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Ceiling Speakers in New Extension

R

Ruairi

pfm Member
We are doing an extension on our house. I am hoping to put some ceiling speakers in the new parts of my home while it will be easy to fit them. I was thinking it would be good to have them in my bedroom, my en suite, the family bathroom and in the kitchen. The kitchen is downstairs and the other rooms are all upstairs. These are all new rooms. My plan is to buy a relatively cheap amp with two channels for the speakers. If I run channel A to the kitchen ceiling speakers, is there a way I can run three sets of speakers from channel B and play them independently. I am looking at this item https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/...MIp7DdkrfB-wIVmLPtCh0e9g4qEAQYAiABEgLKd_D_BwE I can fit this switch upstairs somewhere so we can play whichever speakers are required, right?

For the actual ceiling speakers I had thought it would be prudent to get something rated to IP65, certainly for the two bathrooms and the kitchen. I might as well get the same for the bedroom just to keep them all uniform. Sound quality in these rooms is not important. They won't be used for critical listening - just background music while showering or cooking or laying in the bath etc. I am looking at these speakers https://audiovolt.co.uk/products/monacor-edl156-ip65-rated-ceiling-speaker#about-monacor - I can't seem to tell - do I need two speakers to make a set for each room?

view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PROKRD2G7v_ODnfLH28ZqDnFxFayUtVv/view?usp=share_link

Hopefully the image insertion worked ^^^ My plan is to put shelves in on the alcoves in the "living" area that is attached to the kitchen. This is where my main stereo will be. I was also thinking about putting in a network switch so that I could extend the Wi-Fi signal through the house using wireless access points. The current fibre connection comes in to the living room so I plan to bring cat 6 through the wall into the alcove and have the network switch here with cat 6 cabling going upstairs to something like https://www.currys.co.uk/products/t...VAuDtCh0RGQmoEAQYAyABEgJzC_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I can fit the cat 6 cable and the speaker cables into some sort of trunking by tracking up the existing external chimney breast (again I hope the image insertion has worked) and the builder can plaster over. I've never done anything like this before - am I on the right track? I'm hoping to do this myself in order to keep costs as low as possible. Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
One thing to be aware of with the speakers downstairs, they will be about the same volume in the room above too. That was my experience anyway.
 
colinp said:
One thing to be aware of with the speakers downstairs, they will be about the same volume in the room above too. That was my experience anyway.
Click to expand...

@Ruairi Agreed with what Colin says that can/will be an issue. Also in order to install the speakers in the ceiling of ground floor rooms one is cutting out a section of ceiling and so will lose almost all the sound insulation between the ground floor room and the room above such that normal conversations will probably be heard from one room to the other. I see from your plan that the kitchen opens onto the lounge. Cannot you just listen to your main system? Just a thought. Also in your bathroom be aware that any speakers put in the ceiling there will have to act as a vapour seal to stop moist air leaking past them and then condensing at some point where it meets the dew point somewhere in the ceiling / roof insulation. In these days of highly sealed and insulated houses and extensions moisture vapour and condensation become the enemy because it is searching out any weak link in construction and looking for places to condense. (I am an architect as well as cable manufacturer).
 
Sit down and draw a plan for speaker/equipment positions, really think it through.

Then purchase the cable, lots of cable, put it everywhere and maybe even double up to future proof, always leave decent length tails.

Conduct some research into fire ratings, ceilings and speakers
 
In an extension, you will need the correct IP rating for building regs, along with LSOH speaker cable and fire hoods for the speakers. You can get single stereo speakers, which I’ve done in the bathroom before. Running 3 pairs off 1 amp isn’t a great idea. I’d use Sonos for this as it’ll give you independent room control, the ability for different zones to listen to different things etc etc. Other solutions are available but there’s a reason nearly every ci installer uses it. However you can always add it later if you find your initial idea isn’t flexible enough. The biggest thing to remember is that the most expensive part of the install will be the speaker cable you forget to put in.
 
Thank you all so much. There is plenty there to think about. The loss of sound insulation between ground floor and first floor and all the other extra hassle is enough to put me off. I'm glad I asked because this could have been a complete disaster.

The requirement for a firehood is just about enough to put me off the idea of a network switch and those wireless access points as well. I will have to reconsider and see if there are any other options. That mesh home system might be easier.

Thanks again.
 
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