JBL Studio 530 and My Grand Atmos Experiment

[William Lemmerhirt]

@William Lemmerhirt
Welcome back to the world of the living. I figured you all froze to death on a Sunny Minne-sconsin afternoon.

Gimme a moment, I need to call off the Salvage crew I just hired.
BRB

Hey don’t call em off just yet! I haven’t frozen to death…yet. But damn, I just can’t get two damn minutes!
I’m looking back at this again.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hola!
Well I have been agonizing over this. It’s definitely easier to make decisions about your own room vs recommending what your friends do.
So basically I am thinking about it like it’s my room. At the end of the day, I am still going to vote for .4 at 45°. Part of the reason for that is imo, 7.5’ to the center of the speakers is pretty low. I know 35° is inside of Dolby’s recommendation, but I’m afraid that it’s just too low. You may get 35° above the ear, but I just think the separation between the bed and height layer isn’t enough. 9 or 10’ ceilings would make me look at it differently. From what I recall, the guys that have had the most benefit from .6 have multiple rows, and/or very long rooms. Again, with a single LP I don’t think that matters as much. If you look at the pic I posted earlier it shows an “X” over the listener. Imo that gives the best left to right and front to back overhead imaging for the listener as well as maintaining good object placement. If you could get them higher, I would weigh things differently but I will stick to my recommendation.
Keep in mind I am basing this mostly on my own 7.x.4 with TF and TR. I have experience with other systems, but obviously I’ve spent the most time here. I can tell you I have no internet in .6 in this room. Now, if I was starting from scratch with a brand new room I would strongly consider.6, but would depend on how the content is handled. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about TM not being used, or conversely TM only being used on some tracks. Too much Fukkin around lol.
I’ve seen you on AVS. Have you asked any questions there? I only ask because I want you to have the most information you can get.
Whatchathinkaboutdat?

 

[ryanosaur]

Hola!
Well I have been agonizing over this. It’s definitely easier to make decisions about your own room vs recommending what your friends do.
So basically I am thinking about it like it’s my room. At the end of the day, I am still going to vote for .4 at 45°. Part of the reason for that is imo, 7.5’ to the center of the speakers is pretty low. I know 35° is inside of Dolby’s recommendation, but I’m afraid that it’s just too low. You may get 35° above the ear, but I just think the separation between the bed and height layer isn’t enough. 9 or 10’ ceilings would make me look at it differently. From what I recall, the guys that have had the most benefit from .6 have multiple rows, and/or very long rooms. Again, with a single LP I don’t think that matters as much. If you look at the pic I posted earlier it shows an “X” over the listener. Imo that gives the best left to right and front to back overhead imaging for the listener as well as maintaining good object placement. If you could get them higher, I would weigh things differently but I will stick to my recommendation.
Keep in mind I am basing this mostly on my own 7.x.4 with TF and TR. I have experience with other systems, but obviously I’ve spent the most time here. I can tell you I have no internet in .6 in this room. Now, if I was starting from scratch with a brand new room I would strongly consider.6, but would depend on how the content is handled. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about TM not being used, or conversely TM only being used on some tracks. Too much Fukkin around lol.
I’ve seen you on AVS. Have you asked any questions there? I only ask because I want you to have the most information you can get.
Whatchathinkaboutdat?

Love it.
I have not asked on AVS. That place just makes me feel... a little dirty. (Shhh! Don't tell anybody I posted that. )
OK, I'm joking, but usually when I ask questions over there I just don't get good answers.

So you say, skip the TM altogether. What do you think about FH if I were to expand in the future.? (Opinion recognized.)

As far as the mounting height, I get it, I am at the recommended minimum of twice my ear height. Having a 10' tall (or more) space would definitely be better, or the budget to hang these from the Rafters.

Lemme know your thoughts of potential FH expansion please.

Thanks Amigo!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Lol. Yeah. They’re speshul lol.

So when you are saying to add FH are you talking moving what would be the current TF back to TM?

 

[ryanosaur]

Lol. Yeah. They’re speshul lol.

So when you are saying to add FH are you talking moving what would be the current TF back to TM?

No... if I were to expand in the future.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

No... if I were to expand in the future.

That’s what I mean. If you went .4 at 45° now, what would you do with them if you added FH?
Or are you talking about going .4 at 45° and adding FH at 35ish° later?

 

[ryanosaur]

Front height would go up front, and makes more sense if I bring the TF back to 45° from 35°.

but that’s the trap question. For me, I don’t wanna shoehornna speaker, but I do wanna possibly maximize what’s available.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Well it’s definitely a fair question. I also hate leaving stuff on table. I’m just not sure you’d be clearing the table as much as just making it larger.
I guess if you really won’t sleep at night, I’d do this…
Install and wire all .6 speakers. Set the 6012 to run them as FH and RH. THEN when you buy a new processor it will all be ready.
If you think you’ll be satisfied with.4, then mount em up and FTW. If my math is right. That would be 3.7’ fore and aft, with about 7.5’ between them. That is indeed pretty close together, but considering the low height it makes sense to me. Too far apart and phantom imaging will suffer.
Another thing though is the room width. At 11’6”, you might lose a foot on each side. That leaves about 9.5’ apart between the tops. Imo that’s close enough to the 7.5’ distance front to back to form a square overhead. Idk! Maybe I’m starting to split hairs that aren’t there!

