[DaveyMac]

I hired a local A/V company to come in and replace Emotion 1700 speakers with Klipsch THX speakers.


The main purpose of replacing speakers was because old homeowner had speakers insanely high. Rear surround was literally ceiling height. And I wanted to add Atmos.


I told them put speakers per Dolby specs which I always thought was ear level in front and as far down in back as to not be blocked by rear of chairs.


They finished the job and I'm seriously questioning their choice of placements. Pictures are attached. I told them in so many words "wtf?" and they are saying that a "Certified THX Installer installed them exactly where they should be in that small room"


Anyone have any comments on whether these are too high or not? I do need to be mindful that the fronts are so low they have massive reflections of Seaton Subs there.... but good grief, they still seem high. And back ones are even higher!


The pictures give you a good idea of where they are...

 

[craig john]

The fronts are inverted, (tweeters on the bottom), so I think they're fine. The key is you want a sufficient height differential between the fronts and Atmos speakers. It looks to me like you have that.

The rears are fairly close to the seating, so placing them a little higher will reduce their "hot-spotting." They're biploes, so that should help with hot-spotting also. It looks to me like you have enough of a height differential with the surrounds to the Atmos speakers that you should be able to hear them as separate, discrete sounds. Nonetheless, if you feel they're too high, you could always invert them too.

More importantly, did they guy use the appropriate backer boxes?

Craig


Edit: I did not appreciate at first that the "rears" are actually "sides surrounds" in which case, they should be mounted on the side walls at 90 to 110 degrees, not in the rear.

 

[The_Nephilim1]

Well you can check the Dolby Website for placement for Atmos it is a bit different with placement..


you could probally contact them directly too:




https://www.dolby.com/us/en/speaker-setup-guides/index.html






here is the 5.1.2 setup looks like the rear speakers are angled from the corners??


https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/speaker-setup-guides/5.1.2-overhead-speaker-setup-guide.html

 

[QuiGonJosh]

Surround speakers work best about 1-2 feet above ear level, preferably on the side walls, depending on the room. This gives you a greater sense of envelopment and height to the rear sound field without the sense of knowing that a particular sound is coming right out of a certain speaker because it's at ear level right behind you. In your room, I would have put them on the side walls at the same 6 foot height in line or slightly behind the seating area. Doing this, in my opinion, is just about as good as Atmos, as it largely gives you the same sense of height that Atmos does without the additional speakers. As is, the placement looks fine to me.

 

[gajCA]

The pictures give you a good idea of where they are...

That looks similar to placement in actual Atmos theaters to be honest, which obviously is not what Dolby recommends for a home.

How does it sound?

 

[DaveyMac]

Edit: I did not appreciate at first that the "rears" are actually "sides surrounds" in which case, they should be mounted on the side walls at 90 to 110 degrees, not in the rear.

Thanks everyone for the advice, I feel better now about their placement.


It's hard to tell in pictures but unfortunately my surround speakers have to be on back walls. The right side of my room has double doors at an angle.. so no speaker can be placed there.