Thursday, February 08, 2007
I cut the holes in our ceiling for our in-ceiling speakers using a RotoZip tool. The speakers we have came with templates for cutting the holes. I just measured to locate the appropriate uniformly spaced locations for the holes, traced the templates, and cut the holes with the RotoZip tool. The rough openings will be covered by the bezel of our speakers for a nice, neat appearance. Just inside the holes are the ends of the blue "smurf tube" conduit that will route the speaker wire to the connection panel behind our entertainment center.
I have one tip for anyone installing in-ceiling speakers. Don't choose large speakers for the first installation. There are many models available in various sizes. It occurred to me that if we get large speakers, and then we replace them 20 years from now, we might not be able to find speakers that require a hole that is as large or larger. I decided that it's best to go a little smaller--not smallest, but small. We can always make the holes bigger, but it's pretty hard to make the holes smaller.
In the photo above, you can also see the taping and mudding job that was done by the subcontractor who finished our drywall. We are less than pleased with the results, which I consider to be "spec home quality" at best. There are many spots where the crew sanded beyond mud and roughed up the drywall paper which will affect the texture and paint finish. There just aren't enough good professionals in "the trades" these days.
I'll post more information about our audio system and in-ceiling speakers when the entire system is in place.
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