If you value sound quality in your home theater, you’ll want to invest in good speakers. Installing ceiling speakers can save you floor space and prevent you from having to hide wires - if you’re prepared to put up with the extra hassle on installing them.

For most people, if you want decent ceiling speakers, we think you should just buy the Polk RC80i’s.

Manufactured out of moisture-resistant, durable material, the Polk Audio RC80i can be used indoors or in a sauna or porch area (although they’re not suitable for outdoors). We chose them as our top pick because they offer a lot of benefits in terms of design and sound quality, yet they come at a much cheaper price point than higher-end speakers. 

Best Overall

Polk Audio RC80i 2-way Premium In-Ceiling 8" Round Speakers

  • Moisture resistant

  • Come as a pair

  • Adjustable tweeter

  • Connection clips instead of cylinders

  • Non-magnetic grilles

Our product tester Erika found the RC80i had exceptional sound comparable to speakers double their price. They produce a warm sound that fills an entire room, and are adjustable on a 15-degree swiveling mount, so it’s easy to make the sound hit exactly where you want. Their white coloring helps them blend in and makes them hardly noticeable on a white ceiling, but you can paint the grilles to match your ceiling if it’s a different color (although the grilles are not magnetic). They also come as a pair.

Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Push-down spring clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable | Waterproof: Humidity resistant

Known as ’the vanishing series’, the Polk Audio 70-RT comes as a single speaker outfitted with a super-thin grille that magnetically secures the speaker together, while protruding a mere 7mm from the ceiling. This makes for a speaker that’s barely noticeable from a distance. 

Easiest Installation

Polk Audio 70-RT 3-Way in-Ceiling Speaker

  • Paintable grilles

  • Good mid tones and bass

  • Easy install

  • Pricier than some other Polk options

It sounds good overall, with a powerful sound profile in spite of its small diameter.

Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Spring-loaded cylinders | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable and magnetic | Waterproof: No

Designed for wall or ceiling installation, the Pyle PDIC60 speakers are about as cheap as you can go while still getting a decent ceiling speaker. They come as a pair of 6.5-inch speakers, and while you won’t get upgrades such as magnetic grilles, and the sound isn’t as powerful as more expensive speakers, they will still serve as an upgrade over most regular TV speakers. They’re also a good choice for a kitchen or other areas in the home. However, we would not recommend these for someone who wants speakers for a premium home movie theater.

Best Budget

Pyle PDIC60 In-Wall/Ceiling Midbass Speakers

  • Very affordable

  • Reasonably good sound

  • Easy install

  • No magnetic grilles

The bass that’s delivered from the Pyle isn’t bad, but it does tend to distort slightly when you crank the volume up to full blast, so it’s best to go with a separate, affordable subwoofer if you want full bass.

Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Push-down spring clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable | Waterproof: No

This Klipsch series is a favorite among our reviewers, as the speakers sound so good. The CDT-5650-ii does, however, come at a steep price, and it’s only a single speaker. 

Best Sound

Klipsch CDT-5650-C

  • Phenomenal sound

  • Gorgeous design

  • Quality build

  • Don’t pair well with non-Klipsch speakers

The audio is both crisp and accurate, with the highlights being the mids and lows. There’s also a surprising amount of bass, which is unexpected for in-ceiling speakers. 

Just keep in mind that you’ll need to buy at least two of them for stereo sound, as they don’t sound good paired with other non-Klipsch speakers.

Channels: L and R | Bluetooth: No | Physical Connection: Spring-loaded clips | Paintable/Magnetic Grills: Paintable and magnetic | Waterproof: No

The Acoustic Audio CS-IC83 are a decent set of five solid entry-level home theater ceiling speakers.

Best Theater

Acoustic Audio by Goldwood 3-Way In Ceiling Home Theater Speaker Set

  • Come as a set of five

  • Thin, paintable grilles

  • Good value

  • Push-down clip connections

As with most ceiling speakers, you’ll want to add a separate subwoofer if you want booming bass. 

The paintable frame and grille offer both easy installation and the flexibility to change up the look to match your home’s paint coloring.

The Bose 791 speakers are 7 inches wide, and have Bose’s signature Stereo Everywhere technology for balancing the sound in an entire room. 

