abintra

I'm thinking of moving to a smaller set of speakers for aesthetic reasons but would like comparable or better quality to the larger bookshelf speakers I currently have (B&W DM602's).

The room would be ~26' feet by ~14' by 9' but roughly 15 feet of that is the actual living room with the remaining being the dining area and it also is open on one side to the kitchen and hallway. Not sure what the best placement for the surrounds would be but would probably place them high up on the back wall, in the dining area. Would it be worthwhile to consider going 7.1?

What would be some recommendations on some smaller brands/models to research further that are of good sound quality but also small enough to be aesthetically pleasing/unobtrusive so wall mounting for a living/dining/kitchen room type setting (I have a subwoofer so the bass tradeoff wouldn't be a concern)?

I do have access to a pair of MB Quartz Balcony's that could be used for the rears but I don't believe those are full range and I'm not sure of the quality.

Sdallnct

Oh is it time for our quarterly discussion on speakers???

If you like the sound of your B&W's stick with that. It is pretty hard to go wrong with B&W.

My personal favorite is KEF, tho I currently use Celestion and am very happy with them. Especially for the price I paid.

Do a search here and at some of the other HT sites. You will get a list of usual suspects. However, speakers are very personal, so be sure you can listen to them 1st or at least the place has a good return policy.

abintra

I'm not looking to replace the B&W's due to sound quality but rather based on the reasons detailed in my post.

Sdallnct

Maybe I misunderstood, but I was suggesting you get smaller B&W's. They make a wide range of speakers including in wall, mini's and wall hanging.

onabudget

For wallmounteds, try Magnepan MMG-Ws.

Hopefully your sub and amp (or receiver) are of enough decent quality to make justice to this taste of what hi-end audio has to offer.

They come with a 60-day in home trial

abintra

Apologies. I didn't pick up on that.

I was under the impression that anything for ceiling/in wall was a sacrifice in sound quality so thought that might not be an option short of deciding to give up something there. Are there any particular recommended models to research if sticking with the B&W line between in wall, mini's, wall hanging or is it pretty much determined by a price range?

Would a room size and setup like mine work with a 7.1 setup or is that overkill/not feasible due to the room being divided by a dining area and no side wall on one side?

Never heard of those before. Read a review but it made it sound like one needs to be able to have some flexibility to find the perfect placement and I think finding something as surrounds for them would be difficult.

Brian Shannon

Maybe try moving up in the B&W line to CM's or 805? I use B&W CWM inwalls in my theater and love them.

abintra

The CWM Cinema's? Can those be mounted in a ceiling facing down?

Sdallnct

Maggies (Magnapan) are an awesome speaker. Yes, placement is important but you also have to have the right amp for them....

The reason why I suggest staying with the B&W is that you like yours. Yes, each speaker will sound different, but the overall characteristics will be similar thru the line.

abintra

Right now, I have access to a pair of B&W DM602's, Klipsch KG4's, Boston Acoustics HD7's, MB Quartz Blacony's, with the only center speaker being a Snell CC1 so it isn't like I'm tied to anything in particular.

I'm going to end up replacing something in order to get a matched system. I guess I'll just have to take a drive to a B&W dealer and just go with whatever they recommend and is within a price range.

Brian Shannon

I don't see why not, but then again I am not sure why you would want to do this. Speakers with front firing drivers will fire the sound straight down, not very good for surround effect.

I once saw some in-ceiling speakers with directional tweeters but I cannot remember the name off the top of my head.

abintra

Don't want to but my alternatives may be shrinking. Found out the other day that the contractor wouldn't allow us to run speaker wire before insulation and sheet rock went up so it may become very difficult to get access to that exterior wall in order to place surrounds in that area. Meaning even a small surround speaker might not be able to be placed in that location short of tearing some things apart.

That might leave that as an option, ceiling speakers, or some very small surrounds placed hanging from the ceiling directly above the sitting position faced forward or in.

