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Surround Sound Speaker Placement Ceiling

1-16 of 889 results for 'surround sound speakers ceiling'. Set of 2 Perfect for Damp and Humid Indoor/Outdoor Placement - Bath, Kitchen, Covered Porches (White, Paintable Grille) by Polk Audio. $149.99 $ 149 99 Prime. FREE Shipping on eligible orders. More Buying Choices. 1-16 of 23 results for 'ceiling speaker placement for surround sound' Amazon's Choice for 'ceiling speaker placement for surround sound' Polk Audio RC60i 2-way Premium In-Ceiling 6.5' Round Speakers, Set of 2 Perfect for Damp and Humid Indoor/Outdoor Placement - Bath, Kitchen, Covered Porches (White, Paintable Grille). Surround sound is dependent on proper speaker placement in relation to the display and seating and is pretty unforgiving for aural placement and movement. See thread at top. 10 things you need to know about surround sound and speaker placement.

The Rundown

• Best Overall:Polk Audio RC80i at Amazon, “With an eight-inch balanced dynamic subwoofer and one-inch dome tweeter for a warm sound that fills an entire room.”
• Best Installation:Polk Audio 70RT at Amazon, “With a Perfect Fit template for finding the best fit the first time you attempt to install.”
• Best Budget:Pyle PDIC60T at Amazon, “Delivering a two-way sound that's an incredible value for the price.”
• Runner-Up, Best Overall:Klipsch CDT-5650-C at Amazon, “Delivering a surprising amount of bass for in-ceiling speakers.”
• Best Sound:Klipsch’s CDT-5800-C at Amazon, “With some of the best sound money can buy.”
• Best Design:Bose 742898-0200 at Amazon, “An ideal combination of performance and looks.”
• Best Theater:Acoustic Audio R191 at Amazon, “A versatile set that takes the home theater experience to an entirely new level.”
• Best Splurge:Bose Virtually Invisible 791 at Amazon, “A system that works to blanket the entire room with balanced audio performance.”

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: Polk Audio RC80i

Manufactured out of moisture-resistant, durable material, the Polk Audio RC80i is a terrific choice for ceiling speakers (added bonus: you can even install them in a sauna or pool area). The eight-inch balanced dynamic subwoofer and one-inch dome tweeter allow for a warm sound that fills an entire room. The adjustable tweeter comes on a 15-degree swiveling mount, so it's easy to make the sound hit exactly where you want. The super easy installation comes right after a prepared hole is made in the ceiling and, with the wires to connect the speaker in place, you need nothing more than a screwdriver to make the RC80i flush with the ceiling. Their white coloring easily helps them blend in and makes them hardly noticeable on a white ceiling, but you’ll never question the sound.

Read more reviews of the best Polk Audio speakers available to purchase online.

Best Installation: Polk Audio 70RT

The vanishing series built-in Polk Audio 70RT speakers are outfitted with Polk’s wafer-thin Sheer-grille that magnetically secures the speaker together while protruding a mere 7mm from the ceiling. Installation is easy, thanks to a one-cut, drop-in feature that offers Perfect Fit templates for finding the best fit the first time you attempt to install the 70RT speaker. Past its outstanding fit, the Polk sounds great because of a unique three-way driver that helps deliver full-size speaker performance in a compact package. Also enhancing the audio is a ¾-inch polymer tweeter, a 2.5-balanced driver and a seven-inch dynamic balance subwoofer.

Best Budget: Pyle PDIC60T

Capable of both wall and ceiling installation, the Pyle PDIC60T speakers deliver a two-way sound that's an incredible value for the price. The 6.5-inch design and 8-ohm impedance help boost the sound of the Pyle to a level that makes it ideal for a home theater system. The dual 6.5-inch speaker pairs with a one-inch titanium dome tweeter that’s rated at 250 watts of power and comes complete with a flush mount for the ceiling, as well as a one-inch high-temp voice coil. The included 70-volt transformer handles electricity quite well, while each tweeter offers adjustable direction by sending the sound to a specific area of the room. The bass that’s delivered from the Pyle gets surprisingly low, but really delivers when allowing the total volume to get loud. It’s loud in a way that will have friends questioning where the music is really coming from. The design helps the Pyle blend into a ceiling elegantly or allows you to paint the speaker grille to customize its look to match your decor.

Runner-Up, Best Overall: Klipsch CDT-5650-C

Offering an easy installation and premium sound, the Klipsch CDT-5650-C is a close second for the best ceiling speakers. Featuring a one-inch titanium tweeter and 6.5-inch pivoting cerametallic woofer, the high-performing sound incorporates a gimbal mechanism for directing the sound in the right direction. Connecting the Klipsch to either a 5.1 or 7.1 channel home theater system will get you set up and ready to go with 50 watts of power (200 watts peak) for a sound that has no problem getting quite loud. The audio is both crisp and accurate, with the highlights being the mids and lows. There's also a surprising amount of bass, which is unexpected for in-ceiling speakers. The minimal sound distortion at high volumes is another surprising result, which makes the Klipsch ideal for watching Blu-ray or Netflix movies at a high enough volume to feel like you’re right in the action. With the woofer capable of shifting 15 degrees in any direction and the 360-degree rotation of the tweeter, you'll have total flexibility with the Klipsch (and that’s a great thing).

Check out our other reviews of the best Klipsch speakers.

