Ceiling mounted fronts??

[Todd Lee]

Long story short, I'm setting speakers up for mother-in-law. 60" t.v. set in the room on an angle (not flush with wall, rules out wall mounted fronts.) I think she wants to stay away from anything on the floor, she wants things to look clean...

The question:

Is it o.k. to use ceiling mounted speakers for fronts? I'm talking the in ceiling speakers, not hanging down.

The room is large, roughly 25' X 30-35'. Seating is about 15 feet from screen.

Also, if anyone has any speaker recommendations for this size room, while still keeping the cost under $600'ish, for 5 plus sub, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks,
Todd

[unc2701]

Short answer: bad idea.

Long answer:
Ok, so go look as this graph (nothing special about this speaker, it just happens to show off-axis response):
http://www.partsexpress.com/pdf/297-305.pdf

Notice how the frequency response gets really bad for the 30degree and 60degree off axis lines? Apart from the fact that all the sound is going to be coming from above the action (on the TV) , they're going to sound really boomy and you'll have trouble picking out dialogue. That said, if you must do it, make sure you get ones that have tweeters that pivot, so you can point them at the listening position.

[Todd Lee]

Thanks so much for the info!

I've pretty much decided on ceiling mounts for the rear, and probably towers for the front.

Most likely:

Rear
Polk RC60i

Center
Polk CS1 Center Channel

Front (towers)
Polk R30,
or Monitor 50

Subwoofer
Polk PSW12,
or Velodyne VRP- 1000

Any suggestions/comments??