Home Theatre - Speaker / Placement Question

[asphaltgambler]

Hey guys, question for those who are or have been in the same situation with your home theatre system. I have a Denon AV unit that is of a fairly high quality = 5.1 speaker setup.

I have these matched set of Boston Acoustics: Front tower, center (voice) speaker, rear satellite pod speakers on the stands. With a large powered Velodyne 12" subwoofer under the side table. This setup produces good quality sound especially with music at higher listening levels. Also great with movie sounds.

Problem is, my wife has grown to hate the way they look, says our living room is like we're stuck in the 90's and wants to update everything. To which I'm on board as well. We've had this setup for @8years and I don't listen to music as loud as I used to. Must be gettin' old

I'm strongly considering flush mount speakers in the ceiling for everything but the sub which I may go to a really small inconspicuous unit on the floor, or possibly an in-wall flush mount. I don't want to spend more than $700-900. I have already perused Best-Buy / Crutchfield offerings, lots to choose from.

Has anyone here gone through this? I don't want to lose the sound quality I have now, but will the sound coming from the ceiling be off / weird? Pardon the mess on the table, it's my wife's birthday.

[Sooner or later]

I have some infinity ceiling mount for the rear. You don't want the front image coming from the ceiling.

[stomachmonkey]

If you do in wall / flush mounts don't cheap out and ignore the backbox.

[Ayles]

I went all in wall because my wife didnt want speakers all over the place or any visible wires. Im no cinemaphile or anything and i think it sounds pretty good. I do use a separate system for vinyl though.

[herr_oberst]

I'd also consider a soundbar/sub setup, if I was reimagining my movie space.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/soundbar-vs-surround-sound-system/

[LWJ]

So I did a bunch of this 10-15 years ago.

My theater looks like yours. I am fine with it.

But, I have several places with wall / ceiling speakers in my home. Here is what I learned: wall speakers - make a box with 2x4's and caulk them to make a air tight "speaker box" in which to place your speakers. Load the box with a little loose fiberglass insulation. This is supposed to be highly beneficial and I will report that I am very pleased with my middle of the road speakers in such enclosures. The subwoofer in a wall (at the time - not sure now) was expensive and controversial. I don't have one. You can usually hide a sub most anywhere in a room as the waves are omnidirectional.

Also, Denon receivers have a microphone and protocol that is used to calibrate the room to the speakers. I believe that this is pretty beneficial so that you could use down facing front speakers or similar.

[908/930]

Could you get away with painting your speakers with lacquer closer to wall colour or white and new light colour grill cloth? Possibly try your rear surround speakers up front and re adjust subwoofer a little to see what that sounds like.

[stevej37]

I use a couple Bose 201's on small shelves for the rear channels sound.
They seem to spread the rear sound around real well. About the size of a toaster.

[Cajundaddy]

You have choices. Those Boston towers are surprisingly natural sounding and work equally well with The Stones, AC/DC, or the Vienna Philharmonic. Tough to replicate that with ceiling speakers.

A quality sound bar/sub system seems to be pretty satisfying for cinema with excellent voice detail. It leaves me wanting for quality music though.

ElectroVoice Evid are the only ceiling speakers I know well enough to comment on. They do look good and blend into the environment and have a tuned enclosure for pretty natural sound. From a typical listening position you get increased reflected sound from walls and floor, with less direct sound. A compromise for sure but maybe a necessary one for fashion conscience wives. If I had to do ceiling mount these would be on my short list.

My compromise has been small modern bookshelf speakers on stands. Not perfect but workable in this room.

[asphaltgambler]

Thanks all, I just got back from a Magnolia equipped Best Buy, only one near me in VA. I listened to several expensive sound bar setups, but all lacked when raising the volume. Plus I have a decent AV unit and the soundboard all all self-powered/ integrated. I'm seriously considering the Sonance 6-1/2" set for rear fill in the ceiling, the store is just about giving those away. Yamaha has a 7" subwoofer that takes little space, I can hide it easily and it's cheap as well!

I may do this to start, look at front stage / center channel speakers later.

[Bob Kontak]

Are you on a budget that won't allow you to nut up a little dough for better quality in wall speakers?

I say in-wall front and rear.

What model Denon? I have access to a used AVR1000.

[asphaltgambler]

Bob, I have forgotten what model it is but it's only @4 years old. In the short term, I have a small budget. The rear / satellite pole speakers and subwoofer are the short list of soon to be replaced. Those represent the biggest eye sore according to my wife, admittedly I'm with her. We are replacing the furniture very soon, going with a clean mid-century look.

Later I will look into wall mount / or small bookshelf speakers for the front soundstage.

[nota]

steve who owned the founder's share of a mutinational and 3 turbo's a 930 a 965 and a twin
all bought over at list/sticker because he could and it did not matter at all

had his movie room done with all in wall speakers when it was built as was the rest of the house
what determined audio nut can produce was amazing if out of sight

[908/930]

Just print some brochures for a pair of Sound lab Majestic 945px and leave them sitting around, at almost 9' high and 39 wide they should disappear in the room. Those should pass the WAF. (wife acceptance factor)

[look 171]

When I built my family room, I made sure I went hard wired in-wall and ceiling mount speakers. A friend told me about HSU Research, https://www.hsuresearch.com/ and I am 1000% satisfy with their product. He's a Hifi nut, so I listened and went down to talk with Dr Hsu himself. He suggested that I go with a front/center speaker for voice. I ended up with a Paradigm sub that rattles all the windows. I am so glad for the advice of the center speaker for movies. Sounds amazing, songs are crystal clear.

[LWJ]

Hey Asphalt,

I cleaned out a buddies home when he passed. He left a smallish sub and two smallish speakers that have a pretty good reputation. They are yours for the shipping. PM me if you want me to look up what they are specifically. Also, I have heard the speakers but can’t be sure the sub works, I would want to test it.

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by 908/930

Could you get away with painting your speakers with lacquer closer to wall colour or white and new light colour grill cloth? Possibly try your rear surround speakers up front and re adjust subwoofer a little to see what that sounds like.

Great suggestion- it did cross my mind, but the large objects remain

[billybek]

I have Focal Dome set up in a 7.1 configuration in the tv room with a Denon av receiver driving them. Centre front, front L&R are on the TV stand, side L&R and rear L&R are ceiling mounted.
Fantastic little speakers with big sound.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091DF51AB/Focal-Dome-Flax-Pack-5-1-Black.html?tp=184

[asphaltgambler]

^^^ nice - but a little spendy for me. Plus, I want flush mount at least for the rears............compromise I'm sure, but I'm Ok with it

[billybek]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

^^^ nice - but a little spendy for me. Plus, I want flush mount at least for the rears............compromise I'm sure, but I'm Ok with it

They were a bit pricey when I bought them but I purchased them through Ian M a few years back when he still frequented the forum.