# Ceiling mounts



## vect0r (Apr 23, 2013)

Our house came prewired for surround sound in the living room. There are 5 ports in the ceiling, and cables that come out by the TV. If we buy a 5.1 system, will I need to purchase anything extra to get the speakers on the ceiling? I haven't ventured up to look underneath the ceiling plates yet to see how everything attaches (moved in from an apartment and we never had to own a ladder before!). Do systems come with the parts to mount the speakers, or is this something extra?


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Never owned a ladder? Time to buy one...or two...

Time to get adventurous...remove the plates and see what you have....if your lucky the wire is at least 14g...if 16g....your ok....just don't expect to get 500w to each speaker....

As for speakers...depends on what you buy....but the chances are real 'high' that it will NOT include mounting hardware. Yea....your looking at another $100 or so....

Welcome to home ownership....let us know when your ready to ask about cordless tools.

BTW....first advice...buy a shop vac....2.5" hose...trust me...you will use the dog crap out of it....

Next purchase....leaf blower....as you will quickly find out....your doing your own yard work....leaf blowers are worth the money....and work great for sweeping out the garage....


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## Chokingdogs (Oct 27, 2012)

Yes, invest in a couple ladders, especially if your house has 9' ceilings.

That aside, if the house was built with the surround sound wiring as part of rough-in, odds are the ceiling boxes are new construction, and as such nailed to the side of a joist, which gives you an ideal mounting area for ceiling brackets.

You say there's 5 plates in the ceiling? I'm not a fan, at all, of having the front speakers ( L/C/R ) being much higher or lower than my ears when I'm perched in the captain's chair. The surround speakers, depending on the style, I will have either in the ceiling or on stands - again being close to ear height.

I'm not aware of any "quality" speaker coming with mounting hardware. I guess some of the HTIB set-ups, with very light/cheap speakers, may have some?

For ceiling mounts, there's loads of options - locally BB, Wally World, HHGregg, Home Depot, etc. all will have some but the quality wont be in the upper end. Omnimount makes good ones, but you pay for them http://www.omnimount.com/products/speaker_mounts_and_stands/speaker_mounts/stainless_steel_series/

You can also check monoprice.com as well for less expensive options, but I'm unsure of the quality.

Whatever mount you get, you need to match it to your speaker by it's weight. Not a good idea to mount a 15 lb speaker to a 5 pound rated mount no matter how robust it may look. It may never be a problem if you did, but I'm risk adverse enough to do what I can to prevent a nice speaker from acorn-ing itself.


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## Deja-vue (Mar 24, 2013)

In-Ceiling Speakers are very easy to install.
NO MOUNTS NEEDED!
They come in 6-8 Inches Diameter, usually. You can spend about $50-$2000 per Speaker.
Check out Partsexpress.com for some good Deals on them.

Get a nice Amplifier, Future-proof, 3D ready, available from Pioneer, Denon, Yamaha or Onkyo.
Don't forget a good Subwoofer.
And yes, get a Ladder.
:laughing:


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## Dorado (Feb 7, 2013)

Get a 4' step ladder for 8' ceilings, a 5' step ladder for 9' ceilings, etc.


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## ktkelly (Apr 7, 2007)

Pick up a Werner MT-17 ladder. 

Very versatile. Very stable. Very well made.



As to the speakers, if those blank electrical covers are actually attached to a box that's nailed to a joist, you could use some Kef UniQ, or Sonance LCR1S.

But, if you're lucky and the wiring installer just put the blank plates directly on the drywall, and it's not overly close to the joist, then you can use some round in-ceiling speakers that have a 15 degree, or better, offset.


Anything would certainly be better than hanging some boxes from the ceiling....:yes:


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## vect0r (Apr 23, 2013)

Thanks for all the tips! And yes, a ladder is high on the list of things to by. In our first two apartments all we needed was a chair.


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