In search of some kind of amplifier/speaker combo. WARNING- 3 part question with elements of psychological warfare

Mike McMo

New Member
Mar 30, 2020
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I am renovating my kitchen right now and want to wire the kitchen and the living room for sound. I have the ceiling open now and would like to put just two speakers in the ceilings of these two rooms. (Disclaimer: I am not a true audiophile, and just want decent sound for music and listening to the radio in these two rooms.) I have a three-part question.

1) Speakers: Years ago I visited a high-end house renovation where the homeowner had added wall speakers that were completely invisible. Not just speaker grills flush with the wall and painted, but sound coming from a surface that was indistinguishable from the rest of the wall. The speakers had a super fine mesh grill that was mudded and painted over. Presumably this kills the very upper end of the sound, but I'm willing to give that up to not have more clutter in a room. Can anyone direct me to whatever these were, assuming they are still on the market?

2) Receiver/amp or combo. Would like to be able to have at least one input (CD player?) in addition to playing from the radio, and we would like Bluetooth to be able to play from phones. I know we give up some quality there, but this is just for ambiance and parties. But I would also like to have an input for a microphone and also to be able to play from either 3 or 5 sets of speakers, because...

3) I realized that when I am getting into the living room ceiling to put speakers in there, that I will be underneath each of the kids' bedrooms. One of my kids is always late, is always the last one to be ready for anything, and the hardest to wake up. (The first day of the coronavirus shutdown, he slept until 7:30. IN THE EVENING, and he wasn't even fighting a cold or anything.) It occurred to me that it would be great if I could have a single massive speaker aimed upwards under each kid's bed (3 total). I would have to use this speaker judiciously so as not to incur too much psychological damage. One option: play positive reinforcement messages under their beds all night while they sleep, and turn them all into superachievers! Or for the sake of science, conduct a long-term experiment where with one of them, I play messages to undermine and undercut every effort that kid makes while supporting the others, and see how they all turn out! (just kidding, do not call DCFS) But it would be great to be able to send a message from the kitchen to each kid's room. I think we could have some fun with this, and hey, if it helps with resale value when it is time to sell the house, that's a bonus.

So, if I can have two pairs of speakers for the kitchen and living room, can I also have 3 separate speakers go to the kids' bedroom floors? If not that, I could have 3 speakers on one channel going to all 3 kids' rooms at once, but it would be best to pick one at a time.

What components do I need to get? How do I get 5 speaker outputs, and is it possible to have a CD player AND a microphone AND Bluetooth all in one device? The fewer components and the smaller they are, the better. I don't even know what search terms to use in an online search, and asking questions in a store is out for a month or more now. Thanks in advance!

I don't have a shot relevant to my project but everybody likes to look at pictures so I will attach one I found online from a photoshop artist who makes pictures of things his 3-year-old draws. This appears to be a skunk/possum hybrid.


animal.jpg
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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Beverly Hills, CA
Unfortunately, I cannot help you identify the completely invisible speaker the pinpoint openings of which are indistinguishable from the rest of the wall.

After conducting a ceiling speaker survey and comparison focusing strictly on sound quality I chose for my repaired house the PSB C-LCR ceiling speaker.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...-in-ceiling-speakers.23207/page-2#post-458616

Please see Posts #39 and #42 (conclusions of ceiling speaker survey).

I don't know anything except two channel audio, so I deferred to the system installer for advice on the music distribution system and multi-channel amplifiers and zones.
 
Last edited:

Mike McMo

New Member
Mar 30, 2020
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58
Unfortunately, I cannot help you identify the completely invisible speaker the pinpoint openings of which are indistinguishable from the rest of the wall.

After conducting a ceiling speaker survey and comparison focusing strictly on sound quality I chose for my repaired house the PSB C-LCR ceiling speaker.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...-in-ceiling-speakers.23207/page-2#post-458616

Please see Posts #39 and #42 (conclusions of ceiling speaker survey).

I don't know anything except two channel audio, so I deferred to the system installer for advice on the music distribution system and multi-channel amplifiers and zones.

Hello,
Thanks for your input- very helpful. I read your ceiling speaker post too. I'm not sure if I'm using the right terms- I only want a pair of left and right speakers in both the kitchen and living rooms, but then also a way to power one speaker (or two speakers if need be) aiming up at each of three bedrooms upstairs. So, ideally, I would like to be able to choose between controlling either 3 different sets of speakers, or 5. If you can direct me to anywhere to find a way to do that, please do. Thanks!
 

Mike McMo

New Member
Mar 30, 2020
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Several choices in "invisible speakers" out there. I have heard the stealth acoustics before and they sound way better than one would think, perfect for your application.

https://us.aminasound.com/

https://www.stealthacoustics.com/invisible-speakers/how-to-install/

https://www.feonic.com/vibration-speaker-technology


Thanks very much! Very helpful. Looks like animasound has two contenders. Watched the video and couldn't really tell the difference, so I may call them and hope they're open. And stealth may be what I had seen before. Thanks!
 

Mike McMo

New Member
Mar 30, 2020
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Turns out the bottom of the line Amina speakers are about $2,000 and the bottom of the line Stealth speakers come out to be about $1,000 after taxes, etc. So - WARNING: audiophiles will cringe- I am going to wing it- I found some old speakers I'm not using that will fit, and experimented with a DIY invisible speaker scheme. I cut the right size hole in a scrap of drywall and used spray adhesive around the hole and around the edges of a sheet of white copier paper. Stuck the paper over the hole, mudded around the edges, sanded it after it dried and painted it with a roller. Looks great- indistinguishable from the surrounding area. The paper wrinkled a bit when it was wet but pulled taut when the paint dried. I also did a trial with painter's plastic, the thicker kind, and it looks great. How will it sound? We'll see! Will the paper or vinyl luff or move or make its own noise? I'll do this on the ceiling so there's not much chance they will get poked/stretched/torn. Fingers crossed.
 

thedudeabides

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2011
2,181
691
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Alto, NM
Am I understanding you correctly? You put an old speaker in the ceiling and then covered it with paper and then painted the paper?
 

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