Acoustic Ceiling Speaker Review

The choice of in ceiling speakers is a very important one if you are a true music listener. There are several models I recommend from two different companies.  These speakers companies offer solutions for 5.1 surround sound speakers as well as 2.1 speakers, in wall or in ceiling.

I have been in the consumer electronics custom installation business for the last 8 years and have seen many in wall speakers from contractor grade to the top of the line. The two companies that I highly recommend are: NHT (Now Hear This) Audio, based in Benicia, California and Sonance Corporation, based in San Clemente, California. These two companies have a great reputation for their audio ceiling speakers as well as for their outdoor ceiling speakers.

We have had the privilege of visiting each of these companies facilities and spoken with the engineers and in NHT's case the owners who are musicians in their own right.

If you are a true music listener and enjoy your music you will want to purchase good quality loud speakers for the area you will be listening to your music the most. You will definitely hear a BIG difference between a quality speaker and say a contractor grade speaker that you may use in whole house audio that is mainly used for background music. These companies also manufacture great sounding acoustic ceiling speaker 5.1 surround systems for your home theater as well.

My first preference would be for a music listener to look at the NHT IC4 In Wall Speaker, all models discussed are also available as In Wall speakers.

Outrageous dynamics, terrific bass, high output and yet it loses none of the detail. The IW4 is the perfect in-wall home theater system speaker.

The NHT IW4 uses two 5.25” polypropylene woofers, a 2” aluminum dome midrange and a .75” aluminum dome tweeter. The midrange has its own internal chamber The advantage of a dual-woofer 3-way design is low distortion and wide dispersion. They are rather expensive but well worth the $499/each price tag. If they are a bit out of your price range the NHT IW3's are also a good sounding speaker with a less expensive price tag of $399/pair.

Another great sounding speaker that I recommend is the Sonance Visual Performance VP65's with a moderate price tag of $650/pair. These speakers have a architecturally appealing small bezel making then much less noticeable in the room than most in wall speakers. The VP65-series speakers feature carbon fiber cone woofers and silk dome tweeters for high-quality sound. Pivoting drivers direct the sound toward the music listener for excellent performance.

On a quick note, whether you are installing these speakers yourself or have a custom installation company install them, make sure you use only good quality in wall speaker wire. There is nothing worse than having great sounding speakers hooked up with below-standard speaker wire. Also, remember that a metal cone speaker will always sound better than a cloth or paper cone speaker.