I've just bought a home, and I've got permission from the boss to get a new TV and sound system. I'm trying to get my arms around the whole process, but I'm getting stuck on speakers. I need everything TV, Receiver, Speakers, DVD Player (except possibly ceiling speakers, see below). I probably have a budget of about $4,000, if that matters.

The living room already has speakers installed in the ceiling for the rear left and right and front left and right. I think I am going for a 5.1 system, so I know I need a center speaker and a subwoofer.

First question. I don't know the type or quality of the speakers are in the ceiling. They were installed during construction in 2004. Should I plan on replacing them? I was hoping not to, but I don't want to get to the end and realize that I need to spend $X more to like what I ended up with.

Second question. I have a built-in entertainment center with cabinets below, then a shelf (waist high) for the TV, and a top shelf (6' high). What height does the center speaker need to be at? Can it go on the 6' shelf and perform correctly, or does it need to be lower.

I've tried to search around and haven't been able to find answers and hopefully I've found the right forum for the question. TIA for your thoughts.

First off I would highly recommend replacing all of the speakers with ones that aren't ceiling mounted. It is impossible (or at least a lot tougher), to get a proper soundstage out of ceiling mounted speakers. You might get away with them as surrounds but the mains are a very important part of the makeup of a system. Not to mention having a center on the floor and mains in the ceiling is going to sound horrible. A budget of 4,000 leaves a lot of leeway for a really nice system. Axioms and Rockets are two that come to mind. You can search the forum for reviews. HSU and SVS are two sub mfg's I would look into as well.

If you must stay with in ceiling for whatever reason you are going to want to replace them with timbre matched speakers so they all sound the same. You could mount a new set in the front wall on either side of the TV which would greatly improve your soundstage while keeping them out of the way.

As far as center channel placement, it is recommended to align the tweeters of the mains and center. This always isn't possible so above would work fine, just aim the speaker towards the listening position. HTH

I was afraid of that--that ceiling mounted speakers were going to screw everything up. I will take a look at in-wall mounted speakers to see if I can make that work and learn more about timber matched speakers before I do anything.

And, thanks for the info re center channel placement.

Cheers.

a decent compromise on in-ceiling speakers might be the Mirage Omnican series. The use a sound dispersing cone below the speaker to "flatten out" the sound distribution so the sound is not just firing down at the floor. Pricey, but they get good reviews and may save your current setup.

check www.vanns.com for pricing, they have the mirage line on sale occasionaly

Can the Omnican's be used as mains/center also? If not, do you have any recommendations for for mains and center that would match? Many thanks in advance!

I'm way out on a limb now, but if a "diffuse" sound stage is OK, than Omnicans could be used for the left-right fronts, but I really would not recommend them for a center channel. The dialog from the center channel needs to be directional and positioned to sound "from" the screen. A sound diffusion system like mirage uses might not be the best choice for this one speaker in the system