At CEDIA Expo 2006, Owings Mills, MD-based Definitive Technology demonstrated two new speakers that take the firm’s Reference Architectural Series product line in a new direction: namely, up into the ceiling.

The UIW RCS II (Reference Ceiling Speaker, $599/each) is a two-way speaker featuring three active drivers—a 1� pure aluminum dome tweeter, two 5 ¼� mid-bass drivers, and a pair of 6 ½� pressure-coupled passive radiators. Rather than aiming its drive units straight down, the RCS II places its drive units on a steeply angled baffle plate designed to give listeners the sensation that sound is coming from in front of them—not from above. In itself, this angled mounting scheme is not unique (many other in-ceiling speakers take a similar approach), but what is unique is the RCS II’s distinctive, computer-optimized ribbed waveguide (or “wave launch control surface� as some at Definitive call it). Definitive sources explained that the design of the ribbed guide not only took considerable computer modeling time, but also a great deal of empirical, trial-and-error testing to get right. But the effort paid off in the form of an in-ceiling L/C/R speaker that in some respects creates the illusion that it is positioned in the front wall. While no in-ceiling speaker I’ve yet heard does a perfect job of this, the RCS II works better than most.

To complete the in-ceiling system, the UIW RSS II (Reference Surround Speaker, $499/each) is a distinctive bi-polar design that features two complete sets of drive units mounted on a curved baffle plate. One set of drivers faces forward toward the listening area while the other set is angled toward the rear of the room. Each set of drivers consists of a 1� aluminum dome tweeter, a 4 ½� mid-bass driver, and a 4 ½� pressure coupled passive radiator. I found the RSS II was a superb, spacious-sounding surround speaker that conveyed rear channel information clearly, yet without making itself the center of attention. In fact, the RSS II is good enough that I could imagine users building surround systems that featured conventional freestanding speakers in the front channels, but that used RSS IIs to handle surround-channel duties.

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