I have been doing the in-home custom installation gig for the last 20 years of my 50 year audio career. IMO, you don’t need that much power to achieve the sonic results you desire.
First, used extra thick blueboard or double laminate it for rigidity where you mount the speakers. Running the 2 pairs in parallel will draw double the current from your amp, but ceiling speakers are only secured by 4 plastic “dogs” that sandwich the frame to the ceiling, so their high amplitude sound integrity is at best a compromise compared to free-standing box speakers.
My amp recommendation is a Yamaha R-N1000. Its YPAO room correction processor will give you a baseline calibration and YPAO Volume will provide a proper loudness compensation for low volume listening. The MusicCast app allows playback from Airplay, a NAS, and several popular streaming services. If you really want more power, it has preamp out, so an outboard amp can be appended…ideally one with input level trim.
Paradigm ceiling speakers for music - need amp/receiver
I have 4 Paradigm Pro P80-R ceiling speakers each separately wired to an amp location in my new office after a huge home addition. I also have 1 Rythmic A370PEQ3 subwoofer and am considering getting another. My office is 30' x 15' with cathedral ceiling reaching 10' 4" at it's peak. Speakers need at least 80 W continuous with 92 dB sensitivity. I now need an amp/integrated amp or separates. I'm looking for warm, rich sound at low or high listening levels, with clear vocals. Do not care for "bright" sound since it's fatiguing to me, but don't want muddy bass either. This system is primarily for music, with inputs from my desktop computer, Kindle, iPhone and HD steaming music service. I may hook the audio from my TV up to this system, but am not interested in surround sound. From what I read, I need significant headroom over the 80 watt continuous for each of the 4 channels to get that rich, full sound at low listening levels. After informing Grok of the above, I got the following suggestions:100-150W/ch (2ch driven); Prioritized Class A/B amps for warmth and low-volume finesse over efficient (but sometimes leaner) class D; HDMI ARC/eARC for TV, multiple digital/analog inputs, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi streaming; Dual pre-outs (or mono summed) for 1-2 Rythmiks; no high-pass needed as your mains handle mids well. Use speaker wire runs to treat the 4 speakers as 2 stereo pairs (e.g., front/rear zones) or a wide stereo array. There is no place to look/hear equipment anywhere close - live on a farm in Iowa. Does anyone want to comment on the suggestions Grok gave me or give me your own recommendations along with specifics? New/used makes no difference to me. Thank-You.
- ...
- 16 posts total
- 16 posts total