Ceiling speakers can hardly be matched in indoor musical entertainment, as they light up the atmosphere with beautiful music. They’re also quite convenient to use and can prove to be a wonderful addition to your home.
Of course, the speakers can be quite expensive. So, if they’re not up to mark, replacing them becomes annoying and can ruin your entire experience.
To ensure your money gets you the best available product, we’ve prepared a review of the best 10 ceiling speakers. But before go any further, let’s look at a short summary of the best 3 products, based on our review and the customer’s perspective.
Top Pick
Our top pick benefits from brilliant low dispersion & high sound quality, and thus, is a suitable choice for indoor entertainment.
Runner Up
The excellent studio sound quality and beautiful design of the runner-up makes it perfect for home theatre experiences.
Also Great
It has received positive reviews for a great extended low-range performance and a cheap price compared to other ceiling speakers.
Best Ceiling Speakers - Top 10 Reviews
To give you an idea of the best ceiling speakers, we’ve covered their top characteristics, pros & cons, and our opinion about each product, based on the review.
1. Best High-Range Ceiling Speaker - Klipsch CDT-5650-C II In-Ceiling Speaker Review
Klipsch CDT-5650-C II comes with a high excursion woofer and a soft dome tweeter, both of which are radically balanced through a crossover network. Its best quality, however, is its crisp sound, which makes it the most popular choice among customers.
Best Ceiling Speakers - Main Features of Klipsch CDT-5650-C II In-Ceiling Speaker
- Titanium Tweeter
The durable tweeters of Klipsch CDT-5650-C II allows for an outstanding high range sound, giving the speaker its best quality.
- Controlled Dispersion Technology
The addition of a CDT feature helps to ensure top notch music without any sound distortion.
- Pivoting Ceramic/Metallic Composite Woofer
Klipsch CDT-5650-C II In-ceiling speaker’s woofer delivers a strong bass, resulting in a well-rounded musical experience.
- Crossover
Finally, there’s the crossover, which integrates the woofer and tweeter that we mentioned earlier. However, we found this network has a lot of wires and connections, making it slightly difficult to install the speakers.
- Fully adjustable positioning
- Crisp Sound
- Low sound distortion
- Wide dispersion
- Difficult to install
Despite being a little hard to install, the amazing highs and lows of Klipsch CDT-5650-C II In-Ceiling Speaker makes it worth considering for homes and offices.
2. Best Ceiling Speakers in Sound Quality - Polk Audio RC80i 2-way Premium In-Ceiling Round Speakers Review
Polk Audio RC80i are timbre matched overhead speakers popular for one thing above all, their near perfect audio quality. Equipped with standard soft dome tweeters for exceptional highs, they’re the ideal choice for home theatres.
Main Features of Polk Audio RC80i 2-way Premium In-Ceiling Round Speakers
- Overhead Round Speakers
The speakers have built-in composite driver baskets which deliver the best surround sound effect that you could ask for.
- Dynamic Balanced Woofer
We also concluded that the woofer delivers fine bass. Although, it doesn’t hold up that well compared to other ceiling speakers.
- Soft Dome Tweeter
Polk Audio RC80i has traditional soft dome tweeters that give powerful highs, adding further depth to the sound.
- Rubber Seal
With the addition of a rubber seal, you can install the speakers in your kitchen/bathroom without any fear of moisture damaging the speakers.
- Fully adjustable positioning.
- Wide dispersion
- Excellent audio depth
- Moisture proof
- Easy to install
- Average bass
We concluded that Polk Audio RC80i have the best sound quality compared to most competitors, and would suggest them for home theatres.
3. Most Affordable Ceiling Speaker - Micca M-8C 2-Way In-Ceiling In-Wall Speaker Review
What makes Micca M-8C the best in ceiling speakers is their cheap price, user-friendly nature, standard sound quality and wonderful performance with a wide variety of home entertainment applications.
Main Features of Micca M-8C 2-Way In-Ceiling In-Wall Speaker
- High Excursion Woofer
Easily the best thing about Micca M-8C, the woofer delivers an impactful bass, thus giving an exceptional listening experience.
- Soft Dome Tweeter
Quite similar to our previous product, Micca M-8C has remarkable depth & fantastic highs, all thanks to their soft dome tweeters.
- Crossover Network
This feature perfectly balances the woofer and tweeter, thus giving you a well rounded musical experience.
- Excellent audio depth
- Easy to install
- Powerful bass
- Affordable
- Small Shelf life
Despite being cheap, the sound quality of Micca M-8C definitely holds up compared to much more expensive speakers. Due to this fact, we found it to be one of the best ceiling speakers.
