Soundproofing Ceiling Speakers: In-Ceiling Enclosures and Backer Box

Aren't home theaters just the best?

Although not all of us can afford them, there is no denying the fact that the movie-watching experience in a home theater if far more superior to watching movies on your laptop or TV.

The sound, the video quality, the size of the screen, everything is better.

Now, when it comes to sound, you know how important it is to have quality speakers.

However, these speakers are quite massive and they have loads and loads of cables, and sometimes that just negatively affects the look of the room.

Problems with In-ceiling speakers

This is why in-ceiling speakers are great.

The cables are practically invisible and they take up significantly less space than regular speakers.

Still, these speakers have a huge disadvantage.

Their sound quality is much worse than it is in regular speakers. 

Since they are located between two layers of drywall, it is understandable that the sound quality is affected.

Another big problem with these speakers is the fact that the sound they produce travels to the room above and this can turn out to be a big nuisance for the person who is so unlucky to spend time in a room above your home theater.

best ways to Soundproofing ceiling speakers

The best possible solution in this situation is to soundproof your ceiling speakers.

Don’t worry, there are plenty of good ways to do this, and I am here to provide you with two of them that are the very best.

1. Building a backer box for the speakers

The problem with these speakers is the fact that their back is not covered and this is the reason that the sound travels to the room above.

Your goal is to keep the sound from traveling into other rooms and a backer box is a great way to do that. Keep in mind that the box should be about 5 inches deep.

This option is perfect for those of you who love DIY projects and working with your hands.

Building this box is not a very complicated task and it can easily be done even by those of you who aren’t very experienced in DIY projects similar to this one.

Let see how it’s done:

1. Measure your speaker in order to determine how big your backer box needs to be
2. Get a wooden board and cut it in two pieces, one of them matching the length of the speaker and the other measuring the breadth
3. Get a nail gun or some screws and put the pieces together to make a frame
4. Place the frame on an OSB board and draw its outline with a pencil
5. Get a saw and cut out the OSB board along the lines you’ve drawn. Now you have a lid!
6. Fasten the lid to the frame using screws
7. Now get a drill and make a hole on the frame through which the wires will go
8. Place the box on the drywall and make sure that there isn’t any space between the box and the drywall. If by chance there is some space left, fill them with some appropriate material such as acoustic caulk

One of the most popular speaker enclosures that I’ve come across in online stores is Dynamat 50306 DynaBox Speaker Enclosure For In-Ceiling Speakers.

You can buy it on Amazon for the price of around $100 and according to customer reviews, it will be money well spent.

It is produced by a leading company for sound insulation materials for vehicles, so it’s likely to be very well functional.

Another really good speaker enclosure that I’ve come across is this Klipsch ME-800-C Speaker Enclosure for Reference Series In-Ceiling Speakers with 8" Woofers.

Klipsch is a very trustworthy company with quality products, so there is no doubt that this speaker enclosure is amazing.

It is a lot cheaper than the first one.

Which option I recommend

Now that you’re familiar with both options, you must be wondering which one you should choose.

Should you make the backer box or buy a soundproofing enclosure?

Personally, I believe that even though both of these options are great, the backer box has more advantages.

First of all, it is much cheaper than a soundproofing enclosure and it’s really not that complicated to build it.

If you want to save some money, then this is definitely the right option for you.

Secondly, it leaves you with more options to be creative and improvise.

It can turn out to be rather fun, even if you don’t like cutting things and using nail guns.

You can choose to use two layers of material (two lids made out of OSB boards connected with glue) or you can simply choose to fill the inner walls with some sound insulating material, and there is a huge number of appropriate ones for this.

Also, if you feel like it, you can even decorate the box by painting it a nice color or if you have any artistic talent you can draw something on it and make it look even better.

Still, for people who just don’t feel like putting time and effort into this, it is a much better solution to buy an enclosure and be done with it.

Just make sure to measure your speakers first and then choose the best enclosure in the store that matches the size of your speakers.

Of course, it is up to you to choose which option is the most appropriate for your particular situation and preferences.

If you want to save money, go for the first option, and if you want to get a solution quickly and don’t mind spending a bit more money, you should go for the second option.

Final Word on Soundproofing Ceiling Speakers

In conclusion, although ceiling speakers certainly are a great addition to your room and help you save a lot of space, they have many disadvantages that can’t possibly be overlooked.

There is the problem of the lower sound quality in comparison to regular speakers and there is the problem of noise traveling to the room above the speakers.

Fortunately, now you know how to fix the soundproofing problem.

Regardless of which of the two options you’ll choose, you can be sure that the noise problem will be solved and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

I am hopeful that my article will help you make the best possible choice and that you’ll finally be able to get some peace and quiet in the upper room.