I'm in the process of getting a new house that is pre wired for installation on top of the fireplace and I'm trying to plan how I am going to setup the room, even though I don't own the house yet.... but hopefully I will soon. Assuming I have money to actually buy equipment I was wondering what some of your opinions would be for this room (see attached).

I was thinking a 50" plasma over the fireplace, I am just not sure where I would place all the equipment yet. I am guessing it is only prewired for power and cable, so I'd have to figure out where to hide all my components.

How do you guys feel about ceiling speakers? I've never been in a room with celing speakers for watching a movie or TV so to me it seems like a wierd idea, but there doesn't seem to be a good place to put speakers so I was thinking about just mounting them in the cieling is probably not possible since there is a story above it.

I was also considering the Yamaha YSP-1100, but I'm not sure if it is suitable for such a room. Appreciate any input anyone might have :) Thanks!

Dailowai,

Nice room :) Similar to my living room in many respects which is why I went with in-ceiling speakers. They may not be the best audio wise but they won't make you sorry either (unless your an audio purist and then you wouldn't be using in-ceiling or in-wall or likely even a center channel). You can certainly still use the in-ceiling speakers easily with a floor above they are designed to fit between the floor joists.
There are also lots of different ways to store or hide (if you prefer that word) HT equipment in your space - do some searches here on the forum to see some of the ways people have hidden racks or equipment in their spaces.

I would also say you won't be disappointed with the Yamaha 1100 I've owned a few Yamaha receivers and been quite happy with them (the last one I had was the 1000 which my brother is still using today and loves).

Good luck.

Thanks. I guess I'll have to do more research with the in ceiling speakers. Any idea how much installation would cost? I consider myself somewhat handy, but I've never made holes in a ceiling before.

Those front wall cabinets look MADE for being ripped out and replaced by left and right front speakers :-)

You can also remove the fireplace mantle, so you can mount the TV lower.

The problem with ceiling surrounds, IMO, is that you can't aim them. I'd rather get some traditional enclosures and a directional mount, like the OmniMounts (which is what I did for my room).

but you can also use those cabinets to house all of your equipment then use an IR repeater system so that you don't see any of the equipment.

You could also look into in-wall speakers for the L/R/C and in-ceiling for the rear surrounds.

- Josh

I was thinking about putting all my equipment in the cabinet, but I was concerned there wouldn't be enough ventilation, but I guess I can just install some fans into the cabinet. Thanks for all the suggestions. Now if I buy all of this equipment I won't have any couches to sit on.... hopefully the installation won't be too bad.

Becareful mounting the TV too close to the fireplace. The heat and potential debris could cause problems.

Thanks for the tip eugovector, but its actually a fake fireplace so there won't be any debris, but the heat could definately be a problem. However, I don't see myself using it much.