4. Most Innovative Ceiling Speaker - Yamaha NSIC800WH 140-Watts 2-Way RMS Speaker Review
Yamaha NSIC800WH is by far one of the finest products in innovation. Apart from having natural sound dispersion, the speaker has a slim design, giving it subtlety and a sealed back cover, which gives it durability.
Main Features of Yamaha NSIC800WH 140-Watts 2-Way RMS Speaker
- Slim Design
If you like ceiling speakers that blend in with their background, then you’ll really enjoy this feature.
- Sealed Back Cover
With a sealed back cover, Yamaha NSIC800WH have protection from dust & moisture, thus adding to its healthy shelf-life.
- Grill and Mounting Clamp
Its flexibility can be credited to the grill and clamps, as they give you a wide range of options for installing the speaker.
- Mica Cone Woofer
With a high-end woofer, Yamaha NSIC800WH produces great mid and low range audio.
- Acoustic Baffle
Finally, we have the acoustic baffle, which ensures natural sound dispersion that fills up the entire room.
- Easy to install
- Versatile
- Subtle
- Durable
- Great Sound Dispersion
- Average sound quality
Although the sound quality of Yamaha NSIC800WH isn’t too remarkable, the exceptional bass natural sound dispersion & innovative design of the speaker easily makes it one of the best in ceiling speakers.
5. Most User-Friendly Ceiling Speaker - Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 In Ceiling 8″ Home Theater 5 Speaker Review
Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 are one of the best in ceiling speakers because of their user-friendly they nature. Their beautiful slim design & paintable frame and grills means that they’re easy to install & blend in brilliantly with their background.
Main Features of Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 In Ceiling 8″ Home Theater 5 Speaker
- High Rigidity Polypropylene Cones
Naturally, ceiling speakers need to be durable since they’re a permanent fixture. Luckily, Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 has robust cones, which make for a long lifetime.
- Butyl Rubber Surround
Further adding to their durability are the rubber sounds, which assures you get maximum usage from the speakers.
- Paintable Grills & Frames
Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 ceiling speakers come with paintable grills, which allow them to conveniently blend in with your furniture.
- Versatility
- You can use Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 for home theatres, centre channel, multiple room systems, industrial sound & outdoor entertainment.
- Easy to install
- Versatile
- Flexible
- Durable
- Good Audio Quality
- Volume pops every so often
Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 ceiling speakers have very positive reviews online, are stylish & sound great. We definitely recommend you give them a try, especially for home theatre systems.
6. Best Ceiling Speaker in Audio Clarity - Klipsch R-1800-C In-Ceiling Loudspeaker Review
When talking about crisp and clear sound, Klipsch R-1800-C are a heavy favourite for the best ceiling speakers. The speakers have good sensitivity and brilliant power handling. The speakers are also paintable so they can match our ceiling colour.
Main Features of Klipsch R-1800-C In-Ceiling Loudspeaker
- Paintable Aluminum Grille
Just like our last entry, the paintable grills allow Klipsch R-1800-C to easily match your furniture. The aluminum layer also protects them from moisture.
- Polymer Cone Woofer
Combined with a large motor, the woofer is what gives Klipsch R-1800-C their sensitivity and perfectly balanced bass.
- Dynamic Acoustic Performance
Whether you’re looking for ceiling speakers for your home or for a commercial environment, Klipsch R-1800-C will definitely meet your demands thanks to their dynamic nature.
- Polymer Dome Tweeter
- Instead of a traditional soft dome tweeter, Klipsch R-1800-C opts for a polymer dome tweeter. Turns out, this is a good decision, as it delivers smooth clear highs over a wide area.
- Clear Audio
- Dynamic
- Moisture Proof
- Affordable
- Not quite loud
We found that due to their simplicity, good sound quality and affordable rate, Klipsch R-1800-C are brilliant ceiling speakers for indoor entertainment.
7. Best Full-Range Ceiling Speaker - Bose Virtually Invisible 791 In-Ceiling Speaker II Review
Bose Virtually Invisible 791 is one of the best in-ceiling speakers based on full-range performance. Thanks to its woofer and two well positioned tweeters, you get both great low-range & high-range performance respectively.
Main Features of Bose Virtually Invisible 791 In-Ceiling Speaker II
- 7″ Woofer
The addition of a such a large woofer is responsible for giving Bose Virtually Invisible 791 a strong and consistent bass.
- Two 1″ Tweeters
You can also enjoy high-range audio on Bose Virtually Invisible 791 ceiling speaker thanks to a couple of 1″ tweeters.
