In Ceiling speakers for a high-rise apartment

I agree there are some incredibly good manufacturers of "in wall" speakers and if it were me I would go in that direction of even more traditional speaker lay outs.

There are many good choices depending on budget and level of sound quality, there are models which direct the sound down to the listener and these particularly tend to sound quite good.

Please feel free to contact me for more info.

Ddelisle,

Assuming you want aesthetics and sound quality and you cannot go with free standing, then in-wall and in-ceiling are your next best choice. In terms of "issues" I would avoid intersections between the walls and ceiling as much as possible. If that is impossible, then some brands (like Revel) have boundary compensation switches in their speakers. You also want to think about where you want the audio to go. Most ceiling speakers point straight down. Others offer a 15 degree angle so that you can direct the tweeter. Some of these directional speakers specifically state that they can be used as the front two channels of an audiophile system or three together to form the front three of a home theater.

Thus, that goes to the next point besides boundaries, etc. and that is how deep the speakers go. You want to carefully look at the crossover point of the speakers and figure out what (if anything) you will do with a sub. If you will do a sub, will it be free-standing or in-wall? Some speakers will go down into the 40hz range. So, I would tend to be more particular about adding some extra insulation. When I did my second, smaller theater/tv area with all in-walls and in-ceiling we used heavier (3/4") sheetrock and soundboard. That has created an incredible dampened wall. My ceiling is an open cavity with insulation and is less of an issue. If you do decide to go with an in-wall or in-ceiling sub, you need to be very careful about the sheetrock used in the wall for vibrations. Some companies (like Paradigm and others) offer in-wall subs that don't vibrate.

However, and this goes to the next point, if you ever think that there is even the most remote chance of the ceiling getting water, then tie the ceiling speakers with a small piece of wire to a nearby joint or hook that you install. Thus, even if the ceiling gets wet, you don't want the speaker falling down and potentially onto someone. I personally did this with all my ceiling speakers as a precaution.

Additionally, if you are concerned about the insulation in the cavity, you can likewise purchase in-ceiling and even in-wall speakers that have their own enclosures so that you don't need to worry about the acoustics of the cavity.

And finally, with ceiling speakers, because you cannot fool around with placement, you may want to have a receiver with room correction and multi-zones. If you are only using the speakers for background, then I wouldn't fool around with any room correction.

Those are some of the "big" issues that you should think about.

For ceiling speakers, I suggest the Revel C760L as being the ideal with both boundary compensation, an angled tweeter design so that you can use with home theater and two-channel, and also a closed back for accurate voicing. You can see it here: http://revelspeakers.com/Products/Details/69. This is a great speaker and I have personal experience with the model this one replaced. The Revels have magnetic grilles and square or round covers.

This particular model only goes down to 80hz and ideally you want to mate it with a subwoofer.

I also recommend Atlantic Technology speakers. They too offer closed back design. I personally prefer the Revels to the Atlantic Technology products if it is a more audio-critical installation. I find the Revels to have a much cleaner midrange. If you are looking for other "audiophile" architectural speakers, there are certainly many to choose from as the previous posts have indicated. Paradigm and B&W likewise offer architectural speakers. Paradigm especially has put some heavy emphasis with architectural subs.

Thank you for your responses. Here is more information:

This basically going to be new system, nothing has been purchased.

Sound quality is important to me.
I do not often watch TV or movies; I am listening to music via my ipod. When I do watch TV or movies I do appreciate a good sound. All this will be in one room. I also have a patio that I would like to have outdoor speakers set up through same system. Again, good sound quality is important. The floor is marble and behind the front speakers is all glass. Not a great room acoustically.

I was looking at ceiling speakers for aesthetics only. Front speakers
I could go with, floor or shelf speakers. The back speakers (if necessary) must be wall mounted speakers.

I hope this helps; thanks again for all your comments!

Your setup, then, is almost identical to mine. I have free-standing Revel fronts and all in ceiling for surrounds and rears. From personal experience I can tell you that this setup is spectacular in my house. Revel has done an amazing job with matching the in-ceiling and free standing speakers. So my recommendation would be to look at the Revel Performa line for fronts and then they have a variety of in-ceiling options. So that is your speaker setup.

You've repeatedly said several red flags: marble, glass, etc. that's going to have a significant acoustical impact. No other way around it. So I also suggest you seriously look at some room correction. It will help but without you doing some basic carpeting and drapery it won't do miracles. Not sure of your budget but there are lots of options. The Marantz Pre-pro with an additional power amp is a great value choice for things under 3k as is the Integra 80.3. Going up the quality level is the anthem AVM50v. All have room correction.

Finally, not sure how you are listening to your iPod but hopefully you have a quality DAC to give you all the best out of the music you have.

Hope that helps. I can tell you from experience that it will work out great. And finally don't skimp on the side speakers if at all possible. Making the ideal match with fronts to surrounds is important. You could go down a model or two or three for the rears with little impact. Just try to keep all the speakers from the same family and line. In my setup I have all the Performa line except the rears which are concerta. Because of the physics of psychoacoustics there is no timbre or other issues with this setup.

If you are looking for in ceiling speakers at a steal, HiFi Buys in Nashville has some models of the Revel in ceiling speakers left that they close out with the launch of the new line. It's a steal of they have any left. Highly recommended and great, knowledgeable staff.