Ceiling speakers for kitchen/diner

[clockworks]

Work on refitting my kitchen/diner starts soon.part of the work involves removing a wall and replacing the ceiling. It is an L-shaped room 5.5m x 4m.
I currently use a Denon M39 microsystem with the Denon speakers sitting on top of the wall units, but there will be no wall units in the new dining area. Wall brackets will look ugly, so I'm considering ceiling speakers.
Main use is for TV, but some music also.

The Monitor audio range seems to be recommended frequently, so I was looking at the CT165. Something I noticed while searching was that the CT165 T2 can be used as a single speaker, and this might be a better idea - more consistent sound at different listening positions (seated in dining area or standing in kitchen).

Would a single CT165 T2, sited in the corner above the TV, be OK, or should I go for a pair of CT165?

[Driller]

I have both of those at home and at work and they're both really good.

If it's really background music you're after then just go for the single stereo but if you want a more expansive sound and you'll have a fixed position compared to the speakers then go for a stereo pair.

I have a stereo pair over the kitchen sink but a single stereo speaker would have been fine in hindsight.

Edited by Driller on Saturday 20th September 18:18

[clockworks]

Thanks. I'll go for the single speaker.

[VEX]

A pair of Ct165's would help you have a more even sound across the room but equally if you want the neatness of a single speaker then centrally positioned can work equally well.

Realistically they are both great, I use them in a lot of my installs, and only you can finally decide on the trade off between performance and aesthetics.

V.

[mcbook]

Sorry for the hi-jack... I'm a similar situation but with straightforward rectangular room, (kitchen at one end and sitting/dining at the other - approx 7.5mx4m).

I want speakers either in the ceiling or walls but want even sound at both ends of the room as we'll generally be in the kitchen or sitting at the dining table and not somewhere in the middle.

Would two single stereo speakers (one in kitchen zone, one in dining zone) be the best option here? Any advice would be appreciated. It will be for radio/background music only - there's no TV and proper hi-fi stuff is in another room.

Cheers

[Driller]

mcbook said:

Sorry for the hi-jack... I'm a similar situation but with straightforward rectangular room, (kitchen at one end and sitting/dining at the other - approx 7.5mx4m).

I want speakers either in the ceiling or walls but want even sound at both ends of the room as we'll generally be in the kitchen or sitting at the dining table and not somewhere in the middle.

Would two single stereo speakers (one in kitchen zone, one in dining zone) be the best option here? Any advice would be appreciated. It will be for radio/background music only - there's no TV and proper hi-fi stuff is in another room.

Cheers

Same as above really. I have a similar sized room (8m x 4.5m) with a reception area at one end and a sofa/home cinema at the other. I have a pair of monos across the short side on the reception end. The HC end has in ceiling tripoles either side of the sofa but you could just as easily have another pair of monos here.

Again if it's really just for background, put single stereos in. Best to use a proper hifi if ever you want to really listen to something anyway

HTH.

[fatvik]

I have four CT180s and they fill my 36m2 kitchen/diner with music just fine. They are powered as a secondary zone from my AV amp.

One thing to say is that you will get hardly any low end bass. When I demo'ed these, they were generally run along with a active sub hidden away to give the rounded sound expected.

I made a box (double thickness plaster board) to go around the speakers and unfortunately, you can still here it on the first floor (muffled but still) so keep that in mind if there is a habitable room above your kitchen diner.

Have fun.
-FV

[JimexPL]

Remember that you're still going to need some form of amplification for the speaker(s).

[mcbook]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I had considered powering the speakers from zone two of my Yamaha AV amp but that would mean running speaker cables a very long distance and much disruption going through walls etc.

My current plan is just to get a decent Mini system and conceal it in a kitchen cupboard or something. I'll mostly be streaming from Spotify so will use iPad as the controller and stream to Mini system via bluetooth or airplay.

Will mono speakers work properly if I attach them to L and R outputs on a standard Mini system?

[Driller]

fatvik said:

I have four CT180s and they fill my 36m2 kitchen/diner with music just fine. They are powered as a secondary zone from my AV amp.

-FV

You have a 36m2 kitchen?! No wonder you're fat!

ETA Actually reading that back if that's a kitchen/diner it's not that big, so you can't be that fat

Edited by Driller on Monday 22 September 19:27

[fatvik]

Driller said:

You have a 36m2 kitchen?! No wonder you're fat!

ETA Actually reading that back if that's a kitchen/diner it's not that big, so you can't be that fat

Is that a challenge?

[Driller]

fatvik said:

Driller said:

You have a 36m2 kitchen?! No wonder you're fat!

ETA Actually reading that back if that's a kitchen/diner it's not that big, so you can't be that fat

Is that a challenge?

Yeah go on then, although I'm not sure if you mean your house or your belly

[paulrockliffe]

mcbook said:

My current plan is just to get a decent Mini system and conceal it in a kitchen cupboard or something. I'll mostly be streaming from Spotify so will use iPad as the controller and stream to Mini system via bluetooth or airplay.

Logitech do a bluetooth box for about £20, that and a suitable amplifier and you can just connect your phone or tablet and play direct from there. Alternatively running XBMC on a Rasberry Pi will be about £60, which gives you a range of options, use Yatse remote control on your phone to select what you want to listen to.

I have some £20 ceiling speakers, £15 amplifiers and both RPi and Bluetooth options, it can all be done very cheaply if you want. Quality is fine for what I want, but obviously not as good as spending hundreds on speakers. Biggest issue I have is getting iPlayer Radio app to stream properly, the TV streams fine, but radio goes to st.

Eventually I'll be putting a touchscreen monitor with freeview box on the kitchen wall which will act as the sound source for my distribution amplifier, to cover the whole house, running XBMC again. Freeview box for watching live TV and RPi for everything else.

[mcbook]

Cheers, Paul. I do remember a post of yours a while back where you explained your set up. The raspberry pi stuff is a bit too much effort for me but I like the sound of the cheap bluetooth box coupled with amp.