- Well Balanced Stereo
As a result of this feature, you get a great surround sound effect that covers the entire room.
- Magnetic & Paintable Grills
Magnetic grills allow you to easily install the speakers & have them blend in with their environment.
- Full-range audio
- Good Surround sound
- Easy to Install
- Subtle
- Expensive
- Bass related complaints
Despite their hefty price, Bose Virtually Invisible 791 delivers in quality & we’d highly recommend you give them a try for indoor entertainment.
8. Most Durable Ceiling Speakers - Polk Audio RC65i 2-Way Premium In-Wall Speakers Review
When discussing durability, Polk Audio RC65i are a strong contender for the best ceiling speakers. Besides having seamless audio quality, Polk Audio RC65i work efficiently in damp/moist locations, which makes them far more dynamic than most in-ceiling speakers.
Main Features of Polk Audio RC65i 2-Way Premium In-Wall Speakers
- Soft Dome Tweeter
With the inclusion of a traditional soft dome tweeter, the speakers add depth to your musical experience.
- Mineral-Filled Polymer Cone
When it comes to strength and durability, Polk Audio RC65i definitely deliver thanks to the addition of tough, mineral-filled cones.
- Strong Composite Driver Baskets
This feature holds together and properly aligns all the moving parts of Polk Audio RC65i ceiling speakers.
- Rubber Seal
- The rubber seal prevents moisture from damaging the speakers. So, you can easily install Polk Audio RC65i ceiling speakers in your bathroom or kitchen.
- Brilliant sound quality
- Easy to Install
- Durable
- Dynamic
- Adjustment issues
With Polk Audio RC65i ceiling speakers, you get durability and dynamic sound performance. Due to this reason, we’d recommend you to purchase them for your home theatre system.
9. Most Flexible Ceiling Speaker - Polk Audio 255C-RT 2-way In-Wall Center Channel Speaker Review
Polk Audio 255C-RT the best ceiling speaker is one of the best ceiling speakers due its tremendous flexibility & uncontested deep bass, making for a fantastic cinematic experience. It has a state of the art woofer which also doubles down as a mid-range driver.
Main Features of Polk Audio 255C-RT 2-way In-Wall Center Channel Speaker
- Dynamic Balance & Distance Toggle
These features combine to give your a deep & crystal clear musical experience
- Mid/Woofer & Dome Tweeter
The woofer gives Polk Audio 255C-RT its signature bass. Combined with the tweeter, you get a well rounded listening experience.
- 2-Way Center Channel Speaker
To prevent any type of sound distortion, Polk Audio 255C-RT have a 2-way center channel, which gives a top notch surround sound effect.
- Patented Rotating Cam
We found that the rotating cam is involved in ensuring a safe & secure installation process.
- Perfect Fit Templates
Finally, the templates allow you to easily mount & install the speakers
- Clear Audio
- Easy to Install
- Durable
- Strong Bass
- Non refundable
- Grille Rattles
After carefully reviewing Polk Audio 255C-RT ceiling speaker, we found it to be a heavy favourite thanks to its impressive flexibility & superior sound quality.
10. Best Surround Sound Ceiling Speaker - JBL SP6II in-Wall/in-Ceiling Home Theater Surround Sound Loudspeaker Review
JBL SP6II has received a lot of positive feedback for its powerful & well-balanced surround sound effect. Its tweeter & woofer is laminated with titanium which prevents sound distortion. So, you get clear audio throughout your entire room.
Main Features of JBL SP6II in-Wall/in-Ceiling Home Theater Surround Sound Loudspeaker
- Titanium Laminate Tweeter
If you’re looking for in-ceiling speakers with wonderful high-range sound, then this makes JBL SP6II a good choice.
- Titanium Cone Woofer
We discovered that the woofers provide a good bass to JBL SP6II ceiling speaker for low-range sound.
- Rubber Surrounds
The woofer also uses rubber surrounds. So, you get a great surround effect without any distortion
- Rough-in Frames
In case you need to fit the speaker in a newly constructed area, it also comes with optional rough-in frames.
- Clear Audio
- Great surround sound
- Durable
- Easy to install
- Flat & metallic mid-range
After properly testing each feature of JBL SP6II ceiling speaker, we definitely found its surround sound effect to be exceptional & would recommend it for home theatre systems.
Buyers’ Guide
Buying ceiling speakers can be tough!
For one thing, they’re a permanent addition to your home. So, getting the best ceiling speaker isn’t just your wish, it’s a priority.
Moreover, ceiling speakers are very different from other types of speaker systems & the qualities that make them great are also quite different.
