Did you ask your sub why he made the changes without your permission and approval? Change orders always have to be signed by the owner before proceeding. Who hired the AV sub?

Have you Googled the two speakers and compared specs?

In ceiling speakers are NOT for critical listening. That said each mfg have a different sound which is why auditioning them is more important then price and look.

That said the key making in wall and ceiling speaks work is a good subwoofer to balance out the sound.

Go listen to them you cant buy speakers by looking at pictures.

I agree with comments that you should sample the speakers if possible. Klipsch tend to be on the bright side, however for movies they are great. You truly hear every detail. I have a 5.1.2 Klipsch audio system. My floor speakers required some breaking in but after the initial break in period, they sound so good.

Each person tolerates different sounds, so if you were initially satisfied with the episodes, then i say stick with those provided you've listened to the klipsch too.

Hi Kristin

All great comments above.

Episode speakers are only available through the pro-AV channel and are very good speakers - we use them for many of our multi-room audio (indoor/outdoor) solutions, such as in your application. However, if the model number you mentioned is correct "200 series" ($36.00 MSRP) - those particular speakers are more often used in a commercial audio setting (70V audio) such as retail locations, offices, etc. And although they can be used in residential applications with the proper amp, I personally would not have selected that model for your application. For entry level speakers, the Episode "300 or 500" series (8 Ohm) would have been a better fit - sound wise as well as aesthetically. The 1700 series speakers are Episode's "Signature Series" - excellent mid-level in-wall LCR speaker ($385 MSRP) for home theater.

And just so you don't think I'm an Episode speaker selling snob-LOL, we also use Klipsch as well - both are very good speakers. I'm thinking that your electrician A/V guy had a come-to-Jesus moment and realized that the Episode 200 series was the wrong fit...and that my friend was a good thing. In this case, the Klipsch 160CDT was clearly the better choice. We basically listen to multi-room audio somewhere between 5-10 watts, so don't over think it.

As for the HT speakers, the Pro 160RPW are Klipsch's entry level all-around, in-wall speaker. If you are willing to put a little more money into the HT sound and want to stay with Klipsch, I would recommend the R5502 for the front and the 5650S for the surrounds (providing that the rears are in the wall). These speakers are priced close to the Episode 1700 series.

As Pro-integrators, clients don't usually ask us for specific brand names, but they do rely on us to select the proper speaker for their budget. Listening to architectural speakers in the store doesn't always guarantee that they will sound great in you home - in fact , they never do. Providing that you start off with a good quality speaker, a Pro A/V integrator can equalize the amp to match the speaker to your environment.

Lastly, if we ever promised a client a specific brand of speaker, we would never show up with a different model without having discussed the pros & cons of why we did that.

Hope this helps

Frank P