The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Ceiling Speakers
Ceiling speakers were first seen mainly in office buildings, restaurants, and airports. You can recognize them right away by the dense grilles pouring decibels into your ears.
These ceiling or in wall speakers are often used instead of the usual pair of speaker cabinets which are not only efficient, but also highly affordable. The reasons for this choice are-
* These speakers are space saving
* They preserve the aesthetic aspects of the room
* It is easy to hide their wires
* One can do away with the ugly holes in the wall
Previously, most people preferred to stay away from these speakers. But the tastes have changed today. Though many people still do not think much about the plenum-mount technology, this technology is fast gaining grounds! Probably that’s because life styles have changed, and people now want their environment to keep pace with their new way of life.
However, these speakers would not probably impress the ones with an ear for high-end audio. They would surely not give away their cherished deep bass for securing some extra space in their shelves!
But even though you are not an audiophile, you need to glance through these parameters:
Frequency response - this refers to the range of audible spectrum reproduced by the speakers. The hearing range of a human ear is 20 Hz to 20 MHz. Therefore the speaker that approaches this interval more, is the better one.
Power handling - it is the range of power that the speakers can receive from the amplifier without causing any damage.
Efficiency or sensitivity - it is a rating, which points out how well the speaker uses the power sent to it by the amplifier.
The main thing you need to consider while using in-wall or in-ceiling speakers is how to arrest the back wave. Its not always possible to know how much space there is behind the wall, or if it is sealed. So the best thing to do would be to use sealed speakers, regardless of where you place them in your room. This way you can prevent much of the acoustic energy from being sent into the wall at the back, and thus wont have any distorted sounds.
Putting up the Speakers:
If you have a fake ceiling, it would be easier for you to put up ceiling speakers than in-wall speakers. Installing in-wall speakers is basically an architectural problem, and probably that’s the reason why these speakers have got their name “architectural speakers”. Actually, if the rooms are small and thin walled, people naturally would not like wires running through their rooms. The easiest option is therefore projecting the audio system speakers before the walls are built. This way you will have the chance of planning your interiors as you wish. Before putting up the walls, chalk out where to place the wires. This does require some planning; talk to your electrician and find out the length of wire you require and the kind of wire to use. See the layout of your lighting system as well, and make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of your audio setup.
You can set up the speaker while the wall is on its way of being constructed. Some people use the drywall to enclose the speaker. The bottom line is to put the speakers in their proper place from the very beginning, or else you will have a lot of harassment in store for you.
Fitting a speaker into an existing wall would be more difficult and expensive. Never the less, its not an impossible task! See if the wall on which you want to mount the speaker can be drilled. Make some holes in the desired location, and build the speaker enclosures.
The problem with the ceiling speakers is primarily their location. Since we are habituated to hearing sounds from our sides, it might seem a bit queer to hear the sound waves coming down at our head and then to our ears. Some ceiling speakers are comparatively flexible and can be adjusted towards the listener. These speakers are round in shape to go with the bulbs and lamps that are there in the ceiling.
SpeakerCraft, Niles, and some other speakers come with directional woofers and tweeters which can be adjusted separately to minimize the imaging problems that can arise from the positioning of the speakers.
About the Author:
Xaviar Driggers
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