I'm a home entertainment systems designer. Let me help clear things up. In-Ceiling speakers can be purchased as a stereo pair for larger areas and as a single which connects as a stereo pair for smaller areas. The single speaker combines the left and right bass and mid tone information into the single woofer, (large round black cone on the speaker) and then uses two tweeters (smaller round, sometimes made of metal) for the stereo left and right. We use these in powder rooms, laundry rooms, etc. You still pull a stereo pair of wire to the single speaker location.

In order to improve sonic performance when using any in-ceiling or in-wall speaker, use speakers with 8" woofers, stay away for cheap and try and avoid in-wall volume controls. (more on that in a bit) Don’t overlook the idea of also including a subwoofer in the rooms where sound matters more. They add a fullness to the music which makes listening to your system that much more enjoyable. Many think they’re not interested in rocking out or partying so a subwoofer in not a necessity. WRONG! It makes an improvement in the overall sound even at the lowest levels. Live music, even a single piano has a lot of low tones so do a subwoofer if you can.

For best performance, use in-ceiling speakers from manufacturers who are actually speaker engineering companies. Paradigm was mentioned in an earlier post. They are a speaker engineering company with a real R&D department and a factory. B&W, Revel and Monitor Audio are also complete engineering companies and manufacturers with factories. What this means is the don’t just use speaker parts and attach them to a plastic frame. They invest into improving the in-wall and in-ceiling speakers by observing the limitations of walls and ceilings and designing real solutions around these limitations.

If you decide to purchase high quality speakers, the last thing you want to do is put volume controls in the walls. Volume controls in the walls basically block fidelity. An in-wall volume control is a passive device that more or less chokes the signal going to the speaker. The lower the volume the more it chokes. When the knob is turned all the way up it is chokes the least but the volume will be to high for actual listening. I try and encourage my client to avoid them at all expense these days.

So how do we work around not using in-wall volume controls? Simple. Use a distributed audio system, such as the Sonos that controls volume with a a touch device. Sonos allows you to use all your favorite music services like Pandora or Spotify, tune in any radio stations from anywhere in the world and also connects to your iTunes collection on your computer. You then control it with an iPone, iPad or iPod Touch as well as Android and using your desk top. And yes, you can select to listen to different options throughout the home. If you wish to learn more, feel free to contact me.
Cheers, Devin