This article is part of our Home Theater Design Series that covers virtually everything about designing a home theater.
The selection of home theater speakers on the market is certainly very wide with all kinds of sizes, shapes, and pricing. One category we get a lot of questions on is all about speakers that mount in your walls and/or ceiling. These go by in-wall speakers, in-ceiling speakers, built-in speakers, or are sometimes just called architectural speakers.
In-ceiling and in-wall home theater speakers were originally designed to be used for discrete music speakers throughout a home. In those days, there were not many different varieties, but today, with the growing popularity of home theater, there are now numerous options on the market.
These types of speakers are used quite often in home theaters for good reason. You may have enough room for your favorite speakers on the front wall with your TV or projection screen, but when you think about placing all of the speakers needed for a fully immersive home theater, most of us simply do not have space for all of the other channels.
Most brands of speakers who make good speakers you place in your room, also offer a good selection of in-ceiling and in-wall speakers that acoustically pair well with their in-room speakers. Many people use these built-in speakers for their surround and Dolby Atmos height speakers.
This article will give you some insight into different types of built-in speakers and the best use case for each one. While some of these are great for music listening, we are going to focus on how to pick the best in-wall & in-ceiling speakers for your home theater system.
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Speakers That Mount In the Ceiling
You might think all ceiling speakers are the same. Heck, they all pretty much look the same once they’re installed. However, if you pull the speaker grill off and look behind the curtain, you’ll discover some big differences that are important to know when choosing in-ceiling speakers for your home theater.
General Use In-Ceiling Speakers
These are typically round, although some may have a square grill option. General use in-ceiling speakers will have a single woofer that faces straight down and a tweeter centered in the speaker that also points straight down.
This type of speaker may have a woofer that is anywhere from 4” to 10” in diameter, with the majority of them having a 6”-8” woofer and a dome tweeter. These standard in-ceiling speakers are typically used for traditional music listening in a room or throughout numerous rooms in a home.