Best Speaker Mounts for Walls or Ceilings

There are a lot of reasons to want to wall mount your speakers. Maybe you’re worried your kids/pets will knock them off a stand. Maybe you’re considering upgrading to Atmos and don’t have access to your attic. Perhaps you just like the clean look of an on-wall speaker setup. Regardless, not all speakers come with mounts. If you already own bookshelf speakers, they may not have any included hardware that is compatible with a mounting option! So, what do you do? We go over the best wall or ceiling speaker mounts and options out there.

Best Keyhole Mounts

The most common hardware you’ll find on the back of a speaker for wall mounting is the keyhole type. This is a simply larger hole that allows in the head of a screw that you slide upwards to lock in place with a thinner section. While you can use regular screws around the house to do the job (even those connected to drywall anchors), it’s a bit easier to buy something to help you out.

The Hangman KSH4-B Keyhole Speaker Mount Kit has double-headed screws to take the guesswork out of the installation. It also comes with drywall anchors, marking pins, rubber pads to help with vibrations, and even a level. This takes a job that can be frustrating and makes it a breeze. At $8.50 for four screws (and you can add 25 more for $10), that’s usually enough to mount two to four speakers. Because the keyhole mount by design relies on gravity, these can only safely be used on walls.

Best Wall or Ceiling Threaded Insert Mounts

While the most common solution for wall/ceiling mounting a speaker is the keyhole mount, a close second is a threaded insert. Threaded inserts look like a screw receptacle mounted on the back of the speaker. These are pretty standardized though you’ll want to check the specifications of your speaker. They usually list a thread-count of the insert and you’ll want to match that up to your speaker mount.

These mounts can do double-duty as ceiling mounts. As long as you secure the speaker to the mount and don’t rely on gravity to hold them in place like keyhole mounts, they can be used on the ceiling.

Our Favorite: Monoprice Low Profile Wall Mount

Monoprice has a slew of wall and ceiling mounts to choose from so, if you don’t like this one, keep looking. They more than likely have what you want. We like this one because of its versatility.

First, it is low profile so it keeps your speaker close to the wall. Second, you connect a plate to the wall and a separate mount to the speaker. You then slide the mount into the plate and secure it with a screw. The makes connecting the speaker to the mount much easier than having to navigate around the speaker while attaching to the wall.

This mount has some ability to aim your speaker but the low profile limits this somewhat. It also comes with an adaptor that can be connected to the back of your speaker if it doesn’t have a threaded insert. We are always leery of drilling into our speakers so do this at your own risk.

There is ALSO an adaptor for keyhole mounts. This would give you the ability to hang that type of speaker in any orientation you want. This is basically the do-it-all mount. The Monoprice Low Profile wall mount can hold up to 22lbs and run $14 a pair.

Best Alternative: VideoSecu MS45B Universal Speaker Wall/Ceiling Mount

If you are looking for something that gives you a little more space to aim your speaker, take a look at the VideoSecu MS45B Universal speaker mount. This mount doesn’t have quite the options of the Monoprice, but it does include two different threaded insert arms.

One is straight and the other has a right-angle bend near the end. This gives you a much greater ability to aim the mounted speaker. These mounts can only handle up to 10lbs so buy carefully. The hardware to secure the speaker to the mount and lock in the direction of the speaker is also harder to adjust by hand. At $13 a pair, these are another inexpensive option.

Best Clamping Speaker Mount

We get it. You’ve got speakers you love and you want every speaker in your home theater to match. Timbre matching is important and some people want to be sure that pans are perfect. But what if the manufacturer of your favorite speakers doesn’t make an on-wall or wall-mountable speaker? More importantly, what if you already own some speakers and you’ve changed rooms and need to wall-mount them?

Sure, other people might drill a mounting plate to the back of their speakers, but that’s not you. You’d never defile your favorite speakers like that! Don’t worry, we got mounts for you.

Author’s Note: These mounts can only be safely used on walls. If you want to mount a speaker to the ceiling, you’ll need to add some hardware to the speaker. Contact the speaker manufacturer before you start drilling holes into your speakers.

Side Clamping Mount: VideoSecu MS56B Side Clamping Bookshelf Speaker Mounting Bracket

If you have a bookshelf speaker and want to mount it to a wall, you’ve really not got very many options. One of our favorites is the VideoSecu MS56B Side Clamping mounting bracket. This is designed for larger speakers and the side clamps can extend from 5.3 to 11 inches. This mount is rather large and can hold up to 33lbs. The design is such that you are supposed to drill holes into the sides of your speakers to make sure the speaker doesn’t slide out of the mount when you angle them.

Yeah, that stresses us out too.

What we’ve done is to use museum putty on the sides and bottom of the speaker to secure it to the mount. This does double-duty of securing the speaker to the mount (you’ll still want to tighten it appropriately) and eliminating any rattles. We’ve known users that have used this solution for years without any movement of the speakers. The MS56B will run you $20 a pair.

Front/Back Clamping Speaker Mount: Cotytech SP-OS08 Clamping Mount

If you have a speaker that you’d like to tilt downward and you are not comfortable with the side clamping mount, check out the SP-OS08 from Cotytech. This is a front/back clamping mount that can be tilted up to 15 degrees down and can be adjusted from 3.15 inches to 14.57 inches. The front clamp gives a bit more security from sliding out of the mount and anti-slip pads are included.

Our complaint is that there is no protection for the screws (the Amazon image has pointed securing screws while the Cotytech site shows flat screws) on the back of the speaker. We’d put some sort of buffer (a thin piece of wood) with museum putty between the buffer and the speaker. At $45 a pair, this is a more expensive option but it can hold up to 44lbs.

Best Wall or Ceiling Mount for Tiny Speakers

If you own tiny speakers, many of these mounts are overkill. You don’t need a mount that can handle 40lbs. You need one that can accommodate 3lbs. For the truly tiny speakers, we like the Sanus WMS3 speaker mount. It is small, comes in three colors (black, white, or silver), and can hold up to 8lbs. The mounting hardware included with the WMS3 can accommodate keyhole, threaded inserts, and other mounting solutions. There are made of plastic so don’t go pushing past that 8lbs limit. They extend about six inches from the wall and have a swivel/tilt joint around four inches from the wall. The joint can be used to position and aim your speaker however you want.

Best Soundbar Mount

When you’ve got your TV mounted to the wall, the last thing you want is to have to put a piece of furniture underneath it to hold your soundbar. While there are a ton of soundbars out there, almost all of them come with included threaded inserts for mounting. The problem is that they don’t know the size of your TV or what sort of wall mount you will have so they don’t include any mounting hardware. The Mounting Dream Soundbar Mount MD5420 is our go-to in this situation. It has adjustable arms and can be positioned to work with just about any speaker/TV combination. At a hair over $21, it won’t break the bank either. Maximum weight is 22lbs for the Mounting Dream MD5420 but don’t forget to add that weight to the weight of your TV for your wall mount.

Best Overlooked Speaker Mount: The Lowly Shelf

Too often we see people willing to spend a lot of money on speaker mounts when a lowly shelf would work just as well. As the new Atmos recommended placements is for the speaker to be firing directly into the room, there is rarely a need to tilt a speaker. Why spend a bunch of money on a mount when you can pick up a shelf for a fraction of the cost? And now you have someplace to put some decorations up in your theater. It’s a win-win! We’d link you up to a shelf option but, really? Run out to your local building supply or big box store and pick something up. Just make sure it is large enough and can hold the weight.