I've been installing ceiling speakers for clients for several years now, and I'm almost always just using some very inexpensive models (usually Monoprice). I'd like to try out some different models and compare their sound, but I'm not sure how to best compare them.

For example, I just received a Micca R-8C speaker and hooked it up to an old Sonos Amp product. Because I don't exactly feel like cutting various sizes of holes in my own ceiling, I thought I'd at least give it a shot while sitting it its own box. But I'm really unimpressed with the sound quality.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting much from these things. Ceiling speakers aren't usually much to write home about, and the end use of 95% of these things will be for ambient music during cooking/entertaining. But still, I'm hoping for at least a little bit more.

One of the songs I use to test bass is "Baby You're a Rich Man" by The Beatles. This thing fails so terribly it's almost laughable. I know I shouldn't expect much - if any - bass from this thing, but still, this is so bad. It sounds so much worse than what I expected after reading user reviews.

Should I build some sort of test box? I have a bunch of plywood lying around. What would be the best way to test real-world sound quality?