Best Splurge

Bose Virtually Invisible 791 In-Ceiling Speaker II

  • Come as a pair

  • Blend well into ceiling

  • Magnetic grilles

  • Pricey

The easy installation pairs with an ultra-slim bezel that makes this Bose model drop right into the ceiling (via a precut hole) and is secured in its position with dogleg clamps. They have a detachable speaker grille that can be removed and painted to better fit your room’s decor. As with the Bose 591, we appreciate the Bose 791’s design and build quality.

What to Look For in a Ceiling Speaker

Style

If you want your speakers to be as discreet as possible, it’s important to choose a style that matches the color of your room. Paintable grilles let you match the ceiling speaker’s color to that of your ceiling, while thin profile designs help the speaker blend into the ceiling.

  • Will the distance of your speakers from the audio source affect your sound quality?
  • Yes—while it’s not always possible, for the best audio quality, you’ll want to keep the length of cable tethering your speakers to your receiver as short as possible. Although your sound quality won’t suffer very much unless they’re 25 feet or more from your receiver. For any wired speakers, you should use a 14-gauge cable, and potentially use a 12-gauge cable for any speakers extending past 25 feet from the receiver.
  • What are the best in-ceiling surround sound speakers?
  • Most of the ceiling speakers on this list are good options for a surround sound setup, but we particularly like the Klipsch CDT-5650-C-ii. You’ll get phenomenal sound if you pair the ceiling speakers with a Klipsch woofer, but it’ll cost you quite a bit of cash. If you want a more affordable option, Polk and Pyle are typically good brands to look at.
  • Does Best Buy do in-ceiling speaker installation?
  • Best Buy does offer wall and ceiling speaker installation through Geek Squad. You can consult with a Best Buy Home Expert for free to get an estimate of how much the installation will cost. Best Buy will do everything from mounting and securing the speaker, concealing the wire, organizing the cables, properly positioning the speakers, and showing you how to use them.

Yes—while it’s not always possible, for the best audio quality, you’ll want to keep the length of cable tethering your speakers to your receiver as short as possible. Although your sound quality won’t suffer very much unless they’re 25 feet or more from your receiver. For any wired speakers, you should use a 14-gauge cable, and potentially use a 12-gauge cable for any speakers extending past 25 feet from the receiver.

Most of the ceiling speakers on this list are good options for a surround sound setup, but we particularly like the Klipsch CDT-5650-C-ii. You’ll get phenomenal sound if you pair the ceiling speakers with a Klipsch woofer, but it’ll cost you quite a bit of cash. If you want a more affordable option, Polk and Pyle are typically good brands to look at.

Best Buy does offer wall and ceiling speaker installation through Geek Squad. You can consult with a Best Buy Home Expert for free to get an estimate of how much the installation will cost. Best Buy will do everything from mounting and securing the speaker, concealing the wire, organizing the cables, properly positioning the speakers, and showing you how to use them.

Installation

This isn’t as big of an issue if you’re paying for professional installation, but if you’re putting these ceiling speakers in yourself, you want to choose a model that has simple instructions and provides for easy mounting, with dogleg clamps and a template for cutting a hole. The last thing you want to do is accidentally cut too large of a hole for your speakers, so make sure to pay attention to how easy (or difficult) installation is on the speakers you’re interested in.

“The size of the room where you want to install a ceiling speaker will determine the type you choose. Ceiling speakers tend to come in two different sizes; 6.5 inches and 8 inches. The smaller speakers typically work well in small to medium-sized rooms, while an 8-inch ceiling speaker is better suited to spacious rooms, as the bass volume is higher.” — Sylvia James, Designer, HomeHow

Sound Quality

When you’re choosing ceiling speakers, you’re probably going to have to balance price and sound quality. The question is, how much are you willing to pay for a great sound? You can choose stereo sound and go with just a pair of speakers, or go with a full surround sound setup with five speakers and a woofer. Also, pay attention to metrics such as frequency response, which indicates the range of tones the speaker can produce.

About Our Trusted Experts

Erika Rawes has been writing professionally for more than a decade, and she’s spent the last five years writing about consumer technology. Erika has reviewed roughly 150 gadgets, including computers, peripherals, A/V equipment, mobile devices, and smart home gadgets. Erika currently writes for Digital Trends and Lifewire.

“When watching a live performance of a musician, very rarely are they playing or singing above your head. Ceiling speakers are fine for background music but they can never really give you the feeling of realism.” — Nick Fichte, Business Manager, L-Acoustics Creations