The Dolby Atmos and DTS-X audio systems require ceiling-mounted speakers as part of their standard installations. If you’re planning on using ceiling speakers for one of those systems, you might want to get some qualified advice about exactly where to place the speakers, and what size they should be in relation to the rest of your speakers.

These small drivers take care of the higher frequencies in audio. A good quality tweeter helps carry across the details of music and audio. With ceiling speakers, tweeters are located on a stalk protruding from the centre of a subwoofer - this helps save space. They are often angled to direct audio towards listeners. Subwoofer That source then has to be amplified before it can be played through your speakers. Stand-alone amplifiers are generally reserved for high-end applications. So what you want is an “integrated receiver” which connects to your CD player, record player, and other sources. Almost everyone else can follow this rough guide: Don’t go bigger than half. That is: If the largest driver in your front speakers is 12 inches, you probably don’t want more than a 6-inch ceiling speaker. For systems that use multiple small drivers, like a Bose 901 or Paradigm tower speaker, you can break this rule. Stereo Inputs and Whole-Home Systems These bigger drivers deliver lower frequencies in audio. They add power, drama and atmosphere to sound. Without a good subwoofer, the audio will be thin and unimpressive. Output wattage Traditional two-wire speaker systems aren’t going away any time soon, so the best way to make sure you won’t fall afoul of future developments is to physically wire your system.The Bose® 791 Virtually Invisible® in-ceiling speaker's combination of two tweeters and a 17.8cm woofer provides spacious stereo sound for your favourite music. You'll also enjoy the deep low notes of dramatic film sound effects. This makes the Bose® 791 Virtually Invisible® in-ceiling speakers ideal for a rear-channel option in a home cinema setup. The Bose Music Amplifier helps deliver powerful sound in and around the home, as the amplifier can power two pairs of passive speakers, at 125 watts/channel, ensuring high quality Bose sound. The Bose Music Amplifier supports listening to several different content sources:

While the era of showing off massive “hi-fi” loudspeakers by heavy-hitter brands like Cerwin-Vega and Magnepan in a dedicated listening room isn’t quite as outdated as the above proverb, it’s not far off. Today’s audiophiles and home-theater enthusiasts desire maximum sonic impact with minimum visual presence. And that’s where the new generation of ceiling-mounted speakers comes in—they have a stealth design to make that happen.

The best ceiling speakers of 2023

Music streaming services. Whether or not they are integrated in the Bose Music app, you can stream music from a music streaming service, using Chromecast built-in, Apple AirPlay 2, or Spotify Connect. The Bose Music Amplifier acts as the “parent” device, or the initial source of the content. Through the Bose Music app you can then group your amp with a compatible Bose Bluetooth speaker or headphones by establishing a connection from the amp to the Bluetooth device. Your two products must remain within 30 feet of each other to stay connected. Walls and construction materials can sometimes affect connection. An amplifier processes sound and passes it through to speakers as output. Wattage is a measurement of the output signal sent to a speaker. Each speaker has a limit to the amount of wattage it can handle and pushing beyond this limit can damage the speaker. You must make sure that the output wattage of an amplifier does not exceed the output wattage rating of a speaker. Fire Hood

Bluetooth. Pair your mobile device with the Bose Music Amplifier through Bluetooth to listen to content from your mobile device. Pair your mobile device to the amplifier using the Bose Music app. Or put the amp into pairing mode by pressing and holding the Bluetooth button on the front of the amp and then selecting the Bose Music Amp from the Bluetooth settings menu on your mobile device. Want to go simple? Try one of the new “Bluetooth amplifiers." They take whatever’s playing on your phone or tablet and boost it. You're legally required to install a fire hood. See our section on this in the FAQs above. Speaker type That said, a larger speaker needs more space in your ceiling, and that can potentially be a problem. Not only are you cutting a bigger hole, you’ll also need more total depth for the enclosure and for the magnet that drives the speaker. So, make sure your eyes aren’t bigger than your available space. The Expert: I've been building and evaluating traditional wired home theaters for more than 25 years and have an extensive collection of equipment in my living room, from a Bricasti M12 Dual Mono Source Controller to a headphone setup with Focal and Grace Design preamps. I trained with John Marks, the former editor of Stereophile, and completed the Harman International “How to Listen” listener evaluation program. What to Look for in Ceiling Speakers Size and DepthIt’s really a no-brainer to use ceiling-mounted speakers for fill-in duties in 7.1 and 7. 2 surround-sound systems. It saves you a lot of hassle with wall-mount or (worse yet) floor-mount surround speakers, with little to no penalty in staging and sound quality. More adventurous users might even want to go ceiling-mount for the whole system. This has a negative impact on staging but it frees up a lot of space on shelves and walls. Analog RCA input and optical input. Connect any type of external content source to the Bose Music Amplifier using the Analog RCA or optical input, like: CD player, vinyl record player,* television.