In-ceiling speakers – maximising your home audio experience

What are in-ceiling speakers?

In-ceiling speakers, often referred to as a type of custom install speaker, are designed to utilise the space above your ceiling, allowing them to remain out of sight while effortlessly filling your room with sound from above. The only visible components are the speaker grilles, which you can often paint to match your ceiling finish, helping them blend seamlessly into the room.

These speakers come in various forms: traditional wired models connected to amplifiers located elsewhere in the home or active Bluetooth/Wi-Fi versions powered by mains wiring in the ceiling. Some are even weatherproof, bringing discreet Hi-Fi sounds to bathrooms, outdoor terraces and other humid environments.

As mentioned earlier, in-ceiling speaker setups have two main applications:

• Background music, when you want to listen to music while you engage in other activities, like preparing food in the dining room. Configurations include multiple mono setups for background audio or stereo pairs, which are especially useful for larger rooms requiring more coverage.

• Home theatre setups, where you want to experience the thrill of multichannel surround sound but you don’t have the space to accommodate cabinet speakers or you want a discreet installation that doesn’t impact the aesthetics of your room.

The technology behind in-ceiling speakers

Speaker drivers

While a single full-range driver will be enough for passive listening, most high-end in-ceiling speakers feature a woofer for the midband and bass, and a separate tweeter for the higher frequencies. Some models even have a separate midrange driver, too, for more detailed voices and instrumental tones. Whichever design you opt for, the entire in-ceiling speaker is packaged into a slimline design built to take up minimal space in the cavity above your ceiling.

Installing in-ceiling speakers

As the name implies, in-ceiling speakers are installed directly into the ceiling using the cavity above the rear of the speaker.

First, you’ll need run the speaker wiring for your speakers (or mains if you’re going wireless), which may require lifting floorboards above. To mount the speaker, you cut a hole in the ceiling using a template usually included with the speaker and secure it into place using dogleg clamps or other mounting system integrated into the speaker.

Before mounting the speaker, it’s generally recommended to install a backbox into the wall cavity, into which the in-ceiling speaker will be installed. A backbox is a thick-walled box filled with sound-insulating material and is beneficial in several ways, including:

• Consistent sound quality, including improved bass

• Less sound bleed into adjoining rooms (and your neighbour’s property)

• Protects the speaker from dust and insects

The only time you won’t need to install a backbox is when an in-ceiling speaker is designed for open-air installation or already includes a rear enclosure, such as a back-can. Your local retailer or installer will be able to advise you on the best solution for your needs.

Unless you’re adept at drilling holes in the ceiling and running concealed wire, an in-ceiling speaker installation should best be considered a task for a specialist installer. They will know all the tricks for a clean installation and will be able to advise you on choosing the best speakers for your setup.

For more information, you can read this guide to custom speaker installations.

How to maximise your home audio experience with in-ceiling speakers

In modest-sized rooms, two to four speakers in left and right pairs should be adequate. Check out our upcoming guide to parallel speaker wiring for more information on how to connect in-ceiling speakers in this configuration.

In larger rooms, more speaker pairs will help fill the whole space with sound. Running each channel via a parallel setup will result in a more coherent, enveloping sound that’s perfect for background listening.

When positioning speakers with separate high-frequency tweeters, you’ll achieve the best stereo image if the speakers are oriented towards the listening position. Some in-ceiling designs, such as the DALI PHANTOM range, include compass markings to ensure accurate alignment and even angled woofers and directional tweeters for finer control.

How to set up a surround sound system

As mentioned earlier, in-ceiling speakers aren’t just for background listening. With these discreet speakers, you can create a fully-fledged multichannel surround sound setup in any room. The approach is the same as a regular cabinet speaker setup, with three speakers across the front of the room for left, centre and right channels, plus extra side and rear speakers for more complex setups being replaced by in-ceiling speakers. If you opt for cabinet loudspeakers for the front channels, in-ceiling speakers are still a great option for the surround channels and an excellent way to give a diffuse surround effect.

With careful placement, you can even recreate an impressive Dolby Atmos setup using only in-ceiling speakers (assuming your amplifier supports Atmos). However, a combination of in-ceiling and in-wall speakers is a better solution if you want to avoid cabinet speakers entirely. For more information about home cinema setup, check out this guide to setting up a surround system.

Room acoustics

Even though in-ceiling speakers aren’t as dependent on room acoustics as traditional loudspeakers, it’s still a smart move to think about simple ways to enhance the sound environment in your room. There are some simple things you can do to improve things, like adding soft furnishings, rugs or curtains, which can help absorb excessive echo and smooth out reflections, especially in rooms will lots of hard surfaces on bare walls. And if your ceiling is particularly high or your room is very large, you could consider acoustic panels or strategically placed bookshelves to control audio reflections.

If, after installing in-ceiling speakers, you’re missing some “oomph”, adding one or two active subwoofers – choose models small enough to be hidden away in the room – will fill out the bass and give a richer sound than an in-ceiling-only setup. To find out more, check out this guide to improving room acoustics.

Choosing the right amplifier for in-ceiling speakers

Most conventional Hi-Fi or home cinema amplifiers are more than capable of driving modest in-ceiling setups, although it’s worth bearing in mind that you’re likely to be using long cable runs, which can place added strain on your amp, especially if you use the wrong type of cable. For more information, look out for our upcoming essential guide to speaker wiring.

For more complex setups, including multiroom configurations, you can find dedicated amplifiers designed for this kind of work, some connecting using Wi-Fi or Ethernet in a series of zones. The amplifiers can be hidden away, and the whole setup accessed using an app running on a smartphone or tablet. This allows you to play the same music throughout the home or access different content in different zones.

Explore high-quality speaker solutions with DALI

DALI offers a wide range of in-ceiling speakers featuring many of the same technologies and sound design principles as our traditional cabinet speakers – speakers like the low-profile DALI PHANTOM K-60 LP, which can be installed in almost any ceiling space or the high-performance PHANTOM M-80 A with its adjustable directivity for exceptional off-axis performance. DALI in-ceiling speakers also adhere to our wide dispersion sound design principle, which ensures a coherent, balanced distribution of sound around the room for greater listening pleasure.