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Placing In-Ceiling Speakers vs Ceiling Mounted Era 300s for Surrounds

Forum|Forum|8 months ago
January 30, 2026
35 replies
843 views

I have a very unusual open layout living room that we are currently renovating. Originally my plan was to put 8” ceiling speakers in to act as rear surrounds for an Arc Ultra + Sub. However after opening up the ceiling we found that there is only space for 6” speakers between the joists in the ceiling. Additionally the gap between the joists for the placement that I had thought would be best for the left speaker we ended up being too tight to even install the 6” so it would require relocating it 2’ to the right. I’m wondering if it is worth doing this placement with the left speaker being much more central than I would have liked and not being symmetrical with the center of the TV to the right speaker. I could also move the right speaker in to make them both equidistant from the center of the TV.

However given this I was considering alternatives and thought about ceiling mounting 2 Era 300s instead of the In-Ceiling speakers. I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations for this layout. I’ve attached a diagram below showing the original placement that we were hoping for as well as roughly where the left speaker would end up having to be mounted. Would really appreciate anyone’s advice on what might sound best!

Thanks!

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AjTrek1

Whoa…are you planning to place surround speakers on either side of the TV? If so you won’t have any surround effect. In fact the resulting audio may be completely muddled.

Also, even you were planning not to use them as surrounds but using them to compliment the soundbar will create an echo effect due to a 75ms delay with TV audio.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

H

harperpeckAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Whoa…are you planning to place surround speakers on either side of the TV? If so you won’t have any surround effect. In fact the resulting audio may be completely muddled.

Also, even you were planning not to use them as surrounds but using them to compliment the soundbar will create an echo effect due to a 75ms delay with TV audio.

@AjTrek1 sorry maybe I didn’t accurately describe it. Attached another drawing that might be more clear. The Sonos/Sonance in ceilings connected to the Amp would be used at the rear surrounds for the Arc Ultra. As far as I thought that was a compatible setup and wouldn’t result in any delay?

edit: just to clarify when I said centered on either side of the TV I meant behind the couch but equally spread from the center line of the TV

AjTrek1

Thanks for clarifying 👍

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

H

harperpeckAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Thanks for clarifying 👍

Do you have any thoughts on what might sound better between having the in-ceiling speakers like the above diagram (or even pulling the right speaker farther to the left to make it more symmetrical with the left one) vs. ceiling mounting 2 Era 300s?

Airgetlam

You have several challenges that I wouldn’t have easy answers for…first, ceiling mounts are a challenge for the Era 300. Sonos doesn’t make any, so it’s questionable how effective third party version would be with the sound field that the Era 300 projects.

Then there is the whole Atmos issue. If you go with ceiling speakers, they won’t be capable of playing Atmos.

I’d really be tempted to put Era 300s on speaker stands, situated behind the couch. Perhaps more intrusive, but certainly more capable.

Bruce

Airgetlam

Huh. Flexson seems to have Era 300 ceiling mounts.

Bruce

H

harperpeckAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

You have several challenges that I wouldn’t have easy answers for…first, ceiling mounts are a challenge for the Era 300. Sonos doesn’t make any, so it’s questionable how effective third partyversion would be with the sound field that the Era300 projects.

Then there is the whole Atmos issue. If you go with ceiling speakers, they won’t be capable of playing Atmos.

I’d really be tempted to put Era 300s on speaker stands, situated behind the couch. Perhaps more intrusive, but certainly more capable.

Yeah I definitely agree that floor stands would be best. Unfortunately there’s a kitchen island just behind the couch to the right and the pathway is already narrow as is and adding anything back there even as minimally invasive as floor stands would reduce an already narrow walkway (in addition to it being vetoed by the family for aesthetic reasons) so I’m kind of limited to only in-ceiling speakers or ceiling mounted speakers…

edit: @Airgetlam yeah those Flexson ceiling mounts were the exact ones that I would consider if I didn’t do the in-ceiling speakers

Airgetlam

I hear you, and feel for you…but in ceiling surround speakers would need to be powered by a Sonos Amp, which can’t do Atmos.

Bruce

H

harperpeckAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

I hear you, and feel for you…but in ceiling surround speakers would need to be powered by a Sonos Amp, which can’t do Atmos.

Yep that’s the tradeoff. It’s either no atmos with a non-optimal placement for 6” in-ceilings (although I would trueplay everything for whatever that’s worth), or I get atmos by ceiling mounting the 300s (which also isn’t ideal for those speakers). Just really not sure what will sound better. Also worth noting that the ceiling is pretty high (I think it’s like 11’) so it’s really non-ideal all around

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

The 300s are going to sound better.

The 300s support invented wall mounts so I don't see the ceiling ones being a problem.

Two pairs of six inch ceiling speakers would likely give you similar sound levels but the positioning, either non-symetrical or compressed spacing, won't be great for imaging.

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