Sonos with In Ceiling Speakers

[birdman325]

Since I started this thread back in Jan. 2009, I thought I would weigh back in with what I ended up doing.
Because I wanted to home run all the speaker wire down to a central location in the basement, I ended up buying 5 ZP120s and I already had an S5 (as it was then called).
I put in ceiling speakers in the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom and connected them as one zone to a ZP120 in the basement with a volume control on the wall of the bedroom and the bathroom. (Master Bed/Bath Zone)
I did another grouping of in ceiling speakers on the main floor in the family room, kitchen and living room (all one zone) and each room has a wall mounted volume control. (Main Floor Zone)
I did a separate zone in the den / office with in ceiling speakers, but because it is its own zone, I did not do a volume control on the wall. (Office Zone)
I put speakers in the ceiling of the outside back porch and that is also its own zone, so no volume control on the wall. (Covered Porch Zone)
In the basement, I put speakers in the ceiling in the play room and the TV room and connected those as one zone with wall mounted volume control for each room. (Basement Zone)
I have a ZB on the main floor in a discrete spot which helps with the coverage and I have an S5 which I move around, but often ends up in one of the kids' bedrooms. (Portable Zone)
All works like a charm!
Combined with Rdio and it is a killer system.

(Of course, I recently dusted off my dual turntable and hooked that up to my old Yamaha receiver and a pair of bookshelf paradigm speakers!)

[DNT]

I would certainly not recommend ceiling speakers. I put two into a single-storey extension a few years ago and found that the music could be heard in the garden. I was then left with the problem of fixing the plaster finish inside. I still have two of them in an internal wall in the kitchen and they work well, but only because the room behind them is a utility room where the sound leak does not matter.

Why not use play 3s (in pairs for better stereo separation) wherever you want speakers.

DNT

[ControlFreak]

I would certainly not recommend ceiling speakers. I put two into a single-storey extension a few years ago and found that the music could be heard in the garden. I was then left with the problem of fixing the plaster finish inside. I still have two of them in an internal wall in the kitchen and they work well, but only because the room behind them is a utility room where the sound leak does not matter.

Why not use play 3s (in pairs for better stereo separation) wherever you want speakers.

Sound transfer is always a bit of a problem with ceiling/wall speakers but you can work around this problems by ensuring solid construction and insulating the area.

P3s are impractical in many instances because they need line power and take up valuable room space.

[birdman325]

I do not have any problem with "sound transfer" with my in ceiling speakers.

[greghaynes]

Originally Posted by birdman325

I put in ceiling speakers in the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom and connected them as one zone to a ZP120 in the basement with a volume control on the wall of the bedroom and the bathroom.

Which volume controllers did you go with? And do you still recommend them?

[danielschell]

Just installed a Polk Audio RC80i ceiling speaker into my study. Quality wise the speaker sounds great

It was a major pain because my ceiling appears to be made of horse hair, mortar and wooden slats but I got there in the end.

If anyone is interested I documented the process here:

http://danonit.blogspot.com.au/2012/...-speakers.html

[fekish]

Hi guys,

can someone please help on how to put separate volume controls on some locations?
Is it just the sound wire that should pass from there and that;s it?

thanks

[NoBoB]

That's basically it. Run the speaker cables from the amp to the volume control and another set from the control to the speakers.

[fekish]

Originally Posted by NoBoB

That's basically it. Run the speaker cables from the amp to the volume control and another set from the control to the speakers.

Cool thanks, so I will tell to the electrician where exactly I might want to have the volume control in order to have the provision.
Did you buy the switch from somewhere online to check it out? Just to understand if is simple to install or not...

[NoBoB]

Here's the owner's manual for a popular volume control. As you can see, it's pretty easy to hook up.