening, but are not the best for HT applications.

[Rhino Chaser]

I agree. These are not for me, they are for my lady's dad...unfortunately her mom has some input on this from a style perspective.

[dmiller68]

I would recommend the Definitive Tech speakers but the retail in more then your $100. I don't know any in-wall speakers at that price.

[Serren]

I have Paradigm in ceilings, and they sound very well in gaming/HT. I have only compared one other speaker as my rears (non-ceiling mounted), and my Paradigms are easily better sounding. Just place them a bit behind you and the fact that they are above you is hardly apparent. And in some instances, like rain, I guess it might even sound better!

Paradigm does not do directional tweeters though I don't think. When I did all my research a year ago, I seem to remember that directional tweeters are more gimmick then feature. Not sure if that was sales talk or fact though. Like all speaker mumbo-jumbo! Mine are not directional, which I think for 90%of rear sounds, ambience type stuff, is what you want.

Mine were also more then $100 each though. Maybe $300 for the pair. I did install them myself though, and they look great.

[alter_ego_trip]

I have Paradigm in ceilings, and they sound very well in gaming/HT. I have only compared one other speaker as my rears (non-ceiling mounted), and my Paradigms are easily better sounding. Just place them a bit behind you and the fact that they are above you is hardly apparent. And in some instances, like rain, I guess it might even sound better!

I'm not saying they won't sound good, and if that's the only option then great, but they certainly won't sound as good as a comparable bi/quadpolar speaker.

If they are to be used as a surround back though it isn't nearly as critical as a side surround.

[Serren]

My last were high endish bi-polar Paradigms, and my new in-celings ones sound sound better to my ears. I thought the same way you did until I was forced by my wife to go with the clean look of in-celing.

I was VERY surprised that these in-celings sound as great as they do. I think the technology has come a long way in the past few years. Some of the in-celings are still just cheap office quality speakers that make noise. But the higher end brands have spent a lot of time and money researching how to over come the problems of being installed in a ceiling.

I do have so say that I am not an audiophile by any means. So take my opinion with that in mind. When I went shopping for "my" speaker brand, I went online and poked around a bit in a/v forums. I kept seeing Paradigm in peoples signatures. Over and over again. So I went with them.

Rhino, if you happen to be in the Sacramento area, I could demo them for you in a real enviroment.

[alter_ego_trip]

I do have so say that I am not an audiophile by any means. So take my opinion with that in mind.

Neither am I. That is the nice thing with HT. Everyone has a different opinion on what sounds good.

[Serren]

I went to an audio convention in SF a few years ago at some super posh hotel. Most of the best of the best boutique speaker companies from all over the world were there, set up in suites. In each suite, was a couple of chairs, two huge speakers, and a big rack for the pro/pre setups. This was a purist two-channel audio crowd. I think the cheapest setup (two speakers) was something like $15 grand. Most were pushing $100 grand! It was crazy!

It was fun to walk around for awhile, but I soon realized my ears are not that good at hearing the differences in a $5,000 setup vs a $150,000 setup. I did get some cool THX and SACD demo disks.

[alter_ego_trip]

Serren, I don't think many people can tell the difference. I think a lot of people say they can to justify the purchase.

I will say that a proper acoustically setup room will reveal suble nuances that were otherwise lost in improperly setup room. There comes a point of diminishing returns. Will a 500 dollar DVD player look twice as good as a 250 dollar DVD player. Possibly. Will a 10,000 dollar amplifier/pre pro combo sound twice as good as a 5,000 dollar combo, highly unlikely.

I always laugh at people that spend thousands of dollars on interconnects thinking that it is going to be a night and day difference in sound/video quality.

[ProPain]

Rhino, check out Dayton Audio Parts Express. I have bought quite a few items from them including thier own in-wall speakers for my sisters HT. She had the same restrictions also. They are excellent quality and sound decent for the money. They also make ceiling models. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=300-294