one of my clients has changed her mine about her ceiling speakers in their new den. They orded 6.5 in speakers, but now want smaller to look "estedtic" with their highhat lights.

does not sound like a big problem
but the ceiling now has custom wood work with openings made for 6.5 speakers. there is no way to resheetrock the openings due to the wood.

does someone have a trick or a product that will help reduce the opening to hold 5 1/4 speakers.

thanks in advance
Tom

This is where you go into your routine about how the 6.5's are going to serve them much better in the long term. They will sound better, and you don't reccomend anything smaller since they will be more susceptible to being over driven. If they are still stuck on having the smaller ones, it sounds like they will have to get the carpenter or millworker back in for some more work. Your expertise is in sound and communications, not wood ceilings.

Paint or stain the trim of the 6.5" the color of the woodwork and leave the grill white.
This will reduce the apparent large look of the speakers compared to the pin spots in the rest of the ceiling.
You can do nothing but make suggestions at this point. Make sure you are paid for your extra trip.

Send the wife to the Dr.'s office and have her get a "Daddy stitch."

Oh - wrong whole - I mean hole.

Anyway, it seems you may be screwed either way. Pun intended

I have had this problem before. Solution if you have a piece of the finished wood (even if it is just a stained finish) left over take that to a custom paint company (not lowes or home depot) and get a color match in latex. Purchase a prevail spray bottle and cut the mixture 2/3rds denatured alcohol to 1/3rd latex. After masking off the woofer paint the grill and trim with 8 plus light coats. The speakers will for the most part disappear into the background and your customer will be happy enough with the results :)

Measure wrong and put the 6.5's back in. Dude, it's a hole in wood.

Short of painting the frame/grill simply replace the entire wood ceiling with a bullfighter fresco. Chicks dig 'em.

wood putty?

ROFLMAO. Keep posting here.

ROFLMAO?

Steve,

Do a search on message board lingo/abbreviations.

ROFLMAO: Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off
IMO: In my opnion
IMHO: In my humble opinion
And so on...

As far as the original poster goes when I read the title I thought maybe his wife had just given birth or something and he was asking for advice.

^^

HAH!

I hope you spec'd the intended speakers and installation method detailed out in a copy of the proposal that is signed by the client... if they try to stick you with this repair, it could cost you big time.

You never mentioned the type of wood ceiling, being a den, it is probably a coiffered celing that can usually be carefully deconstructed and then reassembled just in those areas (preferably by the original trim carpenters) with new panels painted or stained the same way and cut with smaller holes for something like a Sonance Merlot speaker.

Contact the builder and get a firm price and a detailed scope of work for the replacement of those panels, and then propose your price for returning the larger speakers and replacing them with the small speakers.
Also, this is important, I would get an actual Merlot (or whatever your preferred small model is) and put in her hands at the time of the proposal.

As an alternative, prepare an option to have the current speakers' bezels and grilles custom paint matched to the wood finish, like RTI suggested.

Submit both alternatives in full detail as to what could be done and at what price, and you will most likely be painting the existing speakers.

I always thought that "LOL" would make a great title for a book or movie about internet chat rooms