RC80i in-ceiling speakers

bbriedis
bbriedis Posts: 9
edited March 2002 in Technical/Setup
Has anyone used the RC80i in-ceiling speakers as the rear surround in a 5.1 system? If so what are the results? Do they work well?

We are prewired for rear ceiling speakers, so my wife wants to go this route instead of big box speakers hanging from the wall. I am a little concerned cause the ceiling is 12' high.

I don't have a receiver yet, but I do have the RT55i for front, CS400i for center, and the PSW450 for sub. The viewing room is about 15' deep and 25' wide including adjoining kitchen.

Thanks.

Bob
Post edited by bbriedis on
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Comments

  • dbournival
    dbournival Posts: 131
    edited March 2002
    I have not used Polk in ceiling speakers in a H/T setup but have seen (heard) them used in a couple of instances. I was very unimpressed. They did not seem to work well at all. The are really made for atmosphere music (which they do well with) not H/t.

    Is you kitchen and viewing room a "great room" type setup?
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  • bbriedis
    bbriedis Posts: 9
    edited March 2002
    yes, my viewing room is a large family room with adjoing kitchen and nook. The viewing area is about 15' deep with couch against the back wall and a large sliding door on one side. The other side is open to the kitchen and runs about 25' including family area and kitchen/nook. We are already wired for in-ceiling speakers. Since the floor is tile with a large area rug, it would be difficult to wire to the rear if I wanted to go with speakers that were not in-ceiling. I have heard some systems with in-ceiling speakers (not POLK) that sounded good, but the ceiling was not 12' high like mind. If Polks won't work well, are there other in-ceiling speakers that may work better? Is it important that the rear speakers are timbre matched to the fronts? Also as an alternative, I could hang some satellite speakers from the spot where the wiring is. I am not sure if Polk has speakers that can hang from the ceiling.

    Bob
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited March 2002
    Originally posted by bbriedis
    I am not sure if Polk has speakers that can hang from the ceiling.

    Bob

    i have rt25i's as surrounds, and they are ceiling mounted w/ omnimount brackets. works very nicely. (of cousre my space is only 7' high) there is a pic. of this in the system showcase...
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  • dbournival
    dbournival Posts: 131
    edited March 2002
    You have a similar set up to mine, so I understand the problems with the room. I have not heard any in ceiling speakers that have sounded well in this setup, but I may have different tastes. If you have heard in ceiling speakers that have sounded good to you then by all means go with the Rc80i's. The height of the ceiling may work in your favor as it will allow the sound to difuse to a greater degree. It is also important that the wife agrees to what you do and I would suspect (if she is like 98% of the wives) that she would prefer in-ceiling...
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  • gene stangel
    gene stangel Posts: 35
    edited March 2002
    I have four ab800 (circa 1995) polk inwall speakers that I am using for 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound and sound is fantastic. I listened to just the four of them without any mains or center and I was blow away. We have cathedral ceilings with a 17 foot high center peak and one pair is directly on the side of the listening area and the other pair slightly behind. Sounds really great for dvd audio also. Use the channel volume control on the receiver to balance for your listening area. Most receivers have an all-channel stereo for house blasting and they really work well. In-wall's do cancel out some bass due to drywall vibration but I just set them to "small' and no problem. Was a great solution for me and that "wifely" problem you seem to have also.
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