[sigpig]

The added bonus with mounting them on the ceiling is that they are easily replaced with better speakers in the future. You won't be getting much output from 2.75" full-range drivers. That's smaller than the mid-range driver on my centre speaker...

 

[Alecz]

The added bonus with mounting them on the ceiling is that they are easily replaced with better speakers in the future. You won't be getting much output from 2.75" full-range drivers. That's smaller than the mid-range driver on my centre speaker...

I didn't expect to get anything but mids and highs from the ceiling speakers. What would be a suitable future upgrade? (for planning purposes)

 

[sigpig]

I can't remember what you're using for your ear-level speakers.
I use PSB Alpha P3 bookshelfs - they have a4" mid-woofer and 1' tweeter in a "fairly" compact cabinet. The NHT SuperZero 2.1 or SuperOne 2.1 would be excellent speakers for Atmos in your room.

 

[niterida]

Thanks guys. The common consensus here is that I can keep and mount 4 of the Yamahas on the ceiling rather than go for in-ceiling or atmos-enabled speakers (whew ). Pointing them or not towards the MLP is something that can be easily changed in the future as I'll be using adjustable mounts anyway.
The specs on the speakers are quite limited in information: NS-P20 - Specs - Yamaha - Other European Countries
There is nothing about the firing angle, but I can assume wide-enough dispersion; these are generic HT speakers. (Amazon reviews are also overwhelmingly positive)

Yes you can keep your Yamahas - no need to worry about their specs as you WILL be aiming them at your ears

 

[niterida]

I didn't expect to get anything but mids and highs from the ceiling speakers. What would be a suitable future upgrade? (for planning purposes)

Height speakers can be sent full range signals - it all depends on the movie - so get the best speakers you can afford/justify.

 

[Alecz]

The NHT SuperZero 2.1 or SuperOne 2.1 would be excellent speakers for Atmos in your room.

They seem pretty heavy and large for "on-ceiling". I only have 8' ceiling height.

Height speakers can be sent full range signals - it all depends on the movie - so get the best speakers you can afford/justify.

So what would be better for Atmos: the small Yamahas, or the 6.5" POLKMC60 suggested on the 1st page? Or would something like RSL c34e angled baffle be a considerable improvement?

 

[niterida]

They seem pretty heavy and large for "on-ceiling". I only have 8' ceiling height.



So what would be better for Atmos: the small Yamahas, or the 6.5" POLKMC60 suggested on the 1st page? Or would something like RSL c34e angled baffle be a considerable improvement?

Or none of the above !!
If you can mount on-ceiling speakers then that is what I would aim for (pun intended).
The descending order of options are (IMO) on-ceiling bookshelf (with aimable mounts) , angled in-ceiling (the greater the angle of the baffle the better) and lastly down-firing in-ceilings.
But that is assuming similarly capable speakers.
So in your case that would be the Yamahas, RSLs and Polks in that order. But the Yamahas are not as capable as the other 2, and the Polks may be superior to the RSLs (I have no experience of either - just going by driver size here) when on-axis. But if you use the Polks you will be off-axis.

I would suggest since you have the Yamahas I would use those and see how they go, with a view to upgrading when the budget allows.

 

[Alecz]

Finished painting the room and after adding the front speakers, receiver, sub and surround speakers I find the room a little cramped. Now I see why the in-walls were suggested.

For this reason, I'm a bit hesitant to add "on ceiling" front atmos as they would be in the middle of the room.
I found these TSS6A angled ceiling speakers and they seem good and affordable, but are 8 Ohm and much higher sensitivity (95 dB vs 83 dB for the Yamaha's) which might cancel each other out.

A friend also offered to borrow/sell a pair of KEF Q55.2 Floor standing speakers with a KEF Model 90 Reference Center (6 Ohm). Just testing the 3 KEFs with the two Yamaha surrounds vs the 5 Yamaha speakers, I did not notice a significant difference.

So I wonder if the TSS6A would be a good buy.

 

[sigpig]

Did you re-run the speaker setup and room correction software after plugging in the Kefs? They should be a pretty big upgrade over the Yamahas.
If you get those in-ceilings, let us know how they work.