Keeping this in mind, we’ve highlighted some of the most important things to look for while buying the best ceiling speakers. We hope that this guide will help you make an informed decision.
The Reason for Buying Them
The quality of a ceiling speaker relies on what the intended application is.
If you want ceiling speakers for background music, anything with a small woofer would be just fine.
But If you want something for a home theatre system, you’ll need ceiling speakers with a larger woofer and a good quality driver.
And if you want something even louder, go for ceiling speakers that are compatible with an amplifier.
Size & Shape of The Room
The size & shape of the room matters a lot too. Large rooms (Like a hall/common room/gallery) means you need a speaker that goes well with an amplifier. Smaller rooms would require speakers that do well on their own.
If the shape of your target room is normal, then you can install any kind of regular ceiling speakers. But if the room is oddly shaped, dual voice coil ceiling speakers that balance out the stereo sound dispersion.
Receiver
The type of ceiling speaker also depends on whether you’re using a receiver or not. If you are, then you’ll need speakers with an impedance of 8 ohms at least. But if you’re not using a receiver, then you can consider something between 4-6 ohms as well.
Price Range
Of course, the most obvious guideline is that you check whether the ceiling speaker you’re going for lies within your price range or not. If it’s just for some good music then look for something cheap that has all the basic features covered.
However, if you’re looking for ceiling speakers to go with a home theatre system, you’ll need more expensive ceiling speakers that have additional features as well.
Shelf-Life
When it comes to in-ceiling speakers, their shelf-life matters more than any other kind of speaker. Since, you’re permanently integrating them into you home, your goal should be to purchase speakers that are durable & damage proof.
For example, ceiling speakers with rubber surrounds, protective metal coating, paintable grilles & frames or dust proof protective casing are a more durable choice than the ones lacking such features.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Klipsch CDT-5650-C II in-ceiling speaker come with Black Grills?
No, Klipsch CDT-5650-C II in-ceiling Speaker comes with white paintable grills, not bllack grills.
Do Polk Audio RC80i In-ceiling speakers have open backs or enclosures?
Polk Audio RC80i In-ceiling speakers have open backs. So, if your ceiling has loose insulation, it could be a problem.
Do you need a speaker box to mount Micca M-8C ceiling speaker?
Although not necessary, we’d recommend a speaker box to mount Micca M-8C ceiling speaker, as it improves the speaker bass & also protects it from debris.
How much depth should you keep in the wall for Polk Audio RC65i speakers?
Although 3 inches is recommended, it’ll put you close to the back of the speaker. So we’d recommend 3.5 inches just to be on the safe side.
Can Yamaha NSIC800WH run 12 hours daily, in case you want to install them in a work environment?
Yes, Yamaha NSIC800WH ceiling speakers can manage that much duration, so they’re good for a work environment.
Can you directly hook up an Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 in-ceiling speaker to your TV’s RCA outputs?
No, you’ll have to hardwire your Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 in-ceiling speaker to a home audio receiver for that purpose.
Does Klipsch R-1800-C In-ceiling loudspeaker come with a cover?
Yes, Klipsch R-1800-C In-ceiling loudspeaker comes with a white metal mesh speaker grill.
Does Bose Virtually Invisible 791 In-ceiling speaker II come in pairs?
Yes, the Bose Virtually Invisible 791 In-ceiling speaker II is sold in pairs.
Can you mount Polk Audio 255C-RT speaker vertically instead of horizontally?
Yes, Polk Audio 255C-RT speaker sounds the same both vertically & horizontally. So, you can install them vertically without any problems.
Can you use JBL SP6II in-Wall/in-Ceiling speaker outdoors?
No, JBL SP6II in-wall/in-ceiling speaker isn’t recommended for outdoors. It ruins their surround sound effect.
Wrapping Things Up
In the end, let’s briefly discuss the best ceiling speakers based on public reviews and our personal testing.
First up, we have the Klipsch CDT-5650-C II In-ceiling speaker. It has a perfect positive review online thanks to its unrivaled high range, clear & sharp audio, brilliant surround sound effect and fully adjustable positioning, easily making it the best ceiling speaker according to customers.
Our runner-up is the Polk Audio RC65i in-wall speaker, which has near perfect positive reviews due to its durability, dynamic range, good sound quality & easy installation process.
Finally, we have the Micca M-8C 8 Inch 2-Way in-ceiling/in-wall speaker which has garnered a lot of praise for its incredibly cheap price, excellent audio depth, powerful bass & easy to install nature.
And that concludes our review of the best ceiling speakers. Do let us know if this was helpful for you & which product you liked the most as we’d highly appreciate your opinion.
