Hi, I'm looking for help on how I can mount my RS-42s to the ceiling.  I need to mount them pointing down.  I'm hoping for a cleaner installation then just mounting them to a board and then attaching the board to the ceiling.  Has anybody else done this?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Agree with wuzzer.

Why don't you want things to sound right?

No pics yet, I'm out of town for a few days. But I will post some next week. In the mean time, my problem is that the only other place I can hang them are on a wall that is essentially in line with where one's head/ears would be while watching TV and the speakers would be facing back into the TV. This is in a basement with low ceilings (91”) and square pillars and cubby holes in inconvenient places, so speaker stands are not an option. Plus the speaker jax are in the ceiling where I want the speakers to go. Also rearranging the room is not an option as this is the "_" part of an “L” shaped area that includes bar/pool/HT area and no other layout makes sense.

Are you implying that I will lose sound quality by mounting these on the ceiling facing down? Please explain.

Thanks,

Keith

RS-42s are designed as side surround speakers.  If you need to do an in-ceiling install I'd recommend getting the Reference series in-ceiling speakers.

Thanks for the reply.  My only real option is to mount them on the ceiling pointing down.  If I mount them on the wall they will be forward (or almost even) of the listening position and pointing back to the TV.  So maybe it is better if I go with a 3:1 setup (if there is such a thing), is that better then a 5:1 with the surrounds mounted on the ceiling? That would be a bummer because I already have the RS-42s.  I'm going to post some pic as soon as I can get the camera from my wife.

You could easily sell the RS-42s for $300 or so on eBay and use the money for some reference in-ceiling speakers.

In a 5.1 setup the surround speakers are designed to be placed to the side of your listening position rather than behind or above you.  7.1 adds two rear speakers behind you.  If you mount your RS-42s on the side walls and they will end up almost even of the listening position as you've said, that's actually the recommended placement.

Also, in my opinion, a good 3.1 setup would be better than a compromised 5.1 one.

Here are some pics:

This one shows where my surrounds go, note that they are just hung for testing. 

This one shows my problem, the speakers are too far foward:

 This is the left:

This is the right:

My problem is that I can hardly hear them at this position, I think it would be better to mount them to the ceiling pointed down where the speaker jax are located. 

Just for reference this one shows the front system:

You actually have quite a bit to work with there.  What I would do is put a small shelf under each speaker and turn them 90 degrees so they are each facing inward toward your listening postion.  Then the speakers can be positioned as they are intended to be as side surrounds and you will be able to hear all four drivers in each speaker instead of only the inside two as they're currently set up.

If you can hardly hear them where they are now, mounting them higher isn't going to help any, even if they are angled down.  If you want a cleaner installation you can always paint the shelf white that the speaker is sitting on, cut the front side of it at an angle so that it follows the angle of the speaker and also put a white piece of wood behind the speaker so that its back side and wires aren't visible.

I used Google SketchUp to show you what I'm talking about as far as angling the speakers towards each other.  I could provide more detail if you want but I think it shows the general idea of what would work best in your case.

If you haven't tried using SketchUp yet its an awesome program.  Takes a little time to learn all the commands but it allows you to instantly re-arrange your room and see what works and what doesn't.

 Another view

Ya, I see what you are talking about.  I did not think of using a shelf but it sounds like the way to go.  Thanks for taking the time to sketch it out and post replies.

Keith 

NEVER mount a wall hanging speaker on the ceiling!  The cabinet is not built to hold the weight of the speaker mounted like that.

The "Key hole" mounts are only screwed into the MDF back with wood screws. They could pull out and fall.

Then you have the key hole mounts, you can never get them tight enough to be sure they will not move off the screws.

IF you want to have a speaker fall and maybe hit some one or thing, hang them on the ceiling.