The Pros and Cons of Ceiling Speakers
Office buildings, airports and restaurants were the first homes of ceiling speakers. They can be easily recognized by the dense grilles that pour decibels right into your head.But why would someone want ceiling or in wall speakers, instead of a pair of normal, efficient and highly affordable speaker cabinets. There could be a few reasons:
- Saving some space in the room;
- Maintaining the aesthetics of the room;
- Hiding the wires;
- Getting rid of the holes in the walls.
People want the environment adapted to their needs, not the other way around.There's one sure thing with in-wall and ceiling speakers: they are not for those who are into high-end audio. You could hardly find an audiophile willing to trade the deep bass that he or she loves so much for a bit of extra shelf space.
But even if not an audiophile, you'll need to pay attention to the following parameters:
- Frequency response - gives you the range of the audible spectrum that the speakers can reproduce; the human ear can hear 20 Hz to 20 MHz, thus the more a speaker approaches this interval, the better.
- Power handling - specifies the ranges of power the speakers can safely receive from the amplifier (e.g. 20-100 watts);
- Efficiency - also called sensitivity, this rating indicates how effectively the speaker uses the power sent to it by the amplifier.
Otherwise you'll have a lot of rear acoustic energy wasted into the back-wall and a distorted, uneven sound.
Mounting the speakers
Usually it is a lot easier to mount ceiling speakers than in-wall speakers, at least where there is a fake ceiling. Mounting in-wall speakers is more of an architectural problem. That's probably why these are also called "architectural speakers". People don't like to have small rooms, thin walls, and wires bursting from one room to another.The easiest alternative is to project the audio system before even having the walls built up. The advantage is freedom to plan things (speakers among others) exactly how you want them.Figuring out the wires is the part you should do before building the walls. Some planning is needed ahead: talking to an electrician, finding out how much wire you need, seeing what kind of wire you can actually use (UL-rated wire is approved for use in walls in all 50 states). Also, seeing the layout of your lighting system, and how it would interfere with that of the speakers.Inserting the speakers can be done on the run, as the wall is being raised. Some people successfully use the drywall as a speaker's enclosure. The key is to have the speakers in the right place from the start.
This would save you time, money and nerves.Installing the speakers in an existing wall or ceiling is a bit more difficult and pricey. But it can be done. At first, find out what's behind the walls you want the speakers mounted in and see if you can drill. You need to make some holes into the desired spots, and build the speaker-enclosures.Ceiling speakers have a drawback: the location. we're not used to having the sound come down at us from the ceiling, but from our side.
The sensation of the sound-waves reaching the head and then the ears, is a bit strange. Some ceiling speakers are flexible within a given degree, so they can be pointed towards the listener. They are round-shaped in order to match the bulbs and lamps that also found their site on the ceiling.Niles, SpeakerCraft, and others use directional tweeters and woofers that can be separately adjusted to compensate for imaging problems arising from the positioning drawbacks.Most in wall speakers have paintable grilles, so you can perfectly black them out.Above all, my biggest dilemma is what to do if my trendy, camouflage speaker, be it in-wall or in-ceiling, breaks down? Most users say I don't need to worry as they can be taken out, repaired or even replaced. There's also absolutely no need to worry if I want to add some speakers to my system, they say. One solution would be to think ahead and stuff the wall with more wire for later add-ons.
Still, I find this unnecessary hassle. But for the sake of interior design logic, it may be worth it..
Why You Can't Do Without A Car Audio Crossover
I've heard the question asked many times before, 'Do I really need a crossover?' Without wasting any time I quickly answer, 'Yes you do'. Whether it's a passive crossover or an active crossover, your car audio system will never sound good without a crossover. I want to make myself very clear here, so before you get confused let's talk about what a car audio crossover is and why you need one.A crossover is a filtering device which limits the frequencies that reach a speaker. It splits a music signal into separate frequency ranges and sends them to speakers that are designed to best reproduce each frequency range. For instance, only high frequencies would be sent to your tweeters, midrange to your mid range speakers, and lows to your subwoofer.
The passive crossover is very common. It's basically a capacitor or coil installed on the speaker leads between amplifier and speaker that stops certain frequencies from reaching a speaker. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to install...
Why You Can't Do Without A Car Audio Crossover
Speakers > Why You Can't Do Without A Car Audio Crossover
iPod Wireless Speakers and Headphones
The iPod seems to have induced a certain trend in the consumer electronics industry as many companies on the market rushed to manufacture accessories for the little device that allows you to take music with you wherever you go. Speakers and headphones were among the first choices as iPod accessories for consumer electronics companies. The next step was wireless speakers and headphones to allow more freedom of movement. We'll try to discuss the pros and cons of wireless peripherals for the iPod as well as the models that each wireless component works with.
Logitech
Logitech began marketing in 2005 a wireless headphone unit that works with any model of iPod that has a dock connector on the base. This feature is standard on all new models and is available on older models as well.The headphones use Bluetooth technology to connect to the iPod through an adapter that transmits the signal. They come with rechargeable batteries that supposedly can play up to eight hours...
iPod Wireless Speakers and Headphones
Speakers > iPod Wireless Speakers and Headphones
The Next Wave of Distributive Audio Sounds Off with 802.11-Enabled Speakers
As home networks rapidly evolve support for the distribution of stored digital and online media content to the home entertainment center, 802.11-enabled speaker solutions will find a natural fit in many media networks.
According to The Diffusion Group, a Dallas-based market research consultancy, approximately one-third of current home network owners are, to varying degrees and averaged across several price points, interested in purchasing 802.11-enabled speakers.
The report entitled "Next Generation Distributive Audio: Consumer Interest in 802.11-enabled Speakers" illustrates the characteristics of the prime target consumer group for such speaker solutions.
"Though the market is, by definition, limited by the adoption of home networks," says TDG analyst, Dale Gilliam III. "There is a lot of early interest in wirelessly-networked speakers.
And naturally so, because as computers operating with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition are replacing many...
The Next Wave of Distributive Audio Sounds Off with 802.11-Enabled Speakers
Speakers > The Next Wave of Distributive Audio Sounds Off with 802.11-Enabled Speakers
Bishop TD Jakes, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, Bishop Alfred Owens, September 8-10 in Washington D.C. Area
Washington, DC (ContentDesk) September 7, 2004 -- Bishop T.D. Jakes of the Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, Bishop Paul Morton, International Presiding Bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, and Grammy Award winning Gospel recording artist Pastor Donnie McClurkin, are among several powerful speakers coming to the Washington, D.C. area September 8th through 10th for the Ministry of Excellence Empowerment Conference 2004.The conference, open to everyone, will be held in Woodbridge, VA, which is about 20 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. and is hosted by Pastor Lyle Dukes and Co-Pastor Deborah Dukes of the Harvest Life Changers Church.
Other speakers include Bishop Alfred Owens of Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church in Washington, D.C., Pastor Sheryl Brady of The River Church, Raleigh, N.C.
and Teresa Hairston, CEO/Publisher of Gospel Today Magazine.
Special guest artists include the 2004 Stellar Award New Artist of the Year Rizen, Gospel legend LaShun...
Speakers > Bishop TD Jakes, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, Bishop Alfred Owens, September 8-10 in Washington D.C. Area