Serentity Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 In another post titled Av Receiver Upgrade/Advice I mentioned i was looking at getting Krix Ceiling Speakers Atmospherix A20. I'm just trying to work out if they are worth the cost (under 2k for 4 speakers retail price) or is their something similar, that will do roughly the same job , but not that expensive. Currently or will be my 3 front speakers are from Adelaide Speakers Timberwolf series, including the Sub and my 4 rear speakers are from Emotiva (Similar to) Airmotiva E1 surround speakers As I been told by other members/Store owners/Friends to look at Monitor Audio C165 6.5 or Monitor Audio C165T2 or Accento-Dynamica ADS65-100MG or Yamaha NS-IC600. ?> Your Thoughts or advice?> Apart from the Yamaha, they all come with back covers or something similar. Thanks for taking your time in reading this.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaynin Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Back covers is one thing, back boxes, OTOH is different. If the back covers are actually completely sealed boxes, then that's a big win. A sealed back box improves performance immeasurably. I use in ceilings you haven't mentioned, and ran them for a few years before installing back boxes and couldn't believe how much better they sounded, plus noise bleed is ZERO! http://www.dynamat.com/architectural-home/architectural-home-dynabox/ BTW - have a look at the Niles in ceiling range, also fantastic. At least 7" range, preferably 8... https://klappav.com.au/collections/niles 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 id just go with some reasonably nuetral sounding krix units with back boxes they come with .... the a20 are the slanted variety ? why need those specifically ? https://www.krix.com.au/atmospherix-a20/ id be going the regular down firing variety myself https://www.krix.com.au/hemispherix-as/ 4 x of this is only $1400 ? there are cheaper i the range if want cheaper. agree with kaynin you want some with back boxes as the krix come with or add on back boxes which are $200 a pop in themselves ! certainly also look at the niles suggested they too are pretty neutral and work in with most speaker sets perhaps edward needs a range of "ceiling wolfs" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serentity Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 2 hours ago, Kaynin said: Back covers is one thing, back boxes, OTOH is different. If the back covers are actually completely sealed boxes, then that's a big win. A sealed back box improves performance immeasurably. I use in ceilings you haven't mentioned, and ran them for a few years before installing back boxes and couldn't believe how much better they sounded, plus noise bleed is ZERO! http://www.dynamat.com/architectural-home/architectural-home-dynabox/ BTW - have a look at the Niles in ceiling range, also fantastic. At least 7" range, preferably 8... https://klappav.com.au/collections/niles Thanks I check out the Niles range, as for the dynabox, yes heard of them. I bel Al has mentioned/recommands them in other posts as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serentity Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 2 hours ago, betty boop said: id just go with some reasonably nuetral sounding krix units with back boxes they come with .... the a20 are the slanted variety ? why need those specifically ? https://www.krix.com.au/atmospherix-a20/ id be going the regular down firing variety myself https://www.krix.com.au/hemispherix-as/ 4 x of this is only $1400 ? there are cheaper i the range if want cheaper. agree with kaynin you want some with back boxes as the krix come with or add on back boxes which are $200 a pop in themselves ! certainly also look at the niles suggested they too are pretty neutral and work in with most speaker sets perhaps edward needs a range of "ceiling wolfs" Edward was one of the people who told me to look at the Accento-Dynamica range. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrot Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) I have used ceiling speakers extensively for both rears/surrounds due to lack of space in seating positions in my old house and now for my new media room with 7.2.4 Atmos setup. Additionally I have ceiling speakers in the veranda area for when we sit out there for some background music or for parties. Brands I have used include Speakercraft, Niles, Sonace, B&W, and Yamaha. Personally I have a full Niles complement at the moment, (in-wall rears, surrounds and 4 x Atmos) as they deliver the goods and sound exceptional without the need to box them up. I also love the AIM series of Speakercraft, I recommended them if you want decent ceiling speakers to listen to in pure full range stereo mode (I have them Veranda area). Was disappointed at the Yammies I had, and the B&W were overpriced for their performance. Sonance is decent but again a bit more you can get much better. For AV applications you don't need to go expensive, so long as they can handle the power rating of your amp and have a decent tweeter. You have to remember they will mainly be used to handle ambient and background sounds, it is not if most of the dialogue will coming from the ceiling mounts. Most cases in a AV setup you will feeding the low frequencies to you sub-woofer so you don't have to go for a large woofer for the ceiling speakers (unless you don't have a sub). This also helps with mounting and positioning. Always look for models with aim-able tweeter, this makes a big difference to sound quality having the tweeter facing the direction of the seating position. Also depending on your ceiling space or between floors cavity, steer clear of pre-boxed speakers. I can tell you from personal experience this will cause more frustration that it is worth. Places with limited cavity space, wiring, plumbing, air con ducting, or all the hidden stuff you will find in the ceiling or floor cavity will GREATLY reduce your ability to position the speakers were you want them. Having a box to add to the equation just adds to the pain. Use the insulation (unless it is that cool and cosy shredded paper stuff !!) as the rear baffle, works great and stick some sheets of sarking over the insulation covering the speakers in case you don't have a water tight roof. Edited November 10, 2019 by Syrot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 i will just say its worth not just putting in some basic speakers in for inceilings.... with object based audio surround speakers including in ceilings are no longer just ambient or effects as they might have been say in dolby prologic days. now days all the speakers in the sound field do play a very important part to place objects in space. and this is case not just with native atmos or dts-X tracks. likes of dts-neural X or dolby surrounds upmixing effectively uses all the speakers in the sound field pretty effectively these days. good points with regards back boxes. if you have a bit of stuff up in the ceiling space I agree large pre boxed speakers likely be a pain, however this is where again flexible back boxes like the dynamat - dynabox come in real handy. not only are they more than just a dust cover. they are quite solidly build but yet have some flexibility to mould in a tad if say have some plumbing of some such just happen to be going by. also easy to retro fit as most will be doing with speakers going into ceilings after the fact... syrot, good to hear your perspective with regards the different brands etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrot Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) I agree, don't go cheap but no need to spend a fortune. After playing around with various ceiling speakers I eventually settled on the Niles CM7FX. While this is technically an effects speaker, it has dual tweeters in an multi-axis array. I found putting the CM7FXs into bipole mode with the tweeters facing front and back, I got a better and more expansive sound field particularly with fast moving over head objects. Again not everyone will agree but it works really well in my set up. I then moved the much more expensive Speaker Craft AIM8 Three's to stereo duties in other rooms where they excel. Edited November 10, 2019 by Syrot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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