Kef ci200er vs Polk rc80i vs wall mounted Kef q50ab for dolby atmos

[Almonte500]

I am having a hard time choosing between these 3 for the purpose of dolby atmos. I'm thinking of 3 options. 1. Four Kef ci200er 2. Four Polk rc80i or 3. Two of the in ceiling speakers and then two q50ab elevation speakers mounted at the very top of the wall ( above the fronts) facing the listening area. My current setup is all Polk. I have the s35 center, 2 s55's, and 2 s15's mounted behind the listening area about 2 feet above. My ceiling is only 6.5 feet, so not very high. I'm kinda new to this all so any tips or things I should know would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[mazersteven]

Dolby recommendations

The ideal ceiling height is between 7.5 and 12 feet (2.3 to 3.66 meters). To improve sound quality and system performance

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

How did you narrow it down to these?
6.5’ is pretty low, but I think you’ll be ok. How much room behind the listening position(LP)?
I have a pair of rc85i in one of my rooms and to my surprise they’re pretty darn good. Especially for the price. The main thing for tops is wide dispersion, but finding that spec is basically impossible for IW speakers. I used rsl c34e’s for my Atmos install. The baffles are on 15° so aiming is pretty easy. They also have aimable tweeters which I find useless but the option is there.
For spacing, with the lower ceiling especially you’ll want to keep the speakers as much in a square above you as you can. Like this...

45° in front and behind.
Height locations on the front wall, and back wall(or side height) can be good alternatives.

 

[Almonte500]

Thank you, that's really informative. I ended up looking at the Polk because all my other speakers are Polk and I hear really good things about these and I've also heard its good to try and keep speakers from the same brand. As for the KEF ceiling speakers, I happened to get a good deal on them (one pair) and that lead me down this rabbit hole of where to go from here. Return the KEF and get 4 Polk. Get two more KEF or have two in ceiling and two elevation. My back wall is maybe 8-10 feet from the LP. In the diagram above, is that supposed to be placements for in ceiling or elevation? I wasn't going to do 4 elevation because I have my rear surrounds on the wall behind me. Presumably where the rear elevation speakers would go. Again thanks.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Thank you, that's really informative. I ended up looking at the Polk because all my other speakers are Polk and I hear really good things about these and I've also heard its good to try and keep speakers from the same brand. As for the KEF ceiling speakers, I happened to get a good deal on them (one pair) and that lead me down this rabbit hole of where to go from here. Return the KEF and get 4 Polk. Get two more KEF or have two in ceiling and two elevation. My back wall is maybe 8-10 feet from the LP. In the diagram above, is that supposed to be placements for in ceiling or elevation? I wasn't going to do 4 elevation because I have my rear surrounds on the wall behind me. Presumably where the rear elevation speakers would go. Again thanks.

That’s a tough call between returning what you’ve got, and starting with four different ones. Timber matching the heights isn’t super critical, but imo it’s good to get close if you can. If you can sell the kefs(which might be better) I guess I’d go for four polks. Another pair of kefs would probably be fine too though.
So as long as you have room fore and aft of the LP on the ceiling I’d go in ceiling over heights. The diagram is referencing in ceiling.

Ignore the red blob. This is just to show the supported locations. If you measure from seated ear height to the ceiling, that’s the distance you’d mount the IC speakers forward and rearward. So if it’s 4’ above, then 4’ in front of and behind will give you the 45°.


Here’s a little reading. There’s other docs but I can’t find em atm.

https://professional.dolby.com/siteassets/tv/home/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-for-home-theater.pdf

Easy right!