Convince him to put them in the wall somewhere, and possibly use those paper over speakers that can be painted out, if they still make them.

Don't mar the Adam Ceiling with any perforations or penetrations except a central chandelier, please :)
Use lots of perimeter sconces if need be but please no modern interruptions in a period ceiling.

Ditto. What about the option of a wifi speaker you bring in for formal dinners? I would do that before I would cut a hole in the ceiling or in the wall paneling. . . Many are battery operated, you could sit it below your sideboard or in another inconspicuous place, etc.

Or what about eliminating the speakers in the dining room altogether? The point of dining is to talk and music just distracts I think . . .

thanks so much to both you. i'm desperately trying to convince my husband for no speakers in the dining room. he's not buying our vision. :(

threeapples,

We have ceiling speakers all over our home. Many times we have the music fed from another room, so we can hear it in the dining room, music is just in the background. occaisionally, we have the music in the dining room but it is balanced most of the time with the other rooms' speakers, so it's just barely on in the dining room.

Just an idea, you could possibly put the speakers lower in the walls; chair rail height or even lower to be less conspicuous.