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I recently moved into a house which was pre-wired for whole house audio. I bought a Monoprice multi-zone amp to power 6 stereo zones on the main floor. I installed ceiling speakers in the kitchen over the weekend to test out the first ceiling speakers zone. I tried the setup with Monoprice 8" ceiling speakers and HTD HD 8" ceiling speakers (the cutout size was close enough to try out both). I was disappointed with both set of speakers. They both sounded flat, muddy, with poor imaging especially when listening off-axis (as in not sitting underneath the speakers). I have Ascend Sierra-1 Nrt 2.0 setup in one of the other zones. The sound for the same music tracks was much more engaging with the Sierra 1. I wasn't expecting excellent sound from ceiling speakers but I didn't think that it would be this lousy. The sound reminded me of being in a shopping mall. I would rather crank up the volume on the family room setup (3.1 with Ascend Sierra-2 and SVS sub) than turning on the kitchen stereo zone.
I later went out to Best Buy Magnolia to listen to other ceiling speakers and I found them all to pretty much have the same problem. They all sounded hollow and unengaging especially when A&B compared with bookshelves. Is this a general problem with open-back ceiling speakers? Are there other ceiling speaker brands and models that I should audition?
I later went out to Best Buy Magnolia to listen to other ceiling speakers and I found them all to pretty much have the same problem. They all sounded hollow and unengaging especially when A&B compared with bookshelves. Is this a general problem with open-back ceiling speakers? Are there other ceiling speaker brands and models that I should audition?