Surround sound/Ceiling speakers

mckildare

Hi guys,

I'll try keep this short. Have a living room 5.5x4m approx and we are planning to get a lowered ceiling around the edges for some spot lights. If there's an option to get ceiling speakers that will work as/with a surround sound then I'm all for it, will be able to do all the wiring at the same time. The main aim is to have just some sound....around.... :)as background for watching movies etc. Nothing special required once it does that. Have you got anything to do this? Or is it worth the effort!

On a side, the wife would like to have a speaker each in the kitchen and upstairs in the bathrooms for listening to radio/youtube. I was thinking along the lines of Sonos-esque stuff so the same music will be playing while she's roaming around the house with the toddler. Am I on the right track there or have you the right/alternative idea? 

I know nothing about this topic you may guess so look forward to hearing from you, thanks!

MC

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

mckildare wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'll try keep this short. Have a living room 5.5x4m approx and we are planning to get a lowered ceiling around the edges for some spot lights. If there's an option to get ceiling speakers that will work as/with a surround sound then I'm all for it, will be able to do all the wiring at the same time. The main aim is to have just some sound....around.... :)as background for watching movies etc. Nothing special required once it does that. Have you got anything to do this? Or is it worth the effort!

On a side, the wife would like to have a speaker each in the kitchen and upstairs in the bathrooms for listening to radio/youtube. I was thinking along the lines of Sonos-esque stuff so the same music will be playing while she's roaming around the house with the toddler. Am I on the right track there or have you the right/alternative idea? 

I know nothing about this topic you may guess so look forward to hearing from you, thanks!

MC

HI MC.

You would be able to use ceiling speakers as part of a surround sound system, depending on the space you have.

You could use either the Monitor Audio Pro 65 priced at £69.00 each
http://www.monitoraudio.com/en/product-ranges/pro/pro-65/

Or the Monitor Audio C165 priced at £114.95 Each
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-201014-c165.aspx

You could use these as front left and right and rear left and right.

I would still recommend that you use a proper centre speaker as this does all you vocals.
Something like the Monitor Audio MR Centre priced at £69.00
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-12486-mr-centre.aspx

For something more sleek there is the Radius 200 coming in at £199
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-12548-black-gloss-315769.aspx

If you require an amplifier if you do not already have one then the Denon AVRX2400 is the one to look at as this can also tie in with the Denon Heos for multi room. (Heos is Denons's answer to Sonos). Currently priced at £399.00
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-13044-avrx2400.aspx

This can also run a separate set of speakers in the Kitchen or bathroom. You could add a Heos 1 into the Kitchen and I can pair to the 2400 or operate directly from an app on your phone or tablet.
The Heos 1 is priced at £149.00
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-12997-black-12997.aspx

Let me know if I'm in the right area.

Any questions drop me a post.

mckildare

Thanks Kenny, you're on the mark with all that for sure!


I was looking at the room layout last night and the TV is offset to the right on one wall (hallway door to the left of it) and the couch is centred on the opposite wall. So I'm thinking 2 rear ceiling speakers for definite but either only front left (as you look at the TV) in the furthest corner or not at all because the centre speaker (under/above the TV?) would definitely dominate the right side of that wall. So a few qs on the above...


Does that idea make sense and would it work?


Between the Pro65 and C165, is the price difference justified by the sound quality? If I go with only 2 rear then I'd splash out if it was worth the $$$


The centre speakers look kind of chunky, is there anything more streamlined? Or would putting up a shelf above the TV work for that one and hide it?


With my very limited knowledge about surround sound I know that the receiver/amplifier is necessary, I'm thinking that just gets placed also above/below the TV is that right? And the wiring from the other equipment all goes into this?


Regarding the wiring then, does that come with the equipment or I have to figure out how much I need to go around the room? Maybe whoever I find to install this stuff will know


Cheers!
MC

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

mckildare wrote: »

Thanks Kenny, you're on the mark with all that for sure!


