Micca M-8C 2-Way in-Ceiling Round Speaker, 9.4" Cutout Diameter, Whole House Audio, Home Theater, Indoor or Covered Outdoor, 8" Woofer, 1" Tweeter, White, Paintable, Each

My home burned down on December 31, 2010. After evaluating a lot of options, we decided we would rebuild the home ourselves. As part of the reconstruction effort, I wanted to install speakers in every room of my home (even the bathrooms), and wire my home with gigabit Ethernet. I had looked at a number of speakers before settling on these. In the end, I purchased and installed 35 of these speakers -- two each in three bedrooms, two baths, the kitchen, the dining room, and the sun room; five speakers in the master bedroom (5.1 surround sound); and seven speakers each in the family room and living room (7.2 surround sound). In the rooms where I support surround sound, I also have Polk Audio PSW10 powered subwoofers (excellent subwoofers). The sound from these speakers is simply amazing. I am a software engineer by profession, but I also have a music degree and I spent several years as a professional musician. My taste in music is varied -- from blues and hard rock, to new age, to classical, to electronica and beyond. As a result, I need speakers that will faithfully reproduce the sound I want to listen to -- these speakers do that. When I need lots of bass for electronica while listening to Deadmau5, Pendulum, or Cosmic Gate, these speakers deliver. If I want something to support hard rock with driving bass and screaming guitar like Jimmy Hendrix, Johnny Winter, or Led Zeppelin, these speakers do the job better than the ten-inch JBL's I used to use before my home burned down. If I just want to chill out and listen to Mozart, Greig, or Copland, these speakers faithfully reproduce the strings and woodwinds without any distortion. I have not found another speaker that demonstrate as much versatility as these speakers do. Another plus is that these speakers are very reasonable in price -- less expensive than Polk, Yamaha, Bose, and many other brands. If you are someone that likes to listen to music so loud that it actually hurts your ears, these speakers may not be for you -- in that case I would recommend JBL or Celeston speakers for extreme volume (although JBL's are terrible for classical music as they color the sound too much). However, I have pushed these speakers at 80 percent power using 105 watt receivers and they do not distort at all (and they are very loud). I normally listen to music at a level that allows me to still have a conservation with someone, so factor that into my review (I am not a fan of REALLY LOUD music). As far as mounting goes, these speakers are very easy to mount -- the speaker terminals have red and black push in buttons to feed 14 AWG speaker wire into, and there are four screws you turn to lock the speaker into the ceiling and mount it securely. The speakers come with white grills, and they look great when they are installed. The construction of these speakers is very sturdy, and the cones are reinforced. Also, while these are rated as eight inch speakers, they are actually almost ten inches in diameter when you mount them with the grills -- you will want to take that into account. I have ten-inch floor joists in my house that are mounted sixteen inches on center, which form really nice hollow boxes for mounting the speakers into the ceiling. If there was a slight negative to these speakers, I would say that they carry a lot of sound through walls and floors. Watching a movie with great theater sound late at night can be a problem if you don't want to wake people up, even when the speakers are at low volumes. If I decide to install speakers in my finished basement, I will buy more of these. Dollar for dollar, these speakers cannot be beat.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: I read all of the reviews and thought why not , I just wanted atmos, and I got a great deal on a pioneer. Vsx- lx 505 for $640.00 But had a budget of $1500 i got 4 =6" mica wall speakers and 2 = 6" micca overhead ceiling speakers paired with my Sony bookshelf speakers , center and sub , I'm very ocd about instalation so I dont like wires all over the place so I did the install on these in wall.and in ceiling speakers , when I hooked the first ones up and just did a basic sound tests to see if they worked , they sounded terrible, it was due to the large spaces in between the wall studs and ceiling joists , so I fabricated some boxes for the in ceiling speakers and fastened them to the joists in the attic and sealed up the boxes completely with silicone caulk , (no air gaps) then I went to the wall speakers and boxed in and sealed all 4 wall speakers in between the studs and sealed all around the inside of the boxes with caulk , (they do make prefabricated boxes but I like to save money and I had alot of extra wood lying around so if you want to save time but not money get the boxes ,you need to contain the speakers !) , anyways after calibration of the receiver which is necessary for setup of atmos or any real surround, I can tell you that these budget speakers gave me goosebumps ,every since I heard atmos for the first time ,I fell in love with the sound , and if you install these speakers correctly they will blow your mind ! After I finnished installing everything and listening to these ,the hairs on the back of my head and arms were standing , I asked my son to come out and listen to the clarity and deep concentration on individual sounds while watching top gun maverick ,his eyes were bugging out of his head , the part where all of the tomahawk missiles fly over the planes to intersept the targets , anyways it was like you were there , it sounded better than the theater ! So to sum it up , Cons = they feel and look cheap on the inside but are not . On the outside they look amazing. You may have to adjust the mounting screws delicately because they could strip if you dont take your time and tighten them to much , They do vibrate alittle but easily remedied with rubber isolation tape that is included in the box In order to hook them up properly you will have to either box in the holes you cut out for the speakers with wood studs or with the expensive prefabricated boxes that can cost more that the speakers themselves . Wich you would have to do with any brand or model of In wall speaker. Over all these speakers are absolutely amazing for the price and sound amazing. At this point I see no reason to ever "upgrade to a name brand " speaker After adjusting the vibration issues with the mounting of the wall speakers i cranked up the speakers all the way , with no distortion until I hit 90 percent on my receiver But it's probably because I have 120 watts going to a 100 watt speaker , hope this review helped someone out there .enjoy . Ease of use: Super easy install / once i got them boxed in Connectivity: Simple push type Performance: wow! Size: 6" Range: 50hz-20 khz at 100 watts each Distortion: Just a little over 90 percent volume after acurate install and adjustments

