Review: Monitor Audio C3M Creator Series In-Ceiling Speakers

Architectural audio is a fairly mature category. New speakers come out all the time, but the fundamentals of producing sound through in-wall circles and rectangles have stayed pretty much the same for a few decades. I wouldn’t call myself jaded, but I don’t go out of my way to solicit reviews for these products because it’s hard for me to get excited about them.

Related: Monitor Audio Adds In-Wall Model to Platinum Series 3G Speaker Lineup

When Monitor Audio asked me if I wanted to take a crack at their new C3M Creator Series in-ceiling speakers I agreed, but I wasn’t expecting anything special. Was I about to have my mind blown or reaffirm my “meh” attitude toward true in-ceiling speaker innovation? I set off to find out.

Unboxing

Monitor Audio C3M Creator Series in-ceiling speakers ship in unassuming brown cardboard boxes, clearly aimed at a busy installer who just wants to get on with it.

Here’s our unboxing video, which is a lot more fun that reading about it:

A few other telltale signs of pro-grade speakers jumped out at me, namely a modular connector (Monitor Audio calls it a “Quik-Link”) allowing the connection of cable conductors to a small snap on piece versus balancing the speaker in one hand while trying to push a proverbial camel through the eye of a needle. According to Monitor’s website, the speakers sport features like “RDT III bass driver, IDC II midrange driver, and IDC II tweeter with UD Waveguide II.” While I wasn’t sure what all these fancy marketing terms meant, I got the drift that these were Monitor’s top of the line (what it calls Tier 3) speakers.

Installation

The team members at my custom installation company, Livewire, are sometimes loath to let me touch power tools, so our ace team of Josh McDonough and David Hicks set to work unboxing and installing. After a few minutes of cutting, pulling fresh wire and making all the connections, we had the new speakers installed, replacing a similar (but acoustically inferior) pair. The other side of the speakers connected into a Sonos Amp with LFE out to an SVS in-wall subwoofer. I started to get a little excited, realizing the combination of Monitor Audio’s always solid sound paired with the subwoofer would potentially produce some stellar results.

Configuration

We left the adjustment switches for corner, high frequency, and midrange alone (oddly enough we could not find any reference to these switches in Monitor’s documentation). Our installation sat in the middle of a large room, so the characteristics of the space were nothing out of the ordinary. 

I fired up my TIDAL app and started playing a few tunes at low levels to see how the C3M speakers sounded. First up came Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler. The sound was clean and pure with perfect voice isolation. I cranked the volume up a little higher and ensured that the LFE crossover was set to 80Hz. The midrange and high frequency reproduction coming from the ceiling was sublime as I continued through more songs, including A Forest by The Cure, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel, Uprising by Muse, and SICKO MODE by Travis Scott. I started to zone out, transported in the way only amazing sound can move us. Here I was, not expecting anything monumental and ending up with my face melted off. 

Final Report

Monitor Audio C3M Creator Series In-Ceiling Speakers retail for $1,000 each. How much would you pay for a transcendental sound experience? Most audiophile-grade speakers sell for a heck of a lot more than $2k a pair. The C3M speakers are a bargain for the amount of power and quality they deliver. I highly recommend you rip out all of your in-ceiling speakers and exchange them for these. You’re welcome.