Mixing speakers (ack) Polk with Klipsch ceiling for Atmos?

K

kresty

Audiophyte
I have like one of the worst questions ever. I know I'm being bad, but I want to consider it anyway.

I like my Polks that I'm using for 5.1 (Monitor 50 though they'll likely change to S50s). Currently using bipole surrounds, but I expect I'll go with direct with the atmos setup.

Anyhoo, I'm adding 4 atmos speakers, and... I'm considering the decorative effect of Klipsch's coppery drivers, leaving the grills off... How terrible would that be if the ceiling speakers weren't matched to the rest? (Yea, I know dolby says they should be matched and all, but I'm stuck on this silly idea.)
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I have like one of the worst questions ever. I know I'm being bad, but I want to consider it anyway.

I like my Polks that I'm using for 5.1 (Monitor 50 though they'll likely change to S50s). Currently using bipole surrounds, but I expect I'll go with direct with the atmos setup.

Anyhoo, I'm adding 4 atmos speakers, and... I'm considering the decorative effect of Klipsch's coppery drivers, leaving the grills off... How terrible would that be if the ceiling speakers weren't matched to the rest? (Yea, I know dolby says they should be matched and all, but I'm stuck on this silly idea.)
It will probably be OK although not ideal. but the truth is few Atmos systems are ideal. If it were me, I would make sure other aspects of your system are up to par before chasing four height channels. Make sure your main speakers and subs are good enough. The front stage is the heart of the system and Atmos is just an embellishment.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
I don’t think you’ll have any real big problems. If you’re using audyssey, that will help to match them tonally. Like shady said, get your bed layer solid first, making sure your subs are up to task, and speaker placement is good and you’ll have a good head start on Atmos.
 
K

kresty

Audiophyte
I don’t think you’ll have any real big problems. If you’re using audyssey, that will help to match them tonally. Like shady said, get your bed layer solid first, making sure your subs are up to task, and speaker placement is good and you’ll have a good head start on Atmos.
Thanks, I'll probably give it a try - though maybe I can figure out a temporary way to see if there's going to be a noticeable difference w/o the holes in the ceiling.

We're pretty satisfied with the rest, though I imagine that some folks would be aghast (because stuff can always be better).
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Thanks, I'll probably give it a try - though maybe I can figure out a temporary way to see if there's going to be a noticeable difference w/o the holes in the ceiling.

We're pretty satisfied with the rest, though I imagine that some folks would be aghast (because stuff can always be better).
Cool. How wide is the room? I am NOT a fan of bipoles, but if the room is really narrow, they can help with hot spotting for people at the edge of couch.
I hear you. There’s always something else out there. Sometimes it’s actually worth getting, sometimes not. I’m sure some would snub my system too. Others might love it!
 
K

kresty

Audiophyte
Cool. How wide is the room? I am NOT a fan of bipoles, but if the room is really narrow, they can help with hot spotting for people at the edge of couch.
I hear you. There’s always something else out there. Sometimes it’s actually worth getting, sometimes not. I’m sure some would snub my system too. Others might love it!
Basically the couch is against the left wall (which has 1.5" foam insulation in it FWIW). We can't do much about the shape of the room, so that means the surrounds are a little far back because the mounting point we have is the pole behind the couch.

I'm probably going to try a pair of direct speakers, but I'm not sure they'll work for our setup.

Shawn's Room.png
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Looks like you’re doing as much as you can! Rooms are tough. It’s like having kids, just pick your battles. Lol
 
K

kresty

Audiophyte
FWIW, we finally got everything pretty much arranged and I'm quite happy with the sound. Without the parts together and things in strange places as we were building the room there were moments when I was wondering, but after doing the calibration and everything, it's much nicer than we had before. I haven't noticed any problem with the balance or whatnot.

We did another strange thing, the back post isn't conducive to all speaker sizes so I decided to try the polk center/front low profile speakers mounted sideways at an angle for the surround. I was worried they wouldn't have enough bass, but everything seems to work pretty well.

So, what we ended up with:

3 Polk S55 for front and center (6.5" driver)
2 Polk S35 for surround (with 3D printed bracket to get an appropriate angle) (only 3", but it fits)
4 Klipsch CDT3800 CII 8" for atmos (ceiling)
1 Klipsch 10" sub. (It was easy)

I did keep the old Polk bipolar speakers, but the S35's (with the 8" atmos) seem to do just fine.

For me the real test is "are you in the movie?" We finally got everything arranged, got the screen up and sat down to watch stuff. There are all those questions: Is the screen bright enough? Can we hear the atmos? Are the behind-screen speakers too muffled? Is the sub doing OK? Is the dialog OK? (Our old setup we sometimes had trouble)

It was immersive. After about a minute I forgot all about those questions and just watched the show. That seems like how it's supposed to work :)
 
P

Paul Mohr

Audioholic Intern
My atmos speakers don't match my system. My speakers are polk signature series speakers for mains, center and surround. I added some speakers to my ceiling to test out atmos/dtx. They don't match, but they are what I had and they had mounts I could use. I forget what they are, but nothing exciting or expensive that is for sure. They might be some old AR bookshelfs I had, maybe advents? Pretty similar to what you are thinking though. They sound just fine. Good enough that I am not going to bother taking them down and replacing them a set of polks to match the rest of the system. Both for the money and pain in the butt factor. I like the set up though. Dolby atmos sounds better than I thought it would honestly. And a really like dts neural X, especially on 2 channel sources. Best simulated surround I have heard in my opinion. Now I if was starting from scratch I am not sure I would choose different brands of speakers based on looks alone, but that is just me. Pretty sure it won't sound like crap though.
 
P

Paul Mohr

Audioholic Intern
It was immersive. After about a minute I forgot all about those questions and just watched the show. That seems like how it's supposed to work
Well that is what a good tv show or movie should do. Sometimes we get too caught up in the details of specs, settings and running tests. In the end a good movie should suck you in and all that fades away. I feel the same way about screen size, resolution and perfect video settings. Once I get sucked into a movie all those detials kind of don't matter anymore. 720,1080p, 4k, 42 inch tv, 65 inch tv, is the brightness perfect, dolby atmos vs 2 channel audio it all kind of goes away unless I force myself to think about it. Heck I even prefer movies at home to going to a theater now. It is far more emmersive than having someone talk or play with their phone during a movie. And I don't have to miss anything if I have to pee lol.
 

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