These speakers sound really great. It took me two years before I installed them, but they just are wonderful to hear. And not that expensive. Quality vastly outweighs the price. Lots of bang for your buck. Not that hard to install, when I actually got down to doing it.

I recently finished my basement and added a small family/tv area. Unlike my previous family space with a TV upstairs, I have a back wall so surround sound was actually an option. My original plan had been to put some 8.5" polk in-wall speakers into the wall. Since I finished EVERYTHING in the basement I ran some 14 gauge braided speaker wire (unshielded and probably not up to code but the electric inspector where I live doesn't do squat when he inspects) up through the joists in the ceiling so that I could easily hook them up to the receiver (I have a Yamaha 5.1 receiver). I ended up getting these because once the walls were up and I looked at the space with the drywall and everything else I realized that 8.5" would be massive overkill. And possibly shake down my whole house. Also, I abandoned the idea of buying polks because of the price. These were decently reviewed and very inexpensive, so I bought them. Installation was very simple. I knew where I wanted them installed and had the speaker wire taped to the insulation immediately behind the drywall and pilot holes already cut. It was a bit traumatizing to cut into the drywall and paint that my wife and I had spent countless hours hanging and painting, but cut I did. I cleared out the insulation a cylindrical space behind the hole and pushed the remaining insulation back a couple inches. The speakers went into and attached to the wall with no hitch. Getting the grills back on the front was harder than I thought and resulted in a minor (non-OSHA) injury in the form of a skinned thumb. Once installed they looked very nice - we decided to not paint them as the white was a nice contrast with the red on the wall. We installed these just before Christmas and bought the receiver with some gift money we received (no front channel speakers yet) and used these to fill the space with Christmas music on Christmas morning while we opened presents with our son. These two speakers on their own were able to fill the space with what sounded to us like great music (it was streamed over a Pandora One account, HD audio enabled). The range seemed full, the sound seemed as full bodied as I would expect it to be and it made our holiday a delightful one. We have since bought the front three channels and a TV to match and the surround sound we get now (with a calibrated receiver) is fantastic. We are more immersed in our movies and games now. I am not an audiophile (128 Kbps MP3's are OK with me) but these speakers sound great, especially considering the price I paid for them.

