Your home, your musical nest! What to do to make your ceilings sound good...

Summer means holidays, but for some people it's also the right time to get ready for the indoor season. So if you're doing some renovations, why not take the opportunity to run some wires and insert some speakers everywhere, just to brighten up the house! You'll see, it's not complicated and with good advice, it won't be as expensive as you think...

Interestingly, these days even in-wall speakers can be controlled via an app on your mobile devices. So your choice of music will follow you wherever you are in the house, what a joy!

Let's start!

So you want ceiling speakers in your home, but you don't know where to start. Unlike many other speaker products, ceiling speakers are designed to be a long-lasting audio solution and, as such, it's important to consider not only the level of audio quality you want, but also how you want to control your system. It's also worth understanding that unlike conventional speakers, ceiling speakers will remain in place when the house is sold and will increase its value, so you might as well install a proper system.

Paradigm Pro Series and Samsung THE FRAME speakers.

Quick questions and answers.

Q: How many speakers per room do I need?

A: Ceiling speakers are sold individually, but I recommend a pair arrangement. You will need to consider a single pair for a room less than 25 square metres (16 feet by 16 feet) beyond that you will need 2 or more.

Q: I have a small room to be soundproofed, what can I do, can we soundproof a bathroom for example?

A: Yes, in this case there are stereo speakers, one unit will give a satisfactory result.

Q: How are our speakers arranged?

A: You should ensure a clearance of 6 feet from the walls to avoid reverberation, but also ensure that your stereo pair is at least 6 feet apart. The farther apart, the better the spatial effect. You should also place them so that they are on either side of the listener and not front to back, consider the layout of the furniture.

Q: I'm an audiophile and want to get something close to the performance of my stereo system, but the sound from the ceiling speakers sounds like a mall to me? What should I do?

A: In this day and age, the major manufacturers offer a full range of speakers including units using the same diaphragms as their best speakers, so there is no need to worry, there is something for every taste and requirement. Don't confuse commercial and residential, they are two totally different areas!

Q: I already have good equipment, can I use it to run my ceiling speakers?

A: It all depends on the equipment you have, some amplifiers have 2 or 3 zones, which allows you to manage the distribution of music sources in different places. Ask for advice by having the technical data sheet of your amp in hand.

SPEAKER SELECTION

Here is a range classified by category and price: 1) Good performance, 2) High performance ultrasonic, 3) Audiophile.

None of the products suggested are of poor quality and they have proven themselves to our customers.

1) GOOD PERFORMANCE

• Paradigm Home H55-R / 229 $ (unitary)

Our model with a sound suitable for small rooms. 5.5 inch. Two-way with mounting kit

• Yamaha NSIC400W / 229 $ (pair)

Very compact model for very small rooms. Small 4-inch, two-way speakers with mounting kit. Economical.

• Paradigm Home H80-R / 299 $ (unitary)

For a richer sound, this 8" will satisfy you in bass especially, this two-way model is very popular! Polypropylene cone and mineral component. Easy to install!

• Paradigm Home H65-SM / 299 $ (unitary)

Stereo model for bathrooms and small spaces. One unit will do. 6.5 inch with two tweeters. Polypropylene cone and mineral component.

2 ) ABORDABLE PERFORMING ULTRAS

• Paradigm Pro P80-R / 449 $ (unitary)

For those familiar with the brand, this speaker incorporates the technologies that have made the product popular with lovers of great sound. The Tweeter is a 1" X-PAL aluminium tweeter using the RED system to counteract attenuating diffraction and a PPA diffuser that ensures the directionality of high frequency sounds towards the listening area. The 8" woofer is ART or, if desired, is reinforced to allow for greater bass travel. There is a suspension to prevent ceiling vibrations. This is a very good value!

• Focal 100ICW8 / 459$ (unitary)
  

A speaker with performance comparable to others in this category, but with a few special features. The tweeter is adjustable and rotates 360° to direct the high frequencies towards you. The three-position tweeter level control cuts or boosts the high-frequency output to perfectly match your room acoustics. The 8" woofer is made of Polyglass, the material used in the brand's new Chora models. Two grilles are included, one round and one square.

