Hanging Speakers on a Drop Ceiling

Fly Speakers From A Drop Ceiling
Who says you can't install speakers on a drop ceiling and still maintain a clean, professional look?

The unique problem when mounting speakers from a drop ceiling is that the ceiling itself cannot support the weight of most speakers. You need to go above the ceiling and attach your cables to a support beam. But how do you do that without ruining your ceiling and creating a visual disaster?

Kelly Olp, from Faith Chapel Foursquare Church in Montana, ran into this problem when he needed to install speakers after remodeling the Kid's Ministry Building. He tried to hang the speakers by drilling holes in his drop ceiling panels for the cables, but it ended up looking awful.

Speakers installed in a room with a drop ceiling

Speakers installed in a room with a drop ceiling

Stephen McCullough, CCI Solutions Lead Sales and Certified Technology Specialist, recommended using a video projector mounting plate that is designed for suspended ceilings. The Chief CMA455 Suspended Ceiling Tile Replacement Kit is a 2'x2' white plate that replaces one ceiling tile and blends in with the rest of your drop ceiling tiles to avoid any unnecessary attention being drawn to it. The plate mount is suspended and secured to the structure above with four wire ties, allowing you to install your speakers without having to cut any ceiling tiles. This unit comes with cables and turnbuckles to adjust the tension so the weight is distributed evenly over all four corners.

Replacement Plate with installed speakers

Replacement Plate with installed speakers

Kelly used the JBL Control 28 8" speakers, which work great in a small room and are light enough that the CMA455's weight capacity of 250 lbs. can easily support four of them. By bolting a JBL speaker mounting bracket to the plate, Kelly was able to mount four speakers in a semi-circle. The standard 1 1/2" pipe thread in the center of the replacement plate was originally intended to hang the projector; however, it provides an easy way to run speaker wires.

In the end, Kelly was very pleased with the speakers installed from his drop ceiling. He had all the support he needed from the ceiling above to hang four speakers to give him full coverage of his room. And the look was much cleaner and more professional than his first attempt of drilling holes in his ceiling tiles.