See the photos provided. Here are a few tips to make the installation easy. INSTALLATION TIPS 1) use a small hook tool to remove the speaker grills, not a nail 2) use painter's tape to hold the cut-out template to the ceiling; don't use the worthless little sticky tabs provided 3) cut out 2'x2' sheet foam squares to hold the insulation in place above the speakers and to prevent any insulation from getting into the speaker cone, which will vibrate and drive you crazy 4) pre-tap the screws before putting the speaker in place. This helps prevent stripping the phillips screw heads when screwing the speaker clamps in place 5) use a *slightly* damp cloth to wipe dusty finger prints from the speaker cone and ring. be gentle. SPEAKER PROs * inexpensive but not 'cheap'. There's a difference. * they sound decent, maybe a tad mid-high heavy, but the mid-bass frequencies are balanced and clear * can't beat the price for performance factor * easy install - I installed 6 speakers in 4 hours, including set-up, tear-down and clean-up. SPEAKER CONs * they sound decent, maybe a tad mid-high heavy, but the mid-bass frequencies are balanced * they are power-hungry. be sure to use an amp around 75-100 watts. Under-powering these speakers will make them sound faint and will not give the bass, mids and trebles 'punch'. MY THOUGHTS Keep in mind these are in-ceiling/in-wall speakers and unless you encapsulate them in sound boxes (like in-wall speaker cabinets) that are perfectly tuned to the cubic volume to maximize the sound, you will get decent but not 'wow' factor sound. Most installations will be with insulation behind the speaker magnets, which absorb bass reflex sound, which is what my installation was. Despite not giving the speakers a good encapsulated and ported environment, they still sound surprisngly good. If I were to use these for theatre surround sound, I would build ported boxes behind each in the wall or ceiling, acting like a speaker cabinet. Although, surround sound speakers don't do a lot of sound work during movies and live programming, so installing these as true surround sound speakers, I don't think a built-in speaker box is necessary. If these were installed as primary sound driver, yes, I would install speaker boxes behind them. MY REFERENCE POINTS to judge the performance and sound of the MICCA M-8C * I use Sonos products to wirelessly connect the entire home, controlled by the Sonos app on my phone * I have a Sonos Arc, Sonos Sub and two Sonos Ones in our family room. * I have a 9.1 Mirage home theatre system in our media room. (two 5' towers, one center channel, six ceiling mounted surround speakers and one 12" subwoofer). It is powered by a Pioneer SC-61 amp. I use a Sonos Port to connect the home theatre system to the whole house sound solution. * I have two Polk Audio Atrium 6 speakers on the back deck, connected to a Sonos Amp inside, which also powers two of the six Micca in-ceiling speakers, located in our dining room. * I have two Polk Audio Atrium 4 speakers and two 10" passive Synergistic towers in the garage, powered by an old Denon stereo amp. Who doesn't like to listen to the game or rockin' music when working in the garage? * I use a Sonos Amp to power the remaining four Micca in-ceiling speakers in our downstairs bar area. * I have 17 guitars, 6 guitar amps and a plethora of sound gear. I share all this to suggest I have been around 'sound' for a long, long time. There's nothing like a well-mixed live sound, which is my ultimate reference for designing my whole-house sound solution. While I am not an expert, I do like clear, crisp, clean unmuddled sound and I think for the price and for the intended purpose (in-ceiling), the Micca speakers do the trick. I couldn't justify spending $500 on two Bose in-ceiling speakers, for example.

I bought these for my bedroom to replace a "sound dock" which just never seemed to get used. This and a small amphony bluetooth amp are much cheaper and provide way better sound. I have been listening everyday since I bought them. Awesome bass response, great highs, slightly raspy but they should mellow with usage. The speakers fall off a little in the mid-ranges. What the heck anyway? 100$ for the pair! Installation: 48" high knee wall with crawl access behind and a framing header 1 inch above the installation, wall studs 16" of center and insulation behind the speakers making contact. Installation was incredibly easy. Comparison to Paradigm Studio 20s I was so happy with these, I figured I would give it a try. Paradigms: 2 way ported box, 7" woofer, 1" tweeter, 54hz-22khz, 90db ~900$ new. Miccas: 2 way in wall, 8" woofer, 1" tweeter, 40hz-20khz, 90db 100$ new. Both are 8 ohms. The Paradigms are way better in the mids, have smoother highs and the bass roll off is much nicer even though they don't go as low as the Miccas. Mid range intensive music like Paco de Lucia ( Flamenco ), Dianna Krall, David Bowie, Chet Baker, Paul Simon sound way better on the Paradigms. Heavy rock like Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and even some more folkie stuff like Dave Mathews and U2 there is not so much difference. I didn't bother comparing classical music. Movies I actually liked slightly better on the MIccas. The Miccas also spread sound better, the Paradigms are more directed, maybe box vs in-wall? So the comparison is unfair, the paradigms to me sound as good or better than speakers I compared them to in the $1200 to 1800 dollar range when I bought them. The Miccas are only 100$ a pair and I slightly prefer them for Movies. Despite a few weak points they are not fatiguing to listen to music for long periods which, to me, is the most important feature I look for in a speaker. Update: Comparison to BIC America DV-62CLRS 6-Inch 2-Way Center Channel Speaker This is a better comparison of similar level equipment although the BIC is a center channel designed for a different purpose. BIC: 3 way dual port box, 2 x 6" woofer, .75" tweeter, 38hz-20Khz, 90db, 110$ new. Miccas: 2 way in wall, 8" woofer, 1" tweeter, 40hz-20khz, 90db 50$ ( for one ) new. Both are 8 ohms. The BIC, at a higher price, is an all around inferior speaker to the Micca. Washed out base and less defined highs but a better balance of mids. It occurred to me that the mids on the Miccas sound diminished because the bass and highs are so robust. I did some research and found out that in wall speakers always project more bass, similarly, box speakers will throw more bass if they are closer to a wall. I am still trying to convince myself that speakers can't sound this good for 50$. UPDATE July 2017 I saw some reviews complaining about base. If these are installed correctly, believe me, base is not a problem. I found a site called audiocheck(dot)net. I can hear or rather "feel" down to 16Hz. Way below the advertised range of these speakers.

