Flush-mount speakers look good, sound OK

Spot the speaker: Flush-mount speakers disappear into the wall.

A friend who installs home-entertainment systems has a story about in-ceiling speakers. He'd done a whole-of-home audio job in the eastern suburbs and every room got at least two speakers. After he'd finished, the client got a painter to colour-match all the ceilings to the speaker grilles. It was only after this that the guy discovered the grilles could have been painted to match the ceilings.

Practically all in-ceiling and in-wall speakers have paintable grilles, but here's a tip for first-timers: paint the grilles separately, let them dry, and then clip them in place over the innards of the speaker. And take them off before cleaning, too.

The attraction of in-ceiling and in-wall speakers, known as flush-mounts, is that once in place they tend to disappear from sight. They are flush with the surface and can be the same colour, so tend not to be noticed. They're a good compromise if space is tight or when your partner won't countenance regular speakers dotted around the room.

Colour match: Most in-ceiling and in-wall speakers have paintable grilles.

Brands include Pyle, Bose, Sonance, Kef, Canton and Opus One. Among the dealers I spoke to, Yamaha is the popular customer choice, with prices starting at $349 a pair and going to $529. Get into the specialist brands such as SpeakerCraft and prices range from about $400 to $1200 a pair.

Lots of home theatres have regular speakers at the front and in-ceiling speakers at the rear, which works because the in-ceilings usually only provide fill-in sound. Occasionally, when a voice or a key piece of soundtrack is at the rear, it can sound odd coming from above, but you'll only notice this occasionally.

Flush-mounts have two disadvantages.

The first is installation. A hole has to be cut and cables run to the audio source. This involves mucking around, dust and disruption, and of course dollars, especially in double-brick houses. Plasterboard is easier to cut but there's still the cabling. For a couple of speakers, think anywhere from $300 to $500 for installation.

The second: flush-mounts seldom sound as good as regular speakers. There are a couple of reasons for this.

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Flush-mount speakers look good, sound OK