Speakers for kitchen? Recommendations?

DanAckerman

We recently did a face lift on our kitchen and now I really want to put some decent sound in there. My kitchen has an 8 1/2 high ceiling and is approx 10 x 17. The house is an old house, so the walls and ceiling are plaster and lathe, which has made me somewhat reluctant to choose in wall or in ceiling speakers.

I'm only running 5.1 on my Denon 3310, so I was planning on running the new speakers as a Zone 2.

Budget is on the cheap side right now. Most of my spare cash just went into updated appliances. So I'm looking at the 100 - 200 range.

Recommendations?

Cayuga

With your budget, vintage is the way to go. For $100-$200 you can find some nice used speakers, check your local CL. Where do you live?

Windswell

I had the same situation as you and tried some old but OK Cambridge Soundworks bookshelves put on open cabinet shelves or pointing down from above the cabinets. It sounded OK but changed a lot as I moved around the kitchen away from the sweet spot.

So I decided to try two omnidirectional speakers, maybe RM8's from here, but I'm demoing some Mirage OMD5's on Friday. Omni's will allow more placement options and more even sound, I hope. I didn't like how box speakers looked on a cabinet shelf or peering down from above the cabinets.

DanAckerman

I live in central Ohio. I've been looking there from time to time, but really pretty rare that anything comes across.

Mainly I'm curious if the Atrium series are worth the money. My wife and I do a lot of cooking and I'd rather not have to replace the speakers in 6 months.

DanAckerman

Windswell wrote: »

I had the same situation as you and tried some old but OK Cambridge Soundworks bookshelves put on open cabinet shelves or pointing down from above the cabinets. It sounded OK but changed a lot as I moved around the kitchen away from the sweet spot.

So I decided to try two omnidirectional speakers, maybe RM8's from here, but I'm demoing some Mirage OMD5's on Friday. Omni's will allow more placement options and more even sound, I hope. I didn't like how box speakers looked on a cabinet shelf or peering down from above the cabinets.

I'm hoping to avoid that as well. The in the ceiling speakers were tempting other than trying to figure out how I was going to run the wires. New Egg has a good price on some in the wall speakers, but there isn't enough room in the wall where I would mount them. So they were out.

drselect

Did something similiar about a year ago. Set up a second zone in the kitchen using the RT25I in maple and used the AM-40 bracket to mount them.
I got the RTI25 for under $150 and the bracket goes for $60 now but I thought I got it for less http://www.amazon.com/Pinpoint-Clamping-Bookshelf-Speaker-Mounts/dp/B002UV03MW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1301018711&sr=8-8.
They sound good in the space and most importantly the WAF was positive.
I also looked at the RTi4 which is little larger which was not really a problem but at the time I could only find them in black giving them a lower WAF. I think you can now find new RTi4 for around $150.

[Deleted User]

DanAckerman wrote: »

My wife and I do a lot of cooking and I'd rather not have to replace the speakers in 6 months.

Are you referring here to steam, grease, etc ?
I am planning a kitchen overhaul myself and was wondering the same thing. I plan on installing a really good range hood but had some reservations about it. :cool:

George Grand

Rat Shack Minimus 7's.

treitz3

Unless you fry up a whole pig everyday or intentionally throw food at the speaker, it will be just fine. Now, if for some reason you can take your finger and wipe grease off the ceiling then that's disgusting and you have more to worry about besides replacing the speakers in 6 months.

tonyb

Maybe that was a reference to his wifes cooking, I dunno. Unless you plan on a speaker directly over the stove, I wouldn't worry about it.

DanAckerman

Thanks for the input. My concern about the grease etc., is because one of the main projects once the weather turns warm is opening up the wall to install a decent vent.