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Multi-room in-ceiling positioning

472 Views 13 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  sundonak
Hello everyone,

hopefully I'll get a better luck in this section (in speakers I've got no anwers) even though this is not a home-theater design rather a multi-room system.

I'm planning a multi-room system for a new conto apartment (Euro size apartment), ceiling height is 9,2 ft. As you can see in the picture attached I have:
- n. 1 studio (130 sq. ft.)
- n. 2 bathrooms (75 to 80 sq. ft.)
- n. 2 bedrooms (135 to 160 sq. ft.)

Main listening will be background basically in every room, maybe with the exception of the studio, where a more "serious" listening would be nice to achieve (not mandatory though). Please note that I have a large living room where I have the best critical and serious listening experience with floor-stand speakers. I've planned to use a stereo speaker for each bathroom, while in the other rooms a couple of speakers. Sources will be mainly music streaming services (e.g. Spotify and radio).

Q1. Do you see any major issue to where I position those speakers? Basically I position them at the center of each room, with the goal to have the whole room covered.
I've read different in-ceiling speaker manuals (e.g. B&W, Russound, NuVo, Kef, etc) and they seems to have different point of views on where to put in-ceiling speakers, that's why I would like to have your opinion on this topic.

Q2. For the studio, do you think tilt-able/pivotable tweeter might help to achieve a more "serious" listening and enhance imaging and staging?

Q3. Do you think 6,5 inch speakers might be enough for a background volume level listening or I might have way better results with 8 inch speakers? Of course I will have more bass, but I would rather spend more on better 6,5 inch speakers that go down a little more.

Any help is very appreciated. Thank you so much.
Cheers.

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looks fine to me. Will you have a neighbor living overhead? If so are they music lovers?
looks fine to me. Will you have a neighbor living overhead? If so are they music lovers?
Thank you so much for your reply. Yes I will have neighbours living overhead... but I'm not sure they will love listening "my" music :)

Would you suggest tilting/pivoting tweeter for the studio room? 6,5 or 8 inches?
I don't know if they ship to your location but Home Theater Direct makes some great sounding in wall and in ceiling speakers. I have them throughout my house and there's plenty of bass in the 6.5 models for background music. I have 8 inch models for LCR in my living room and I'm very impressed with the bass they produce.

They have aim-able tweeters.
It you have neighbors overhead you should get ceiling speakers with integrated back surrounds to contain the sound directed upwards. It's the responsible thing to do.
I’ll check, thank you for the advice.
What do you mean for integrated back surround? I saw some “boxes” that can be installed over the speaker so that it appears more like a traditional speaker with a box behind it, I guess for isolation.
Like the Triads, basically a sealed speaker you shove up in the ceiling. Other brands sell backer boxes for their speakers. Dynamat sells a thick rubber backer box than you can shove up the hole for retrofit.


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I see, thank you. So you would advice a sealed speaker or to place a box behind to avoid sound to pass to the apartment above?
It will help a lot but you won’t be able to kill 100%. A much smaller amount of music will make it through the ceiling/floor structure. Maybe you will be lucky and the basic construction methods will be robust enough to make it a non issue.

Have you determined that you can actually cut holes and run wires in the ceiling? Some construction methods (concrete) or Multi-family residential construction fire spread codes would prevent it.
Have you determined that you can actually cut holes and run wires in the ceiling? Some construction methods (concrete) or Multi-family residential construction fire spread codes would prevent it.
Yes, the construction company will run wires where I tell them to. From why I know about the ceiling construction, from bottom to top I will have drywall, W shaped steel sheet, concrete floor with insulation, floor (wood I guess).
To me it seems quite a performance ceiling, but again, I’m not a technician.
I've got this picture from the construction company, what do you think?

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I think I have no experience with that ceiling design.
I think I have no experience with that ceiling design.
No worries, thank you for your help.
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