Recommend speakers for a restaurant sound system

I'd go with mirage omnis, which can be used as wall or ceiling mounts--they are very detailed despite dispersing over a very wide area and sound quite full range for a small, non-descript enclosure. to power them you could get a multizone receiver such as a niles--i'm guessing you'll need 12 or so speakers--or you can save some bucks and get a 6-speaker selector (niles and sima both make models with seperate volume controls, so you can adjust the volume in different zones of the restaurant) and power it with a big honkin amp like a carver (300w +)--these are available very inexpensively here or on ebay. if you're a real purist, you can add two or so powered subs (experiment with placement), but i'd run the set-up with just the speakers first and see how it sounds.

I love JBL but couldn't imagine a speaker less suited to relaxed dinner conversation than the shriek of an Aeon. I really do like JBL. If you contract with them they will put in a beautiful theater type rig. Klipsh is also too distracting. Get something with some warmth but not blurr. Avoid pro with a few costly exceptions.

Agreed about the JBL Aeon series - blech. I've heard several rooms with architectural speaker products from both Genelec (the AIC25 and AIW 25/26 - both are active and bypass amplification requirements) and EAW whose SMS surface mount speakers are quite nice. Both are highly regarded professional monitoring/loudspeaker companies and make fine products for commercial applications. Try to avoid home or "prosumer" products in a commercial environment - buy products designed for the job they are supposed to do.

-Richard

There's a local business that combines -odd as it seems- a high end audio dealership with a Yoga studio. He sells Vandys and has model 1s (if I recall correctly) suspended from the ceiling of his Yoga studio. It's always sounded nice (and suitably relaxing for Yoga - or dinner) when I've passed thru.

Marty

speakers are not nearly as important as the amp. Speakers need to be evenly spaced throughout. You need something like a Sonance 12 channel amp so there is a separate amp for each pair of speakers...this makes a huge difference!
I've done several installations like this with inwalls and the sound has been great.