 

[ryanosaur]

Well it’s definitely a fair question. I also hate leaving stuff on table. I’m just not sure you’d be clearing the table as much as just making it larger.
I guess if you really won’t sleep at night, I’d do this…
Install and wire all .6 speakers. Set the 6012 to run them as FH and RH. THEN when you buy a new processor it will all be ready.
If you think you’ll be satisfied with.4, then mount em up and FTW. If my math is right. That would be 3.7’ fore and aft, with about 7.5’ between them. That is indeed pretty close together, but considering the low height it makes sense to me. Too far apart and phantom imaging will suffer.
Another thing though is the room width. At 11’6”, you might lose a foot on each side. That leaves about 9.5’ apart between the tops. Imo that’s close enough to the 7.5’ distance front to back to form a square overhead. Idk! Maybe I’m starting to split hairs that aren’t there!

I think I will look to bring the TF in more, and then decide when I upgrade the AVR what to do.
It honestly doesn't seem like pushing the TF out to 35º is gonna make a difference. If I were to try and add TM, certainly, but it really sounds (from you a @Danzilla31 both) that the key thing is separation.

As it stands, TF and Mains are almost the same distance... yes there is separation, but I'm feeling like that may not be enough, whereas if I bring TF back a little, I get more distinct separation.

That leaves room for making FH an installation later, as there will be more separation between those and TF... I can actually try that out easier, too without a proper installation and using some different Speakers.

SO...
It's going to be the Open Red and Light Blue Ovals:

 

[snakeeyes]

Looking forward to hearing your reviews on movies and possibly Atmos music on Apple! Main thing is don’t be like me and wait literally a couple years….to set it up. @Danzilla31 thought I would never make it. LOL

 

[ryanosaur]

Looking forward to hearing your reviews on movies and possibly Atmos music on Apple! Main thing is don’t be like me and wait literally a couple years….to set it up. @Danzilla31 thought I would never make it. LOL

What are you talking about... I shoulda been set up in 2019, and I'm just doing it now!
*sad trombone

 

[snakeeyes]

What are you talking about... I shoulda been set up in 2019, and I'm just doing it now!
*sad trombone

Maybe you are almost as bad as me but I was literally thinking about it online constantly for a couple years. Planned it out several times.

You are just a few hours from the finish line.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Maybe you are almost as bad as me but I was literally thinking about it online constantly for a couple years. Planned it out several times.

You are just a few hours from the finish line.

Yep. He’s almost there!!!

 

[ryanosaur]

You are just a few hours from the finish line.

Ha... knowing my Landlord's construction, I'm gonna have to spend all day doing this and probably redo a placement!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ha... knowing my Landlord's construction, I'm gonna have to spend all day doing this and probably redo a placement!

Yet another reason I wished I was on the wesside boi!!! I’d love to hep ya.

 

[Eppie]

Looking at the last photo, I was thinking that you could clamp bar-clamps or Quick-Grip clamps on the rafters to temporarily hang the speakers for testing. Is it the same on both sides? Testing is always a challenge with 'largish' surrounds as you usually need to install wall mounts, but in this case you could use the rafters to your advantage. Just my humble 2 cents.

 

[ryanosaur]

Somebody has been complaining somewhere about stuff... (Bill? )
I have decided to reinforce the mounting of my Speakers with some Aluminum Angle Stock, 1/8" x 1-1/4".

This Stock will sandwich the actual Bracket and be connected by an extra screw into a threaded insert at the "upper end" of the Speaker, in addition to the ones meant to secure the Bracket. (Remember, I am inverting these, mounting the bracket behind the Tweeter, thus the heavier end of the Speaker will be hanging out unsupported.)
By Sandwiching the Bracket with the Angle Stock, I hope to add some measure of support. 3 points of contact on each side (6 total for each Speaker). This way, if something happens, the hope is the top point will act more cohesively with the actual bracket itself to support the whole unit.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Wuh??? Me?!?!


Sounds like a good plan amigo. Of course I know you’re a busy young feller. Still gotta rib ya, or you’d think I didn’t care. Lol

 

[ryanosaur]

Wuh??? Me?!?!


Sounds like a good plan amigo. Of course I know you’re a busy young feller. Still gotta rib ya, or you’d think I didn’t care. Lol

Does what I described make sense to you?
If i were a welder, I'd get steel and weld them, but I'm not...
However, three good contact points per side should (in my mind) offer better stability and bracing.
The 1-1/4 " angle stock is need on the tie-down side because of the angle I have to place it...

These are just to show what I'm looking at... the Angle Stock is scrap from a different rigging project.
I will be using a thicker Aluminum, not perforated... I will drill out the holes to match.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

It’s probably a little overkill at 17lbs, but you already have the plan. So it definitely won’t hurt. Pretty good idea actually. I’m guessing the third point will be just below the terminal box?