Need advice with placement of in-ceiling speakers (music only)

[jdonelan]

Hi everyone - I'm a noob here and I'd love any helpful advice you can offer.

We're remodeling our house and I'm considering putting in-ceiling speakers for streaming music only. The room is L-shaped which makes it kind of difficult. I'm thinking of using 4x Klipsch CDT-5800-C speakers with either a Sonos Amp or BlueSound Powernode. Trying to optimize speaker positions for music listening in the sitting area, dining area and kitchen area.

I've sketched up what I'm thinking in the attached picture (green area is the room layout). Room is approx 42 sq metres (420 sq feet). Each square on the picture represents 250mm, so the three speakers in the main area (marked in darker green with X) are 1m from the walls and approx 3.25m between each other. think I'm limited to 4 speakers if I go with the Sonos Amp.

Does this layout make sense or are there better things I should consider?
Should I just consider one or two Sonos 5's in the top two corners of the room?

Thanks!

 

[muljao]

That's almost identical to my brothers house setup and they have 4 speakers in the ceiling, but he ended up buying a stereo, just saying, ceiling speakers might be tidier but not sure they can ever be great

 

[jdonelan]

That's almost identical to my brothers house setup and they have 4 speakers in the ceiling, but he ended up buying a stereo, just saying, ceiling speakers might be tidier but not sure they can ever be great

Could you elaborate more what you mean by "he ended up buying a stereo". Do you mean he bought a single stereo speaker or that he put in 2 speakers running in stereo mode together?

 

[muljao]

I mean he had 4 ceiling speakers put in but wasn't happy with them for listening so bought a stereo. I'm not sure the type he put in and he's not really into hifi that much, but he never goes on the cheap,cso I'd guess his ceiling speakers wouldn't have been cheap either

 

[Mark.Yudkin]

For stereo imaging, you basically need a pair of speakers at the corners of an isosceles triangle, with your setting position at the apex. Assuming you will be seated along the sofa's log axis, you would not only be rather closer to the left speaker than the right, but you will have two left speakers and one left rear to contend with.

I'd hazard a guess that for the kitchen and dining area you'd want sound more as background, with the sofa being the only location used for music listening, That is, you really need a 3 zone setup rather than trying to drive 4 speakers from one streaming amplifier.

If so, a stereo ceiling speaker in the kitchen and another above the table will likely meet the former requirement better than using mono speakers. For the living area, a pair of (mono) speakers (ceiling or freestanding) should work fine. To be able to switch and control (volume) each speaker zone separately you need three Sonos / BlueSound amplifiers, or a multizone amplifier.

 

[acgingersnaps]

Assuming your tv is roughly where the 6 is, i'd have decent speakers either side of it. If you get the right speakers they'll be fine for casual listening in the kitchen and dining area, and spot on for when you're main thing is playing music or watching stuff on tv.
A mate has very expensive ceiling speakers. They're fine, but that's it. All music becomes background, rather than something that you're immersed in.