Spiky

I'm pretty sure most ceiling speakers have directional tweeters. Some have full directional ability, similar to recessed lighting. My bro-in-law loves 'em. (crazy electronics geeks ) Standard wall speakers (which are often used in ceilings) don't usually have any directional control, they are easy to confuse.

abintra

Would ceiling speakers be an acceptable option or are they a last alternative only?

Sdallnct

Why won't your contractor let you run wires?

You can use ceiling speakers. It is your system, do what makes sense to you. Most people have to balance the idea set up v. looks v. cost.

abintra

Assembly line house building. Asked and was told no.

I know I can. I'm trying to find out whether it should be a last resort based on those that have knowledge of their sound quality and what other small sized options may be available. Just hoping someone can provide a couple of recommendations to narrow down the amount of research.

Sdallnct

In my old house, I had vaulted ceiling and put ceiling mount surrounds firing strainght down. It was fine for special effects intense movies (Star Wars, Matrix, etc). But in "normal" movies I didn't like it as much.

In my current house I have a dedicated theater room. Surrounds are on the side walls, near the rear wall, firing straight in to each other. This IMHO works much, much better.

This is from the THX site,

abintra

Thank you kindly. I'll make sure and explore that as the absolute last resort then.

I'll keep looking for some recommended small speakers that I can use a bracket to mount from the ceiling but have them placed in this position. It probably won't look very appealing, due to the room being open on one side and needing to be placed from the ceiling pretty much directly to the side of the listening position, and the left side I won't be able to access the exterior wall so that one will also need to be mounted hanging from the ceiling.

Sdallnct

Others with location issues have reported good luck putting the small surround speakers on the floor behind the listening area firing straight up. Also, in my living room, I toyed with the idea of setting the speakers on small tables with lamps behind the seating area firing into each other. I actually tested this and was pleasently surprised. My wife didn't like how it looked, but then, I do have pretty ugly spakers.

abintra

The dining area is directly behind the couch so there isn't enough room for even a small set of speakers there unfortunately (the dining room table chairs are within inches once seated).

I'll have to see how much room is going to be left on the sides of a couch and whether or not there would be any room to place them directly to the sides though.

Appreciate the additional ideas.

Sdallnct

Well I do feel your pain. In my living room I almost certainly will be putting ceiling speakers in for surround firing straight down (10 foot ceilings). This is not idea IMHO, but for the living room will be fine. I have my dedicated theater room that really shows off surround sound.

Brian Shannon

In looking at this thread, I have begun to wonder. If the builder will not let you run the cable now, what do you plan to do for the speaker mounts or ceiling mounts?

Perhaps you should get the speakers you really want and run the cable yourself after you move in, before you paint and fill up the room. The patches should be small and then you can paint the room.

Spiky

I have to ask: Is the builder paying for the house or are you? Tell bozo to do what YOU want.

Brian Shannon

Unfortunately that usually cannot be done.

I understand why the builder has refused, if it is something they did not install they do not want to be liable which is an all too common reality in our society today.

And the bottom line is that until closing the builder is paying for the house.

abintra

The ceiling above the living room has no insulation and easy access to run cables up there, etc. Only the exterior walls, both due to the insulation and the roof sloping to meet that wall make it very difficult to access it.

Putting anything on that back wall at this point means trying to get a cable down that wall. The only easy way I can see to accomplish this is to cut the ceiling to put the cable through a foot or so before reaching the back wall and then drapping the cables down the wall which isn't appealing.

House is completed upon move in, short of the actually moving in. We could have exposed wires coming out of the ceiling and down that wall, see above, but obviously that isn't the most desireable way to go. Even then, small surrounds versus moderately sized bookshelfs hanging on that wall isn't what we want (seems like I'm spending more time explaining things rather than receiving help on models to further research).

Could have been pretty simple but not being able to get cables down that exterior wall makes things very difficult without compromising on having a living/dining room emphasized with large speakers and cables exposed or bracing small surrounds somewhere off the ceiling.