Optimum audio experience with speakers above acoustic ceiling

You can hide speakers above your Troldtekt® ceiling

Troldtekt acoustic panels ensure good acoustics. This also means that the sound from loudspeakers is reproduced clearly and comprehensibly without any disturbing reverberation. And hiding your speakers above your acoustic ceiling enables you to achieve the best possible audio experience.

Lets the sound pass through the ceiling
Troldtekt acoustic panels have an open surface structure which is sound-absorbing, but not sound-insulating. This means that sound waves from a cavity above the acoustic panels can pass through the ceiling and be evenly dispersed throughout the room.

If you want to conceal your sound system above your Troldtekt ceiling, it requires a suspended acoustic ceiling with space above it to accommodate flat speaker panels. In this way, you won’t see the speakers, but you will hear the sound, clearly and distinctly.

Sound in every corner
With traditional, visible, speaker systems in ceilings, the sound is emitted from a few points, which often results in high sound pressure close to the speakers, but which quickly attenuates, becoming weak in the furthest corners. It is important for a good audio experience that the sound reaches every corner.

A completely flat speaker panel makes it possible to ensure good sound distribution in the room and thereby cover a larger area than with traditional speakers. Troldtekt does not supply speaker panels, but there are several different flat panels on the market.

How to improve sound distribution

It is important for a good audio experience that the sound from the loudspeaker reaches every corner of the room. In the case of traditional speaker systems, the sound risks becoming too weak in the farthest corners, because the sound is unevenly distributed in the room. We all know the situation from airport terminals and railway stations, where you need to be close to the loudspeakers to be able to understand announcements.

With flat panel speakers concealed above your Troldtekt acoustic ceiling, you can achieve significantly better sound distribution than with conventional cabinet speakers. In this way, the sound signal can be distributed more evenly across the ceiling surface, so that the sound is always within hearing range – without having to turn up the volume.

How to dimension your speaker system

To achieve an optimum audio experience in a room, it is important that loudspeaker units and any subwoofers are dimensioned correctly in relation to the room in question.

Several factors affect the audio experience in a room, and must be taken into account when calculating the number and distribution of loudspeaker panels in the ceiling to ensure that the sound pressure is as uniform as possible.

Low reverberation time produces clear sound
Some of the factors that affect dimensioning are:

• Speech intelligibility and sound pressure distribution
• Room geometry, including in particular ceiling height
• Room reverberation time
• Background noise

A high level of speech intelligibility requires a good sound system and good room acoustics with a low reverberation time. Troldtekt acoustic panels ensure optimum sound absorption and a low reverberation time in the room.

Read more about acoustics and reverberation times

Ceiling height matters
For ceiling heights of 2.5 to 8 metres, one good-quality speaker panel for approx. every 30 square metres will be sufficient to ensure optimum speech intelligibility and good sound pressure distribution. For ceiling heights below 2.5 metres and above 8 metres, it may be necessary to increase the number of speakers to ensure good sound pressure distribution and optimum speech intelligibility.

The longer the reverberation time in the room, the fewer speaker panels are needed to ensure adequate sound pressure – but then speech intelligibility in the room will be compromised. You should therefore strive to reduce the reverberation time to less than 0.6 to 0.9 seconds if you want to be able to hear what is being said. A Troldtekt ceiling has high sound absorption, and efficiently reduces the reverberation time in the room.

Beware background noise
In particular for PA systems, it is important that the sound system signal is clearly differentiated from the background noise. This can be achieved, for example, by turning the volume up so high that the sound pressure drowns out the noise. Alternatively, you can ensure that the sound is evenly distributed throughout the room so that disturbing background noise does not act as a barrier between the sound source and the recipient.