Quality of surround and ceiling speakers


How much does quality matter for surround and ceiling speakers?  Can these be substantially less expensive than the front an center speakers?

I am interested in what people think in general, and I will give my example.

Sometime in the next year I will upgrade my surround sound processor to Trinnov Aplitude 16.   In preparation, I plan to upgrade older surround and ceiling speakers, 4 of each.

My front are Sonus Faber Serafino and the center is Sonus Faber Olympica Nova CII.  These are all relatively new.  The 2 channel preamp is Simaudio 891 and amps 2 Simaudio 761 bridged. 2 SVS SB16 subs.

I most often listen to 2 channel for music, surround system with theater bypass for movies, sports and sometimes music with video (opera, for instance).

My choice for the ceiling:  PC 582 ($650), PC 682 ($950) and PC 683 ($1050).  For the surround PL 563 ($1400) and PL 664 ($2650).  

I am inclined to go with the 5 series (~$8000) vs 6 series (~$14000).

What do people think about my choice and in general about the quality of surround and ceiling speakers compared to front, center and subs?

billsw

Spending an extra $6k for the 6 series for what is just ambient sound is fairly nuts to me and hard to imagine the 5 series won’t be perfectly fine.  With the money you save you could add two more subs that’d probably make a bigger difference anyway and take an African safari — that’s my perspective anyway.  Best of luck. 

It is very true that most of the time it is just ambient... rain, dogs barking... thunder. But once in a while it is much more. But good point / perspective. 

In case that dreaded WAF veto starts to manifest itself,,,.,. and in-wall surrounds need to be considered,…. then think MONITOR AUDIO as an option to avoid audio multi-channel,installation purgatory 

https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/creator-series/creator-series-in-wall-models/

 

I have not read the entire thread, but I have thoughts.  IMHO, co/tri-axial in walls are much better than 2-way MTM (Mid-Tweeter-Mid) or WTW (woofer-tweeter-woofer) arrangements due to how well they perform off-axis.  

For a surround where you may be seated in a variety of locations having excellent off-axis response is crucial.  Same is true for a Center.  If you sit in a very narrow sweet spot this is less critical, and a Center can even be excluded altogether. 

Also, really, I have a 5.1 and the flyovers are excellent due to extremely good speaker matching and room acoustics.  IMHO, height speakers are oversold unless you have a yuuuge screen. :)  

+1 on Monitor Audio by the way.