Best Sound: Klipsch’s CDT-5800-C

To be blunt, Klipsch’s CDT-5800-C in-ceiling speakers have some of the best sound money can buy. Powered by a one-inch titanium tweeter and an eight-inch pivoting cerametallic woofer, the Klipsch offers a high-performance and beautiful sound system that’s worth every penny. While an in-ceiling speaker is often limited by its fixed location, Klipsch’s adjustable controlled dispersion and horn-loaded technology help direct sound exactly where it needs to go with minimal effort and maximum results. Both treble and bass sound crisp and loud to match any kind of movie or music. It's available in white, but the speaker grille can be painted to match the color of any room.

Best Design: Bose 742898-0200

Seamlessly blending into the ceiling, the Bose 742898-0200 speakers are an ideal combination of performance and looks. The five-inch woofer and two strategically positioned ¾-inch tweeters offer a high-quality sound that is hardly matched by competitive in-ceiling speakers. Boosting the audio performance of Bose’s unique and exclusive Stereo Everywhere works to cover an entire room with stereo sound without any drop-offs. Beyond the sound is the visual appeal of Bose’s design. The near-bezel-less design and construction enables the speaker virtually disappear once installed into the ceiling. Available in white, the Bose speaker system adds an easily-paintable grille for matching any home decor and maintaining the invisible look and feel no matter your ceiling color. Additionally, installation is a snap, thanks to the integrated dogleg clamps and magnetically attached grille that drops right into a pre-cut ceiling hole with ease.

Best Theater: Acoustic Audio R191

Offering power between 20 to 200 watts per speaker, the Acoustic Audio R191 delivers a versatile set that takes the home theater experience to an entirely new level. The polypropylene 5.25-inch woofers, 12mm soft dome tweeter and 8ohms of impedance pool together to make the R191 sound crisp and clean. The paintable frame and grille offer both easy installation and the flexibility to change up the look to match your home’s coloring. The low-profile housing is designed to be easy to install with cutout templates for helping to discover the exact sizing that needs to be cut from the ceiling. The R191 has an all-weather design that works both indoors and outdoors.

Interested in reading more reviews? Take a look at our selection of the best outdoor speakers.

Best Splurge: Bose Virtually Invisible 791

In Ceiling Surround Speaker Placement

The Bose Virtually Invisible 791 offers a high-quality sound that is hard to beat. The lone seven-inch woofer pairs with two strategically positioned one-inch tweeters for incredible sound. And there's also Bose’s signature Stereo Everywhere technology for balancing the sound in an entire room. Unlike competitors that can only focus their ceiling speakers in one direction, the Bose system works to blanket an entire room with balanced audio performance. And the result is both rich and clear low-end frequencies and strong high-end frequencies. The easy installation pairs with an ultra-slim bezel that makes the Bose model drop right into the ceiling (via a precut hole) and is secured in its position with dogleg clamps, drawing as little attention as possible. The detachable speaker grille can be removed and painted to better fit a room decor.

Some of you might have the luxury of being able to buy speakers so good they'd be worth passing down to your grandson. Others among you make do with what came packed with your stereo. Either way, there's one method of improving the sound of any speaker: it's all about placement.

Musicians and producers pour months of effort into creating their work. So this guide is intended for any self-respecting music fan worth their iTunes collection, who wants every beat to sound as good as the artist intended.

The following makes the assumption that you sit in front of your speakers at a desk and have plenty of room to play with. If not, you'll still pick up some sound knowledge.

1. Room length

If your room is a rectangle, the speakers will ideally face the length of the room, so place your desk by the shortest wall.

2.Think in thirds

Imagine dividing the length of your room by three. Your speakers will sit within the first third of the room and more than 1m from the side walls. We did say you needed some room...

3. Speaker angles

Music is generally released in stereo, which means the sound is spread between the left and right speakers. Positioning the speakers at a 60-degree angle gives you the best 'stereo image' of these sounds. Dust off your old protractor and position the speakers 60 degrees apart. It can help to place a small marker at your listening position and work it out from there.

4. Space from wall

Surround Sound Speakers Placement

If you really do have a huge room to work with, pull the speakers away from the wall. There's a zone between 1m and 2.2m that ideally you want to avoid. If you have a smaller room, try to leave as much space as you can between the wall and the speaker -- up to 1m -- and do not place them too close to the wall either as the bass doesn't play well.

5. Sub woofers

Got a sub? Put it at least 30cm from a corner; don't place it in the dead centre of a wall.

6. Speaker height

If you have speaker stands, adjust the height so the speaker is level with your head and above 1.2m. Notice the smaller speaker cone, called a tweeter -- this is where the shiny bright parts of the music come out. The highest sounds emanate from the tweeter in a really straight line, so point this at your ears if you want your music to shimmer.

7. Desktop speakers

Denon Surround Sound Speakers Placement

If your speakers are on a desk, rest them on some foam, if you have any. This stops your desk becoming a huge bass speaker itself, which seems like a grand idea but really isn't.

8. Surround sound

If you have surround sound speakers, place the centre channel exactly in front of you and place the side speakers at a 110-degree angle to the sides, following the same rules as described above. Each speaker should be the same distance from your listening position, forming a circle, as shown in the diagram (right). If you get that right, those overhead helicopters in films will finally sound like they're flying in a straight line.

Conclusion

It's not always easy to implement every step, but the basic rules -- like keeping speakers away from corners -- will go a long way to making your music and movies sound better.

If you successfully followed this guide, let us know how it went in the comments or over on our Facebook page.

Image credit: Genelec Oy