Up Firing Atmos Speakers

[gnorthern]

This is meant more as a poll. Can up firing Atmos speakers improve a home theater setup? I read many negative comments in other threads, but some positives also. I don't need any comments about how I should place them in the wall or ceiling; that is not happening.

I have a Paradigm front speaker (800Fs, 600C, and big sub) setup. I still have my Klipsch THX surround sound speakers. I got a good deal on Klipsch Atmos speakers, tried them and they did not seem to improve anything even with my previous Klipsch speakers. They made my Klipsch's a little bit fuller at the expense of detail, and they just muddied up my Paradigm speakers.

Just wondering if I should try again with better speakers. In case it matters, I have a Marantz SR6013.

Thank you for the answers.

 

[TLS Guy]

This is meant more as a poll. Can up firing Atmos speakers improve a home theater setup? I read many negative comments in other threads, but some positives also. I don't need any comments about how I should place them in the wall or ceiling; that is not happening.

I have a Paradigm front speaker (800Fs, 600C, and big sub) setup. I still have my Klipsch THX surround sound speakers. I got a good deal on Klipsch Atmos speakers, tried them and they did not seem to improve anything even with my previous Klipsch speakers. They made my Klipsch's a little bit fuller at the expense of detail, and they just muddied up my Paradigm speakers.

Just wondering if I should try again with better speakers. In case it matters, I have a Marantz SR6013.

Thank you for the answers.

Up firing speakers are a con. The result will always be what you have discovered. With your constraints forget about Atmos. Most systems have far too many speakers in unsuitable rooms, that would be far better served with two or three good front speakers and a sub.

 

[j_garcia]

I used upfiring for a number of years. They work fine. You have to adjust them correctly for your room , meaning angles, whether you point them away from you or toward you, affects how they sound. Meaning, you can have the angle facing toward you, which will reflect off the ceiling directly at you, OR you can point them toward the wall and bounce them off the wall and ceiling. You don't get ideal placement of sound in every case, more spaciousness for sure. Discrete sounds still work, especially "around the room" sound. You also have to calibrate them carefully, so it can take time. If you only do 2, it doesn't really work. You need 4 at least. I would not say scrap the idea off-hand, but this method takes a lot more time to get working.

My new room has a ~30ft cathedral ceiling, so I am going to have to go all on-wall here for surround and atmos. Currently I am 2.1 for now. We just moved here knowing it was temporary. I am looking for a place that will support my system, and the one we looked at last weekend has a nice sized room that will support overhead atmos.

 

[m. zillch]

This is meant more as a poll. Can up firing Atmos speakers improve a home theater setup?

Commercial movie houses have already voted in this poll: "They don't really work well so we'd never use them". Atmos theaters always use speakers on the ceiling, even though they take considerable time/effort/money for them to install (and arguably they look weird):

The "upfiring-bounce-off-the-ceiling/+processing" gimmick "technology" was added at the last minute for the consumer market to make the whole thing more palatable for people like me (unwilling/able to mount such speakers) and to appease dealers who foresaw it was otherwise going to be hard to sell.

 

[j_garcia]

Commercial movie house have voted: They don't work so they are never used. Atmos theaters always use speakers on the ceiling, even though they take considerable time/effort/money for them to install:
View attachment 79895

The "upfiring-bounce-off-the-ceiling" gimmick "technology" was added at the last minute for the consumer market to make the whole thing more palatable for people like me (unwilling/able to mount such speakers) and to appease dealers who saw in advance it was otherwise going to be hard to sell.

Agreed. While a lot of people might be interested in Atmos, I don't think the majority of them are interested in adding 4 or 6 permanent overhead speakers in ceiling or even on wall, running wires, etc...

I actually would have expected someone to release dedicated, wireless Atmos speakers by now, but haven't seen that so far (not just a wireless adapter). It wouldn't be a large market, but it would give an option to more people. Since I don't want to run wires either (hallway on one side, sliding door and fireplace on the other, I might have to try out wireless in this setup.

 

[m. zillch]

If you think about it "wireless" speakers aren't truly wireless. They require amplifiers and amplifiers require electricity. Nobody is going to put up with having to recharge their Atmos (rechargeable battery) powered-speakers on the ceiling every day/week like they do their cellphone. Alternatively, mounting AC outlets up there to hard wire little amps on all these ceiling speakers is even more difficult to undertake than just a signal wire from one's main system.

 

[j_garcia]

Six of one, half dozen of the other for me. Since I don't have a ceiling I can use in this room, I'd have to go under carpet or under floor, since in wall isn't 100% feasible. I can have exposed wiring and amps, just can't easily get from where the system is to the rear ceiling of the room (there is an overhang about 2ft in back). I don't want to run permanent wiring because I don't intend to live here for a long time.

Rechargeable for sure isn't the answer, since those speakers are not usually the level that even the average person is after when they're considering a setup like this.

 

[TLS Guy]

Six of one, half dozen of the other for me. Since I don't have a ceiling I can use in this room, I'd have to go under carpet or under floor, since in wall isn't 100% feasible. I can have exposed wiring and amps, just can't easily get from where the system is to the rear ceiling of the room (there is an overhang about 2ft in back). I don't want to run permanent wiring because I don't intend to live here for a long time.

Rechargeable for sure isn't the answer, since those speakers are not usually the level that even the average person is after when they're considering a setup like this.

I think you just need front speakers and a sub or two, and would be better off. If that idea of up firing speakers actually worked we would noy have survived as a species. As with the whole of the animal kingdom it is hard to confuse and be unsure of where a sound is coming. I will always consider up firing Atmos speakers as a fraud on the public. Don't fall for it.

 

[j_garcia]

I think you just need front speakers and a sub or two, and would be better off. If that idea of up firing speakers actually worked we would noy have survived as a species. As with the whole of the animal kingdom it is hard to confuse and be unsure of where a sound is coming. I will always consider up firing Atmos speakers as a fraud on the public. Don't fall for it.

I have been working on setting up audio systems for many years like you. Not as many as you, but pretty much since I was a teen. I know how to spend the time to extract proper sound and know what I am listening for to get it right. I think even you would have been surprised with my former setup, since it is all in the tweaking. Just as I would be properly impressed by yours. The current room is a lot tougher though, and is basically a giant cube. I don't have room for the center or the surrounds at the moment. You are right though, 2.1 is working well for now and it is likely to stay that way for a while.

 

[Audiosaur]

My first foray into semi-decent speakers was the upfiring Pioneer SP-ESF73. Even with proper angles and distances, I never perceived a significant sound difference from when I only used the front-firing portion. I still use these in the master bedroom but have never again used the upfiring portion, nor will I ever likely do so. IMHO, it's just not worth it.