Are these speakers any good for surround sound? and where would I use them in a new home theater set up?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Are these speakers any good for surround sound? and where would I use them in a new home theater set up?

Ropata

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#282784 11-Mar-2021 20:06

I've just moved house and with it came with these speakers in the ceiling of my office/rumpus room. I'm putting a telly on the blank wall to the left and wiring all 4 corners of the room for speakers. I already have a decent mission 5.1 set up but now with these I'm wondering if a add these or replace some of the small wall mounted missions. Any advice?

Loismustdye

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#2671898 11-Mar-2021 20:08

Atmos speakers in the ceiling?

Ropata

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#2671901 11-Mar-2021 20:13

No idea. They are listed as ceiling/wall speakers but I can't find any info or don't understand due to noobness where they are best suited in a set up. I'd have thought at the front to drive most of the sound?

tieke

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#2671902 11-Mar-2021 20:19

Definitely wire them up and try them out - they give great sound for in-wall speakers and those four would have cost well over $1000 when new. I think you can swivel the tweeter a bit to direct sound, but whether you are using them as all-room sound or just as the back speakers of a surround sound setup they are definitely a good bonus.

tieke

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#2671905 11-Mar-2021 20:25

Ropata:

.. I'd have thought at the front to drive most of the sound?

I wouldn't use them as front speakers in their current configuration, as they won't give a directional enough sound unless you are looking at relocating them into a wall rather than a ceiling cavity. It depends whether

tieke

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#2671906 11-Mar-2021 20:28

...you want to use them for music in the room (in which case they're fine as is) or as part of your directional 7.1 surround setup, in which case they will be more playing the part of the surround rather than the main channels.

Ropata

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#2671909 11-Mar-2021 20:40

tieke:

Ropata:

.. I'd have thought at the front to drive most of the sound?

I wouldn't use them as front speakers in their current configuration, as they won't give a directional enough sound unless you are looking at relocating them into a wall rather than a ceiling cavity. It depends whether

They definitely aren't staying in the ceiling. How would they go in a hardwood box in 4 corners directed at my couch?

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hsvhel

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#2671913 11-Mar-2021 21:05

are the connections for all 4 in a cabinet or cupboard?

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Ropata

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#2671914 11-Mar-2021 21:13

hsvhel:

are the connections for all 4 in a cabinet or cupboard?

No, just hanging out the wall at TV cabinet height.

tieke

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#2672178 12-Mar-2021 10:16

Ropata:
They definitely aren't staying in the ceiling. How would they go in a hardwood box in 4 corners directed at my couch?

Not so sure - the real point of those speakers was to produce good sound without protruding into the room - once you start building hardwood speaker boxes for them you run into all the issues of box speaker design and may end up with worse sound than your existing ones.

I would try them while they're in the roof just to see if the sound impresses you (the sound in-place differs a lot from just the naked speaker) and then possibly leave the rear two speakers in the ceiling and put the front two into a side wall.

If after your quick sound trial you're not impressed, it might be easier to just sell them here or put them up on trademe.

cshwone

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#2672183 12-Mar-2021 10:29

Those are quality speakers specifically designed to be in ceiling and would be great in a 7.1 or 9.1 set up.

Any other use, especially trying to box them would compromise the sound quality.

As Tieke said if you are not going to use them where they are, and designed to be, I would suggest you offer them up for sale.

nitro

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#2672209 12-Mar-2021 11:15

those are good speakers. get an atmos receiver and go 5.1.4!

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Dunnersfella

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#2672338 12-Mar-2021 15:34

The speakers are older, but fine for in-ceiling background or surround duties.

As an open baffle design, I wouldn't build a box without knowing any recommendations around capacity etc. I'm picking B&W never made a back box option for their 2nd to bottom tier, instead focusing on the 7-series for this sort of use-case.