Review on Enhance Your Audio Experience with the 5252AC Silver Ticket In-Ceiling Speaker: Pivoting Full Speaker Adjustable Angle Woofers and Tweeter (Dual 5.25 Inch in-Ceiling Center Channel) by Vijay Patel

This is normal. They sound dull and have a short range. It's in a new house, but it's the same Yamaha receiver that I had in my last house. The last house had built-in micca speakers. Maybe because the walls here were more closed than our ceiling, they sounded great. They just sounded bad with the same settings and even with the same active subwoofer. With a little adjustment to the receiver output, I was able to get them sounding "acceptable" for a TV, but the music is seriously lacking. 14ga Aluminum Free Copper Wire (Monoprice). They pretend they're not meant for the outdoors (like a blanket - insulation provided) but for a closed "box" like a spiked wall, giving them a hollow sound. When the weather cools down I might try building a small enclosure around them in the attic to hopefully curb the noise. Stencil, just be aware you will need to cut. I would probably come back if I didn't cut the ceiling for them.