Whole Home Ceiling Speakers

[RCTP]

I am building a new home and putting speakers in every room and in the outside living area (covered). I will be using Sonos Amps with all of the speakers. I was wondering if anyone had experience with two different speakers that are in the running. First is Origin D83 director series 8” speakers. Second are the KEF Ci160MR Uni-Q 6.5” speakers.

Music will be the main use of the speakers; however, in rooms with TV’s they will serve as rear speakers with Sonos sound bars and subs.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[Arcam_boy]

Any reason you've gone with those speakers??

Whats your budget for each set of speakers??

 

[RCTP]

Yes. I’m working with two different contractors and that is what they use. I need to choose one of them. Budget doesn’t technically matter to me. I’m always wanting to save a buck, but not at the expense of quality. The KEF are less expensive, but I’m not sure of the quality difference between the speakers to make an educated decision.

 

[Arcam_boy]

If monies no object (within reason) and you want the best sound quality then I'd be looking at these...

S4-C65 - Custom audio, tailored to you

They also do an 8" version if you need to fill a large room!!

I've never heard Origin speakers so can't comment but you really can't go far wrong with those Dynaudios!

 

[AmericanAudio]

The Origins would be the better sounding speaker mainly because of their driver size, Kef are still good and i suspect would be comparable if you were running the same sizes.

You've not really got a like for like comparison there.

 

[ShanePJ]

Can I ask how large the rooms are and if some of the rooms are very large, will you be wanting deep bass in any of these room to

With you mentioning Sonos, I'm guessing the house is being kitted out with an array of Sonos Amp which you will control via the S2 Sonos amp

I'd say both speakers should work with the Sonos Amp's although I'd pay special attention to the size of the driver and ensure you get the largest one which also offers the best sensitivity. Now having said that, I'm used to Kef's and know their strengths whereas I've never heard an Origin in action (so if you get a chance of listening to either the Origin's mentioned or the Kef's I've mentioned, please follow your own experience as this is more important than anything any of us can say)

My gut would say that you should request some better Kef's as Kef have always delivered a wide sound over a narrow one meaning that they also work perfectly for musical playback even if they cannot be located in the perfect places (oddly this kind of means they are less focused however this is not the case, its just the way they sound allowing for a wider dispersion of audio sound in the room meaning you can listen to a good realist performance, even if you cannot sit in the ideal position)

My suggestion would be to request Ci200QR (or equivariant if you are not in the UK - think you might be in the US based on the Kef Models mentioned) as these should work well with the Sonos Amp's and also enable more than just background sound like some speakers do when fixing them in the ceiling