I was looking at the room layout last night and the TV is offset to the right on one wall (hallway door to the left of it) and the couch is centred on the opposite wall. So I'm thinking 2 rear ceiling speakers for definite but either only front left (as you look at the TV) in the furthest corner or not at all because the centre speaker (under/above the TV?) would definitely dominate the right side of that wall. So a few qs on the above...


Does that idea make sense and would it work?


Between the Pro65 and C165, is the price difference justified by the sound quality? If I go with only 2 rear then I'd splash out if it was worth the $$$


The centre speakers look kind of chunky, is there anything more streamlined? Or would putting up a shelf above the TV work for that one and hide it?


With my very limited knowledge about surround sound I know that the receiver/amplifier is necessary, I'm thinking that just gets placed also above/below the TV is that right? And the wiring from the other equipment all goes into this?


Regarding the wiring then, does that come with the equipment or I have to figure out how much I need to go around the room? Maybe whoever I find to install this stuff will know


Cheers!
MC

Hey MC.

For 5.1 home cinema you would require Front left and right as well as a centre, 2 rears and a subwoofer. Leaving any of these out will totally throw off the sound and will make it sound horrible as parts of the sound track would be missing.

You could drop in ceiling for the fronts and perhaps mount on the wall beside the TV for left and right.
Something like the Radius 90 priced at £349.00
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-12540-radius-90-black.aspx

The Radius 200 centre is actually the slimmest one we stock. You could mount a little shelf below the TV a set this on it.
You get in wall centre speakers if cutting into your wall below the TV might be an option.

For the cable it would be purchased per meter so you would need to have a measure up to see how much you might require.
Starting at £1.19 per meter:
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-900187-symphony-100.aspx

I also forgot to include a subwoofer in the first post, so you would also need a cable for this which is different to speaker cable.
Cambridge do a 7.5m one for £19.95
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-10538-aud100-75m-sub-cable.aspx

Hope this helps a bit.

Any questions drop me a post.

mckildare

Hi Kenny,

Thanks for that alternative option, something to consider alright. Now that you mention a subwoofer, is that another device to include or it's built in to the centre speaker perhaps?

I've to go off now and find a couple of workers to install the ceiling and a lights so whatever electrician I end up with I hope they can tell me what lengths I need, or I'll just do a rough around-the-walls myself when placements are sorted. I'll get back to you then (if not before with more qs) for a special boardie price on the above ;)Thanks again!

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

mckildare wrote: »

Hi Kenny,

Thanks for that alternative option, something to consider alright. Now that you mention a subwoofer, is that another device to include or it's built in to the centre speaker perhaps?

I've to go off now and find a couple of workers to install the ceiling and a lights so whatever electrician I end up with I hope they can tell me what lengths I need, or I'll just do a rough around-the-walls myself when placements are sorted. I'll get back to you then (if not before with more qs) for a special boardie price on the above ;)Thanks again!

Hey McKildare.

The subwoofer is a separate unit altogether.
There are many versions.

Starting at the Yamaha NSSW050 priced at £124.00
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-202403-nssw050.aspx

To match the above setup something like the Monitor Audio MRW10 priced at £239.00
https://www.richersounds.ie/p-12485-mrw10.aspx

When measuring up for calbe always over estimate as it will be a nightmare if you are short as I would recommend to have a join in a cable.

Once you are ready I can work you out a bit of a boardie deal on pricing.

mckildare

Hi again Kenny,

I'm waiting for the holiday season to finish up before trying to find a good plasterer to put in my ceiling shelves so in the meantime I'll throw this one at you for an opinion...how would the HEOS HC soundbar and a couple of well placed HEOS 1's do for sound? I wouldn't be expecting them to be close to a full 5.1 system but if they did the job then I'd consider that (thinking this way on the off chance that the in-ceiling speaker thing doesn't pan out due to $$$). Thanks

Have a great New Year!