I bought 3 of these and 2 of the 8" ceiling speakers in May 2014. Installed 2 vertically and 1 horizontally under a 55" LED TV. I originally planned on speakers from Monoprice, but since these are similar in specs to the Monoprice units and I didn't have to pay shipping, I figured I would go with these. I wasn't looking for audiophile grade speakers, because I'm not audiophile, nor did I have audiophile money. However, I do enjoy nice sounding equipment. These are nicely constructed, as other reviewers have stated; they didn't look cheap or feel flimsy. It is important to take a few minutes to run the mounting screws in and out of the tabs, before mounting them. I also tested them before cutting any drywall or mounting, to make sure they all worked. They don't sound the same out of the wall as they do in the wall, so don't worry about the sound quality unless it's clearly distorted or something like that. I packed each wall cavity with extra insulation to keep as much of the sound from resonating out the back. It does make a difference. The mounting tabs all worked well, I did have to remove a couple due to the placement and stud location, but no big deal. I just screwed them into the stud at those points. My wife painted the bezels and grills to match our walls. it's not bad if you take your time with a roller. Just don't glob the paint on the grills. She did an excellent job! The speakers sound very nice and do an excellent job at reproducing movies and music. In my opinion, at this price you can't beat them. For the regular movie watcher that wants nice sound, these fit the bill. I also did the YPAO calibration on my Yamaha AV receiver...not sure if it really made a significant change. I have Klipsch speakers in my other house and I can't really tell the difference. Maybe my ears just aren't as tuned as an audiophile's are, but these sounded good to me. The tweeters aren't harsh or blaring and the mids do their job. It's imperative to have a subwoofer, otherwise you just won't get the bass needed for explosions and the like. Transformers 4 would not have sounded the same without a sub! After installing these in one room, I started thinking about doing another room. I paid just over $200 for 5 speakers, that's not bad at all for a nice sounding movie experience!

I'm not using these for their intended purpose as in-wall speakers. I have a pair of 2-way 1974 vintage speakers where the tweeter burned out on one of them. Rather than embark on an impossible task of finding a voice and impedance matched replacement tweeter I decided to try replacing the internals on both speakers with these units. The installation was a bit involved as the provisions on these speakers are for installing on drywall. The existing main driver on the speaker was a 12" unit, but these were able to fit into the opening with the included grill housing. The difficult part was painting the grills black so that they do not show through the speaker. Once installed you could not tell what was inside by looking at the speakers. I am driving these with a 15W/channel vintage amplifier and the volume had to be increased to get the same level as the old speakers - probably the old speakers had higher sensitivity than the stated 90db on these units. The sound was very close to the original drivers with these being a bit bright and a slight lack in bass which I was able to compensate with the tone controls on the amplifier. The audio quality is not the best on these speakers, but they do hold their own against a pair of 51-year old Pioneer speakers. I have a 12-year old set of Definitive Technology Pro-Cinema 800 speakers installed for home theater use and those sound a class (or two) above these, but they are also priced much higher. Also, I am driving these with a 51-year old amplifier rated at 15W rather than a modern home theater receiver. For my particular use these are a phenomenal value at the price and the audio quality they deliver.