The 10 Best Ceiling Speakers For Surround Sound

For most home theaters, the Polk RC80i is the safe bet. Its eight-inch woofer fills a living room as front heights or rear surrounds, and the tweeter swivels so you can aim it at the couch. A rubber seal and an aluminum grille let it work in a bathroom or covered porch, and the grille takes paint. The open back lets sound drift into the attic or the room above unless you pack insulation behind it.

If your receiver already says Yamaha, the Yamaha NS-IC800 keeps the system in one family, and it suits a home theater as well as music around the house. The eight-inch woofer gives height channels and rear surrounds some body, and it takes a lot of power, so loud movie scenes stay clean. The frame sits fairly deep, though, so check above the ceiling for pipes, wires and ducts before you cut.

Small switches on the face of the Micca R-8C turn the bass or treble up or down a notch, which helps when a speaker ends up near a wall or in a bright, echoey room. The woofer uses a stiff carbon and glass cone, and the tweeter sits on a bridge you can swivel toward the seats. It's sold one at a time, so a pair costs double, and the frame needs extra room above the ceiling.

Cheap as it is, the Micca M-8C still gets the basics right: a full-size woofer, a silk tweeter that pivots, and mounting tabs that swing out and grip the drywall as you tighten the screws. Micca says it's fine in a kitchen, bathroom or covered porch, and the grille takes paint to match the ceiling. It's sold singly, and it has no tone controls, so a bright room stays bright unless your receiver corrects it.

The Klipsch CDT-5650-C II puts its titanium tweeter inside a small horn, which pushes sound toward the seats and helps voices cut through. The whole driver rotates and tilts, so it can still be aimed when the hole lands off-center. Switches trim the treble and bass, and the grille holds on with magnets. The woofer is the smaller six-and-a-half-inch size, so bass leans on a subwoofer, and it's sold one at a time.

Five speakers in one box make the Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 a low-cost way to put a full surround setup in the ceiling. Each one is a three-way design, with a small midrange cone between the woofer and the tweeter to help voices. The speakers are sensitive, so a modest receiver can drive them loud. The catch is that you buy all five even if you only need two, and there's little independent testing behind them.

Shallow joists or a cramped space between floors? The Polk RC60i needs less than three inches of depth, and it pairs a smaller woofer with a swiveling silk tweeter. That combination suits height channels and small rooms, and the moisture-resistant build lets it go in a bathroom or kitchen. Clamps grab the drywall from behind as you tighten them. The smaller woofer gives up bass, so a subwoofer matters more here.

Three separate drivers set the Polk 70-RT apart: a small midrange cone carries voices, so the woofer and tweeter each have less to do. The grille is a thin, paintable sheet that sits almost flat, which helps it disappear in a white ceiling, and cam clamps lock it to the drywall. The seller's page doesn't clearly say whether you get one speaker or two, so confirm the count before you plan a room.

Built for damp places, the OSD ICE800 pairs a rubbery woofer surround with a rust-resistant aluminum grille, so it's made to handle a covered patio, pool house or steamy bathroom. The tweeter pivots, and the woofer is a full eight inches, which keeps music from sounding thin outdoors. The pair comes in one box. It isn't made for rain or direct spray, so keep it under a roof.

The Monoprice Caliber suits a buyer who wants two matched speakers for front heights without spending much. Its woofer uses a stiff aramid fiber cone, the same family of material found in bulletproof vests, and the tweeter pivots toward the seats. Monoprice backs the pair with a one-year warranty. Stock has run thin, and fewer owners have weighed in on it, so there's less of a track record to lean on.