 

[Alecz]

Hmm, I didn't think that would make much of a difference. I will try that and report back. Do you have any suggestion for testing the sound? Maybe a trailer or something?

Regarding the ceiling speakers, I just realized the POLK's you suggested have "aimable" tweeters. Are these sufficient, or would an angled speaker be preferred? The angled Theater Solutions are twice the price of the Polks on sale, and it might be more difficult to timbre match everything in the future with them (Polk says all their speakers are timbre matched). Is Polk a good (budget) brand to focus on?

 

[Alecz]

Did some reseach on the ceiling atmos options and I have arrived at the following shortlist from cheapest (~ $50/pair) to most expensive (~ $200/pair):

1. Omage IWRD6.5A 20* angled baffle speaker (2nd hand never used) - can't find much about it
2. Boston Acoustics DSi455 - same price, used, can't find much about it
3. Pyle PDIC61RD - slightly more expensive but still cheap and with good reviews (would probably choose Polk/Monoprice though)
4. Monoprice Caliber 6.5in - twice the price of first two options, good reviews
5. Polk Audio MC Series 6.5in - twice the price of first two options when on sale, good reviews
6. Theater Solutions TSS6A 15* angled baffle - twice the price of the Polks on sale, biggest cutout at 8.6", good reviews, best power handling, low frequency response, sensitivity

All speakers are 6.5in, 8 ohm. Most have a response frequency of 50Hz - 20 kHz, except the TSS6A which go down to 28Hz (lower than my cheap sub?)

The first option seems the most attractive being lowest risk and greatest angle while using a smaller cutout of 8 3/16", so I could swap them for the Theater Solutions, but not for other 6.5 non-angled speakers.

Any thoughts on the Omage IWRD6.5A?

 

[sigpig]

I have heard Omage speakers, and the less said about them the better.
Pyle equipment is almost never recommended on here - their quality is garbage.
Until now, I have never heard of "Theatre Solutions" speakers.
I would ignore the bass response specs, ALL those companies are lying through their teeth. Also, ignore power handling specs, except for the "program" level.
When I suggested the Monoprice ones, they are pretty much the lowest-quality speakers I would ever suggest. Angled baffles are the best option for in-ceiling speakers, and pivoting tweeters are second, with down-firing third, behind speakers mounted FROM the ceiling.
You are simply not going to get any quality sound out of $50/pr in-ceiling speakers. They probably have less than a single DOLLAR'S worth of components.

 

[Alecz]

Thanks @sigpig for the reply. I was also skeptical of the Omage and Pyle, but those prices are for used speakers, brand-new they resell for about $100-130 / pair. The only thing the Omage had for them was the angled baffle.

So you mean to tell me the 95dB sensitivity and is 28hz-21 kHz frequency response is irrelevant when comparing speakers from different manufacturers?

I also found this review: The 20 Best Ceiling Speakers of 2020 – Bass Head Speakers, but I am nosure if its genuine, or just copy-pasting manufacturer's stories. They do mention some good speakers and also include the Polk's and the "Theatre Solutions" speakers.

Lastly, I don't think you suggested the Monoprice but I take your statement to mean that they are equivalent to the Polks.
I'll need to check my cleareances to see if I can even get the "Theatre Solutions" speakers, otherwise, I'll settle for the Polks or Monoprice.

 

[sigpig]

I'm saying that the speaker sensitivity specs are ludicrous. There is no way possible for a 6.5" open-baffle speaker can have 95dB/W/m - especially at that price. The laws of physics and economics both argue against it.
There is no mention of how these companies measure their speakers to determine their specs.
These are the two in-ceiling speakers that I recommend the most often, with setups costing 10x the price of your current setup. They are:
1. The RSL C34E: C34E Edgeless In-Ceiling Speaker - RSL Speakers
2. The Monoprice Alpha 8" with angled baffle: Monoprice Alpha In-Ceiling Speakers 8in Carbon Fiber 2-Way with 15° Angled Drivers (pair) - Monoprice.com
I recently found out that RSL now delivers to Canada, but you would have to contact them for quotes. I have found Monoprice products on Amazon Canada. The only 6.5" angled speaker that I would recommend with an angled baffle is by Paradigm, and they are $379+ each, although I would expect them to sound significantly better.