Wow thanks for your detailed explanation.
You're welcome. You might like to use the THANKS button on any and all posts you find useful. It's free to use and it helps mark good info for those who might stumble across this site during a Google search
I have found some decent looking yamaha ceiling speakers on amazon at £99/pair with good reviews. I intend to build plasterboard boxes in the ceiling above the speakers, to enhance the sound and direct it more downwards, since there is a bedroom above. I will also chuck in a load of insulation around said box. Fire rating doesn't really matter - i understand fire rating only becomes an issue with integral garages and 3 storey homes. Neither apply here.
The in-ceiling boxing in isn't a bad idea.
Those Yamaha speakers have a 4" bass driver. In the trade we would only use something with a bass driver that small in non-essential areas e.g. utility rooms, corridors, pool/gym changing room. We wouldn't use them in the main listening spaces such as kitchens / dining rooms / lounges / bedrooms etc without adding a sub-woofer of some description to fill in the missing midrange and bass. TBH, there's more reasons than that why we wouldn't use speakers that small: the cost saving versus 6.5" or 8" speakers is eaten up by the cost of the sub and the extra cost for buying bigger amps because these smaller speakers are far more power hungry. Those Yamaha NS-IC400's are nicely made but not right for what you intend unless you do plan to run them with a proper multi-channel amp (c. £1500) and an in-wall or free-standing sub.
The reviews are a bit mixed up too, I see. Some are for the 4" 400's, others for the 6" 600's and at least one for the 8" 800's. I'd also take customer reviews with a pinch of salt. You rarely know if the person is writing from a position of authority having installed lots of similar product, or if they're just a eager Joe who is blown away by simply by the fact they've got sound in the ceiling.
If you're going to do some research and look at various products then here's what to look for:
* Bass driver size - 6.5" or 8" - this means you don't need a sub to get decent bass, particularly at lower volumes
* Sensitivity of 88dB or more. - this is a measure of how good the speaker is at turning electrical power in to sound
* Materials - polypropylene is your minimum basic
bass cone material for something half decent. Paper is cheaper and not really suitable for speakers exposed to moisture e.g. steam from cooking (remember, heat rises; and it takes moisture with it). More exotic materials exist for lightness and strength: Plain- and ceramic-coated metals, glass fibre, Kevlar etc.
Tweeters - Mylar (a metal covered plastic) is the bog standard basic material. Look for something better if possible: silk dome (a soft fabric dome), aluminium, titanium, beryllium (3 different metals commonly in use)... NOTE: just because a speaker uses a metal- or silk dome tweeter doesn't make it automatically better; the material and the resulting tweeter have to be engineered properly in the first place. A cheap speaker using fancy materials might be out-performed by something from a more reputable brand using basic materials but with better engineering.
Weight is a useful indicator of quality. Bigger heavier magnets cost more money but help to improve efficiency and sound output.
* Features - some speakers have controls that allow the bass and the treble response to be tweaked up or down to suit the room. You might also find the ability to change the speaker impedance (useful if you plan to run two pairs off one stereo amp output), and pivoting tweeters which allows angling of the sound.
* General design - if the back of the speaker you're looking at has just a couple of wires attached to a pair of spade terminals and no sign of a circuit that is a crossover (it splits the incoming signal between the bass and treble and handles the blending of the two) then walk away. A speaker with a 6-6.5" bass cone should be able to get down to 45-50Hz. That's about on par with £200+ bookshelf speakers.
None of the above individually is a guarantee of quality or performance. It's possible to have a speaker with high efficiency, some exotic materials and a pivoting tweeter that still sounds lousy because the frequency response is lumpy as hell. A smooth frequency response comes from good engineering and R&D that involves computer modelling and real world product testing in an anechoic chamber where the speaker's response can be measured free from any contribution of a room.
I stopped downloading music a couple years ago, now i use amazon prime "free" music and youtube. Though i have a few days (maybe more) worth of music from itunes on my pc.
The sonos looks the ideal solution but the cost is high. I was scouring amazon last night for alternatives but there is nothing in the mid range price bracket that quite does the same things.
If Youtube sets your quality benchmark then why not abandon the idea of in-ceilings all together and just get some of the Sonos Play speakers. You'll save yourself a tonne of hassle and a pile of cash too. Play 3's is where I'd head, and I'd add a Sonos Connect to the TV.
I'd say Sonos
is in the midrange solutions. It's not top end by any means. You're right though, nothing works as well as it. They've got the operation and feature set absolutely nailed. I have other products in my range that cost a hell of a lot more but aren't nearly half as user friendly as Sonos. Other companies have had a go at beating Sonos. The cheaper ones always had to make compromise. The dearer product did sound better, but the price increase was disproportionate to improvement in sound quality. Sonos is actually cheap for what it does...... provided that you want what it does.