I have installed some in-ceiling speakers where there is about about 2 feet between the ceiling and the floor above. No insulation so sound is not great.

Any recommendations on what to put behind the speakers?

THanks in advance

Normally, if it's a more 'quality' type of speaker. It should come with some type of custom enclosure. Otherwise, your kinda stuck with nothing. Making an enclosure is an option, but for the best sound you would need to take a bunch of speaker parameters into consideration...

Mike:

If these speakers you installed are for basic music in the room and not for surround sound, either pack the cavity with insulation or find some acoustical material.

I don't think your trying for premium sound, so don't go too nuts.

As RUDDY says dont go too nuts. Yank the speaker stick a roll of insulation behind it and the sound will improve. A box [enclosure] would probably be better but that should have been done before the drywall.

Your never going to get great sound from an inwall. If you ever use them in a "theater" have the boxes built and installed beforehand.

Does anybody even care what type of speaker is being used? This IS a very important factor. Put a quality speaker against any manufacturers "contractor series" speakers and no matter how it was installed the better speaker will have better sound.
Also, while having a solid enclosure behind the speaker is great at rough in... (If it is designed properly and of proper size) ...This can yield favorable results with better quality speakers when driven properly... I find the small SEALED enclosures that are built into some speakers to actually harm the low end performance to levels of unacceptability. Even when compared to speakers of half the cost. A good middle of the road speaker with a well designed crossover will almost always please the listener. I always recommend batting in the cavity, but if the speaker sounds just plain bad.. This isn't going to help you much anyhow.
So the question is.. What make and model speaker are you using?

CG is right, and I do not agree with sound quality of a in-wall/ceiling being not so good. Be careful there are alot of really good product out there and what you put in is what you get out!

When I didn't know any better I had Altec-Lansing's in a brick wall as rears. They always sounded tinny and weak. I also had them on the patio in the ceiling. Same poor sound out there. I put batting in the brick wall and changed to Speakercraft MT3's. It made all the difference in the world. On the patio I went with real outdoor speakers. Niles OS-10's. At both locations it is like night and day. :)

Bingo!

another good recommendation besides insulation is sound deadening board (if you can't find this at your hardware store then use builder's board). It costs less than $7.00 for a 4'x 8' piece, plenty for all theater speakers. just cut it up with a utility knife and screw it in with screws inside the cavity. then fill the rest with insulation. Not only will it lessen the sound going up to the second floor,but it will also increase your mid-bass tremendously. I personally like Polk Audio RC80i 8" in-ceiling speakers with pivoting tweeters. great for invisible home theater use.

So, Mick P, to repeat an earlier hinted-at question:

What speakers did you install?

Your question is not too different from asking, "I just bought a car and it won't accelerate to 100 mph as fast as I want it to. Can anybody help?"

Sorry for the delayed response, been tied up. The speakers I'm using are
[Link: monstercable.com]
They have pivoting tweeters and should sound fairly decent. This is a retrofit, so the drywall was not touched.

Having the large space behind the speaker (2 feet) is definitely not helping. I'll try Wil's suggestion. The application is whole house audio in dining room, kitchen, etc, so not as critical as a home theater situation.

Now regarding that car question - will going down hill help? :)

It sounds like you still have winter air in the tires. Exchange it for summer air and that should get you going. :)

Has anyone tried Wood Technology's "In-Wall Sound Chamber" for inwall and ceiling. It looks like V grooved foam rubber and retails for 39.95/pr.

Why not try an 8" round celing speaker. I'd say it may sound better than a 5.25"


b

I don't know about most 8" round ceiling speakers (or at least ones with 8" woofers). On the low to moderate price level, I would suspect the 8" driver will not be able to reach the crossover frequency to the tweeter as well as most 5" or 6" drivers. The integration between tweeter and woofer is important in any speaker, and because of the limitations of in-wall or in-ceiling speaker designs, then adequite to good sound really depends on good integration. This isn't to say there aren't good 8"ers out there. But I'll bet the good sounding ones are pretty expensive.