Just wanted to get some opinions on the merit and implementation of this idea. I bought the 8" Yamaha ceiling speakers, but I don't like the idea of just slapping them in and covering with insulation. I was going to build a box within the joists for them, but having been playing around with the BiB calculator, I got to thinking, why not just build a BiB out of it since the speaker is intended as full range and I have an entire 10" joist making space above the ceiling for the box.
Plugged 80hz into the calc, it comes out PERFECT with a tapered box about 12"x16"x 8' long which puts my speakers in exactly the right position for the Dolby recommended placement, and the depth of the speaker is just shallow enough to allow the backpanel to just miss it. So it looks like this should be pretty simple:
Plugged 80hz into the calc, it comes out PERFECT with a tapered box about 12"x16"x 8' long which puts my speakers in exactly the right position for the Dolby recommended placement, and the depth of the speaker is just shallow enough to allow the backpanel to just miss it. So it looks like this should be pretty simple:
- Cut a 4x8 sheet into about 16"x8' strips to fit between the joists.
- Install speakers in middle of chosen space between joists about 6' from either the front or rear beam (which places the speakers smack in the middle of my room).
- Place 16"x8' strips with tips glued to the back of the ceiling panel 20" from the speaker and glued to the top of the beam at the other end. I might need to add some height to the beams and joists at the wide end to make it 12" instead of 10".
- Cut a 12x16" opening for the port at either the front or rear edge of the ceiling with some sort of finishing for appearance sake. My wife, "So you're going to put huge holes in our ceiling that are open to the attic?" "No, just into the speaker box, duh." "So we'll still have huge holes in our ceiling?" "Well, yeah!" Lol, I'll probably cover them with something white and acoustically transparent.
- Is this a dumb idea, and should I simply slap them into the ceiling with a back box or just lay the insulation over the backs?
- With speakers in the middle of my ceiling (a 5.1.2 atmos setup), would it be better to have the ports at the back or front? I was thinking back so that, although I don't have rear ceiling speakers, the opening would sorta simulate some bass coming from back there since the placement of extra speakers would be in that exact position in my room.
- Should I tune lower than 80hz? I'm sure the 8" drivers could handle lower, especially with a BiB that enhances the low end, but my sub covers that well. Some sub bass from the ceiling might be nice, but it's not very directional and would probably require something longer than a panel cut from an 8' sheet, further complicating things.
- Should I glue some sort of dampening to the back of the ceiling panels? Some ceiling acoustic treatment in the room would probably be good for my bare ceiling too, eh? I've never played with wall/ceiling speakers, but I've read that it's not ideal placement for them. Kinda hard to avoid that on the ceiling tho. Any tips there?
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