5.1.4 vs 7.1.2 Atmos setup

[Sepehr Panah]

Audiophile Gurus,

I have a media room in the basement with a new Denon AVR-X 6200 on the way. Current set up is 5.1. My room is not perfect - right wall is stairway running down to basement at around the seating area. Ceiling 8 feet. Back wall 12 feet behind media couch. Rear/side speakers are actually ceiling speakers above and slightly behind the media couch. No way to mount at ear level at/near seating. Seating is 14 feet from screen.

I could move ceiling speakers to underside of soffits on each side of couch, aiming down, which would still be 6 1/2 feet above ear level

OR

Mount them on the side of the soffits aiming at couch.

So:

Does this sway decision to pick 5.1.4 vs 7.1.2?

Do I really need to move the speakers if I plan on 5.1.4? (Can I have 4 Atmos and 2 side/rear in ceiling and get the Atmos experience?

OR

If 7.1.2 is the vote, keeping above in mind, do I add the rear speakers in wall way behind seating area? And do sides need to be moved?

 

[BlwnAway]

Honestly, without doing "something" else at ear level, immersive audio is severely compromised, if you could do some kind of ear level surround (bookshelf on stands, small towers or in-wall's) you could leave everything else alone and use the current surrounds as Top Middles and simply experiment with the current rear in-ceiling's as either Rear Heights (since you can't do TM & TR at the same time) or simply Rears.

 

[Latent]

Photos and/or diagrams of your room may help people make better recommendations. There are quite a few options to place ear level speakers even in places you may not be thinking of. One thing to keep in mind is this room is a basement media room so there is not the same requirement to perfectly conceal the speakers/wires/stands/mounts as looks are not as important as a more traditional living space.

 

[Sepehr Panah]

Here is a mock up:

Soffits run on both sides of room to the back edge of couch, the bottom of the soffit is 2 feet below the ceiling.
120 inch screen with LRC - B&W with True Audio center.
Rear 5.1 currently in ceiling behind couch --> these can be moved to underside of soffit which would be pointing down at about the same spot of the listener.

Atmos will be placed in ceiling in front and behind couch as per protocol.

Rear in wall placed behind couch but this is 12 feet behind. (?too far for rear speakers?)

 

[Latent]

Having Rear speakers that far back is not a problem. The ideal distance is the same as the distance to the Front speakers which it is close to which is fine. The only issue with distant Rear surround speakers is they will have to run a bit louder to get the matching volume at the seating position. This means they need to be efficient or be provided with a bit more power. Also this means that anyone hanging out near the back wall while you watch a surround mixed movie may get distracted by them. You can stand or wall mount the 4 surround ear level speakers. You can also consider skipping the rear surrounds if you want and go with 5.1.4 as the top rears will give you some rear coverage anyway when listening to atmos or DSU (Dolby surround Upmixer)

I would not recommend worrying about Atmos if you can't ear level mount at least the main surround speakers as you will never get a proper mix. 5.1/7.1 with in ceiling surrounds and no atmos may sound ok though.

Just try to get close to the atmos guidelines and you will have a great sounding system.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/Dolby Atmos/Dolby-Atmos-Home-Theater-Installation-Guidelines.pdf

 

[Sepehr Panah]

Thanks for the response!

I have committed to the ATMOS receiver and have gotten mixed answers to the design above.

Since the soffits are 2 feet lower than the ceiling, would motorized in ceiling speakers (in the soffit) be another worthwhile option? I assume these would then be at an angle aiming directly at the listener (instead of straight down like normal ceiling speakers) and dropping down further from soffit a bit as well.

If answer is yes or possibly, does anyone have any experience with these type of speakers and have any brand/model suggestions?