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Atmos Speaker Placement Advice--Front and Back or Side Wall 5.1.4

3824 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by emcdade, Aug 17, 2019

rlhjr34

Discussion Starter · Aug 14, 2019

I'm getting ready to jump into the world of Atmos finally and I'm going with a 5.1.4 system right off the bat. I don't have an ideal option for in ceiling speakers and so I'm looking at some of the following possibilities. My theater room is medium sized, with a single row of seating, and it has 8 foot ceilings that is all flat. I've not heard real consistent praise for going with Atmos Enabled modules and using the bounce effect, so I'm not really considering that option. I'm running a Wharfedale Crystal 4 system. I'm running a pair of 4.3's for the front channels, with the matching center, plus Crystal 4.1's for surrounds with a Klipsch 10"sub. I'm considering one of these options..

1) Use a couple more pairs of Crystal 4.1's for front height speakers and rear height. Mount them above the towers and rears and angle them down towards my seating.

2) Use two pairs of Crystal 4.1's and mount them on the side walls just in front of the seating area and behind it, to model overhead speakers.

* I'm also considering the SVS Prime Elevations for these applications too if my budget expands to accommodate the cost differential and they are the most recommended option to go with. I assumed however that using matching speakers might be a good way to go though to keep the timbre matching element. Even if it doesn't make too much difference for the effects channels.

3) Going with a really good pair of modules that might work well and are worth consideration

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RayGuy

· #2 · Aug 15, 2019

Why not try it and see what you like best? Can't be too difficult to temporarily place the speakers in those positions, a couple pair of tall boards from Home Depot should do the trick.

BTW, I see no reason to spend extra for these speakers, they are really not called upon to do much.

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Ed Mullen

· #3 · Aug 15, 2019

rlhjr34 said:
I'm getting ready to jump into the world of Atmos finally and I'm going with a 5.1.4 system right off the bat. I don't have an ideal option for in ceiling speakers and so I'm looking at some of the following possibilities. My theater room is medium sized, with a single row of seating, and it has 8 foot ceilings that is all flat. I've not heard real consistent praise for going with Atmos Enabled modules and using the bounce effect, so I'm not really considering that option. I'm running a Wharfedale Crystal 4 system. I'm running a pair of 4.3's for the front channels, with the matching center, plus Crystal 4.1's for surrounds with a Klipsch 10"sub. I'm considering one of these options..

1) Use a couple more pairs of Crystal 4.1's for front height speakers and rear height. Mount them above the towers and rears and angle them down towards my seating.

2) Use two pairs of Crystal 4.1's and mount them on the side walls just in front of the seating area and behind it, to model overhead speakers.

* I'm also considering the SVS Prime Elevations for these applications too if my budget expands to accommodate the cost differential and they are the most recommended option to go with. I assumed however that using matching speakers might be a good way to go though to keep the timbre matching element. Even if it doesn't make too much difference for the effects channels.

3) Going with a really good pair of modules that might work well and are worth consideration

Overhead mounting will definitely be more immersive and convincing than the ceiling bounce.

Go here for the recommended 5.1.4 speaker placement.

Get as close as you can to ideal/optimal placement - but if you can't put them on the ceiling, try high on the side walls angling down.

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m0j0

· #4 · Aug 15, 2019

I have a .4 atmos setup with front and rear heights and feel it sounds really good, at least when a decent atmos scene comes along. I found that you don't want to really point the speakers directly at the MLP but in the vicinity. I went with the Focal Sibs as they are fairly affordable, very capable, and I could easily change the angle of the speaker once mounted, so that helped me with experimenting a bit to get them sounding right. Here's a few pics of how I have mine mounted, if that helps.

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rlhjr34

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 16, 2019

I guess I should clarify a couple of points. I don't own the speakers yet for the height channels. I guess part of what I was asking is as much about the speakers to go with as it is where to place them. I found a few good deals on adding extra pairs of the speakers I already have for a pair of surrounds and was wondering if using those for my height channels would be more/equal/less ideal than going with the Prime Elevations. Cost is a consideration to a degree and I can buy 4 bookshelf for the price of a pair of the elevations. Not opposed to buying a pair of elevations and adding a second later.

The main unknown I had was what is recommended as the best option if overhead/in ceiling is not an option. Front/Back...Side? mOjO seems to be happy with front and back which is the way I was leaning initially. But to Ray's point I can experiment. I was wondering what the typical consensus was on which way to go. Dolby's site pretty much mentions over head or bounce options only. So that was my reason for asking initially.

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blb1215

· #6 · Aug 16, 2019

rlhjr34 said:
I guess I should clarify a couple of points. I don't own the speakers yet for the height channels. I guess part of what I was asking is as much about the speakers to go with as it is where to place them. I found a few good deals on adding extra pairs of the speakers I already have for a pair of surrounds and was wondering if using those for my height channels would be more/equal/less ideal than going with the Prime Elevations. Cost is a consideration to a degree and I can buy 4 bookshelf for the price of a pair of the elevations. Not opposed to buying a pair of elevations and adding a second later.

The main unknown I had was what is recommended as the best option if overhead/in ceiling is not an option. Front/Back...Side? mOjO seems to be happy with front and back which is the way I was leaning initially. But to Ray's point I can experiment. I was wondering what the typical consensus was on which way to go. Dolby's site pretty much mentions over head or bounce options only. So that was my reason for asking initially.

I am curious on this as well as I am using 4 wall mounted height speakers for atmos duty. I am just getting things set up and currently have 4 Klipsch R-41sa speakers mounted high on side walls about 4 1/2 feet in front and 3 1/2 feet behind. I have not done any wire management yet and before I tackle that job, I am hoping to find out if front and rear walls might work better. My room is 12' x 16' with 8' ceiling. I know...experiment...but I just have not had any time to play any atmos content yet as I just moved into the house and so many other things that are taking priority over getting my room set up.

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Ed Mullen

· #7 · Aug 16, 2019

rlhjr34 said:
I guess I should clarify a couple of points. I don't own the speakers yet for the height channels. I guess part of what I was asking is as much about the speakers to go with as it is where to place them. I found a few good deals on adding extra pairs of the speakers I already have for a pair of surrounds and was wondering if using those for my height channels would be more/equal/less ideal than going with the Prime Elevations. Cost is a consideration to a degree and I can buy 4 bookshelf for the price of a pair of the elevations. Not opposed to buying a pair of elevations and adding a second later.

This is one of those 'it depends' type answers.

The main unknown I had was what is recommended as the best option if overhead/in ceiling is not an option. Front/Back...Side? mOjO seems to be happy with front and back which is the way I was leaning initially. But to Ray's point I can experiment. I was wondering what the typical consensus was on which way to go. Dolby's site pretty much mentions over head or bounce options only. So that was my reason for asking initially.

The answer lies in the Atmos link I provided earlier. Scroll down and look at the side view of the listener (blue guy in chair) and the recommended angles to the front/rear height channels.

Ideally the angle should be 45 degrees forward/rearward to the height channels. In a 'short' room, mounting the speakers on the front/rear walls can work fine - because they fall into the recommended angles shown in the Atmos link.

Conversely, in a 'long' room, the mounting the speakers on the front/rear walls places them so far outside of the recommended 45 degree angle that a 'hole' results over the listener where there are no overhead effects.

So in cases of long/deep rooms, mounting the height channels on the side walls (provided the room isn't super wide) can result in better results with more overhead effects.

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