For most people, if you want decent ceiling speakers, we think you should just buy the Polk RC80i’s. Our product tester Erika found the RC80i had exceptional sound comparable to speakers double their price. They produce a warm sound that fills an entire room, and are adjustable on a 15-degree swiveling mount, so it’s easy to make the sound hit exactly where you want. Their white coloring helps them blend in and makes them hardly noticeable on a white ceiling, but you can paint the grilles to match your ceiling if it’s a different color (although the grilles are not magnetic). They also come as a pair. Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Push-down spring clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable | Waterproof: Humidity resistant It sounds good overall, with a powerful sound profile in spite of its small diameter. Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Spring-loaded cylinders | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable and magnetic | Waterproof: No The bass that’s delivered from the Pyle isn’t bad, but it does tend to distort slightly when you crank the volume up to full blast, so it’s best to go with a separate, affordable subwoofer if you want full bass. Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Push-down spring clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable | Waterproof: No The audio is both crisp and accurate, with the highlights being the mids and lows. There’s also a surprising amount of bass, which is unexpected for in-ceiling speakers. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to buy at least two of them for stereo sound, as they don’t sound good paired with other non-Klipsch speakers. Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Spring-loaded clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable and magnetic | Waterproof: No As with most ceiling speakers, you’ll want to add a separate subwoofer if you want booming bass. The paintable frame and grille offer both easy installation and the flexibility to change up the look to match your home’s paint coloring. Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Push-down spring clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable | Waterproof: No The easy installation pairs with an ultra-slim bezel that makes this Bose model drop right into the ceiling (via a precut hole) and is secured in its position with dogleg clamps. They have a detachable speaker grille that can be removed and painted to better fit your room’s decor. As with the Bose 591, we appreciate the Bose 791’s design and build quality. Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Spring-loaded cylinders | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable and magnetic | Waterproof: No
Installation
This isn’t as big of an issue if you’re paying for professional installation, but if you’re putting these ceiling speakers in yourself, you want to choose a model that has simple instructions and provides for easy mounting, with dogleg clamps and a template for cutting a hole. The last thing you want to do is accidentally cut too large of a hole for your speakers, so make sure to pay attention to how easy (or difficult) installation is on the speakers you’re interested in.
Sound Quality
When you’re choosing ceiling speakers, you’re probably going to have to balance price and sound quality. The question is, how much are you willing to pay for a great sound? You can choose stereo sound and go with just a pair of speakers, or go with a full surround sound setup with five speakers and a woofer. Also, pay attention to metrics such as frequency response, which indicates the range of tones the speaker can produce.
About Our Trusted Experts
Erika Rawes has been writing professionally for more than a decade, and she’s spent the last five years writing about consumer technology. Erika has reviewed roughly 150 gadgets, including computers, peripherals, A/V equipment, mobile devices, and smart home gadgets. Erika currently writes for Digital Trends and Lifewire.