MC

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

mckildare wrote: »

Hi again Kenny,

I'm waiting for the holiday season to finish up before trying to find a good plasterer to put in my ceiling shelves so in the meantime I'll throw this one at you for an opinion...how would the HEOS HC soundbar and a couple of well placed HEOS 1's do for sound? I wouldn't be expecting them to be close to a full 5.1 system but if they did the job then I'd consider that (thinking this way on the off chance that the in-ceiling speaker thing doesn't pan out due to $$$). Thanks

Have a great New Year!

MC

Hi MC,

The Heos HC is a great soundbar and sounds great but it is not possible to pair other Heos speakers to it for a surround set up. This can only be done with the Heos Bar but this doesn't come with a subwoofer.

Let me know what you think.

Kind regards

David

mckildare

Richersounds.ie: Kenny wrote: »

mckildare wrote: »

Hi again Kenny,

I'm waiting for the holiday season to finish up before trying to find a good plasterer to put in my ceiling shelves so in the meantime I'll throw this one at you for an opinion...how would the HEOS HC soundbar and a couple of well placed HEOS 1's do for sound? I wouldn't be expecting them to be close to a full 5.1 system but if they did the job then I'd consider that (thinking this way on the off chance that the in-ceiling speaker thing doesn't pan out due to $$$). Thanks

Have a great New Year!

MC

Hi MC,

The Heos HC is a great soundbar and sounds great but it is not possible to pair other Heos speakers to it for a surround set up. This can only be done with the Heos Bar but this doesn't come with a subwoofer.

Let me know what you think.

Kind regards

David

Always more to consider with these things! So, will a Heos Bar + Sub + 2xHeos 1's work as a system? I won't even ask the price yet

Cheers

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

mckildare wrote: »

Richersounds.ie: Kenny wrote: »

mckildare wrote: »

Hi again Kenny,

I'm waiting for the holiday season to finish up before trying to find a good plasterer to put in my ceiling shelves so in the meantime I'll throw this one at you for an opinion...how would the HEOS HC soundbar and a couple of well placed HEOS 1's do for sound? I wouldn't be expecting them to be close to a full 5.1 system but if they did the job then I'd consider that (thinking this way on the off chance that the in-ceiling speaker thing doesn't pan out due to $$$). Thanks

Have a great New Year!

MC

Hi MC,

The Heos HC is a great soundbar and sounds great but it is not possible to pair other Heos speakers to it for a surround set up. This can only be done with the Heos Bar but this doesn't come with a subwoofer.

Let me know what you think.

Kind regards

David

Always more to consider with these things! So, will a Heos Bar + Sub + 2xHeos 1's work as a system? I won't even ask the price yet

Cheers

Hi MC,

That system will definitely work. The price is a little more than the Heos HC but the bar, sub and 2 x Play 1s are only £1376!

Let me know what you think.

Kind regards

David

mckildare

Hi David,

Thanks for the info. So that's not too much more than the full monitor audio kit originally. A lot less hassle also with wires etc. I see though that Currys have a nice offer at the moment on the Samsung HW-K950 kit at £999. I'm only new to the world of soundbars but a friend is raving at this telling me it's a great piece of kit for that home cinema feel. Any thoughts? Thanks again!

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

mckildare wrote: »

Hi David,

Thanks for the info. So that's not too much more than the full monitor audio kit originally. A lot less hassle also with wires etc. I see though that Currys have a nice offer at the moment on the Samsung HW-K950 kit at £999. I'm only new to the world of soundbars but a friend is raving at this telling me it's a great piece of kit for that home cinema feel. Any thoughts? Thanks again!

Hi McKildare.

The HW-K950 is a cracking bit of kit and produces a really nice surround sound feel.

We are currently priced at £999 also but I could drop a little to £975 delivered. 

Although it is very very hard to beat a separate system.

mckildare

I'll come back to you shortly folks, just have to think through these options - want to make sure this system will do what I hope and be future-proof for a while at least 

Cheers
MC

Richersounds.ie: John

HWK950 is a super buy at £975 but it won't compare in overall Audio Quality to the big Heos Bar with the separate Heos sub And two Heos 1 (or of course for multi room functionality)

Keep us posted

ATVB

JohnMc & Crew