• Paradigm Pro P80-SM / 549 $ (unitary)

Stereo model for bathrooms and small spaces. One unit will do. With its 8-inch driver and two tweeters it will give you a more crisp sound than the higher H65SM model.

• Paradigm Pro P80-RX / 649 $ (unitary Represented as a pair)

This model is for MARINEuse! You get the same performance as the regular Pro P80, but with specific features for use in salty and/or wet environments.

3) CEILING LIGHTS FOR AUDIOPHILES

• Paradigm CI Elite E80-R / 649 $ (unitary)

Borrowing from the Prestige series, we find in this ceiling lamp all the attributes of the latter.

The 8" woofer is made of X-PAL aluminium as is the tweeter. This eliminates any reasoning being a very amorphous material. Vibration control and directional control are all present. The sound is clear and unobstructed. Properly set up, you'll think you're hearing a conventional speaker system in the house!

• Focal 300ICW8 / 750$ (unitary)

Here again, the faithful of the French brand will recognise the attributes of the highly prized ARIA series. A 2-way coaxial speaker, it consists of an 8" Flax bass/midrange driver and an inverted dome tweeter with an aluminium/magnesium membrane. The 21 cm diameter woofer is equipped with a Flax membrane, exactly the same as on the Aria. The diaphragm is stiff but very light and produces a neutral and extremely well defined sound. The tweeter can be adjusted and rotated to suit your room.

• Ultimate Paradigm! SIG-1.5R v3 / 1029$ (unitary)

Make no mistake, this is true high resolution and for good reason: The tweeter for the highs is made of beryllium as used in speakers worth over $10,000!

This one has a heat sink to withstand high loads. It has an anodised aluminium bass diaphragm with a ceramic/ferrite alloy magnet on a heat sink chassis. Very efficient at 92 DB Watts/meter, it can go down to 37HZ in the bass. An exceptional product!

LET'S TALK ABOUT AMPLIFICATION.

Here we will look at the possibilities. Many manufacturers now offer amplifiers with WI-FI connectivity that allow you to remotely control different areas of your home. In many cases, you will also be able to stream music from the web such as Deezer or Tidal to name a few.

• SONOS AMP. / 799 $



Sonos Amp represented with 4 Paradigm Pro.

The Sonos AMP has been specifically developed for home automation use. With 100 watts per channel, it can easily power from 1 to 3 pairs of speakers.

This is the product that currently offers the most choice of diffuser. Note that you will need an AMP for each area you wish to separate from the others.

• DENON HEOS AMP / 699 $

Denon is one of the oldest manufacturers to have put forward audio distribution products. The HEOS AMP offers the same benefits as Sonos with the following differences. It has less power at 70 watts per channel. It offers Bluetooth support as well. A USB input allows playback of files including DSD at very high resolutions.

• YAMAHA MusicCast WXA-50 / 699$

Apart from the fact that the product is difficult to supply (pandemic), there is nothing to complain about here.

Offered since 5 years, the MusicCast range is now well developed. Just like Denon, you will be able to link several devices together and as a special feature for YAMAHA, there is even a WI-FI turntable!

• DENON HEOS DRIVE / 2499 $

The ultimate is here! You will find nothing less than 4 zones amplified at 60 watts times 8 in stereo. There is even the possibility to bridge two of them to increase the power to 130 watts per channel!

With advanced acoustic hardware, play all your music and play your high resolution music files - just connect an external hard drive to the machine. With the Heos application, control the whole house at once!

In short, if you want to go beyond 2 zones, I strongly recommend this product, because if you do the math, it will be the same cost without the headache of several small units to place...

The last word.

To all those who were starting to think about a project like this, I hope I've managed to simplify the decision for you. Home audio is not that complicated. In addition to the above, you will need to run a power outlet to the location of your amplifiers. Conventional wires will be required in suspended ceilings and heavy duty wires specifically for walls if you have to run them. Our shop has what you need. Connectivity will be a breeze. Any advice? We'll have it :)

Besides, we have a great summer and I raise my glass to you! As always...

... stay tuned!

- Christian.