9.1.4 layout with 3 center speakers , left speaker and right speaker

[Kishore0416]

Hi All,

One of my friends wants 9.1.4 set up. Some one suggested him to keep 3 center speakers ( left center , center and right center ) along with left and right speakers on front , which makes it total 5 speakers in front stage , is it possible, if yes, which AVR or processor will support this, please advice

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hi All,

One of my friends wants 9.1.4 set up. Some one suggested him to keep 3 center speakers ( left center , center and right center ) along with left and right speakers on front , which makes it total 5 speakers in front stage , is it possible, if yes, which AVR or processor will support this, please advice

That sounds like SDDS - Sony’s COMMERCIAL Theater surround sound system.

But no HOME CONSUMER processor/AVR has SDDS.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Depends on how wide the room is imo. Most narrow living room spaces get good enough coverage with normal LCR placement, and in some cases front wides are pretty effective. FW get used DTSx pro, and sometimes supported by Atmos.
Left and right centers are supported in Atmos but normally implemented in commercial cinemas. Iirc trinnov, and JBL offer processors that support L and R centers but I’d have to take another look to make sure.
Do your friend say why he was told he should implement L and r centers? Unless this will be a large dedicated home cinema, I don’t really think it would be necessary.

 

[Trebdp83]

They may be referring to a Sony 360 Reality Audio configuration but didn’t get it quite right. It would be a 5.1.5.3 configuration including three BOTTOM Center Channel speakers.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I think they mean this.

https://professional.dolby.com/siteassets/cinema-products---documents/dolby-atmos-specifications.pdf

 

[Trebdp83]

I was stuck on the use of three center channel speakers. A pro setup would have five matching speakers up front. Most in home will have two pairs of matching fronts and a center channel for a configuration consisting of front wides. Support for front wides is still out there and is supported in the new Sony receivers as well. Haven't come across anybody claiming to use the 360 RA 5.1.5.3 configuration, yet.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I was stuck on the use of three center channel speakers. A pro setup would have five matching speakers up front. Most in home will have two pairs of matching fronts and a center channel for a configuration consisting of front wides. Support for front wides is still out there and is supported in the new Sony receivers as well. Haven't come across anybody claiming to use the 360 RA 5.1.5.3 configuration, yet.View attachment 64555

Haven’t heard any using the RA either. Personally I think it only serves to muddy the already murky waters. Hell, many people can’t even agree on how to do Atmos or auro. Why is Sonys idea any better? Lol

 

[Trebdp83]

Yeah, they suggest center channels as the front bottom three because otherwise they'd be too tall and would not have any separation from the fronts and center. Ideally, all speakers would be identical in any configuration and a room using 5.1.5.3 would need a floor sloping downward to the front of the room so that the bottom three would sit low and the front and surrounds would be at ear level.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think they mean this.

https://professional.dolby.com/siteassets/cinema-products---documents/dolby-atmos-specifications.pdf

Hmm, so Atmos can do 3 front Centers like SDDS.

"A minimum of three screen loudspeakers is required. For a screen wider than 12 meters (approximately 40 feet), we recommend the addition of left center and right center loudspeakers."

I know most rooms are only like 12-15FT wide , but I am surprised no manufacturers have made a consumer AVR/AVP for 3 front centers like the commercial Atmos.

If you make it, they will buy it.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hmm, so Atmos can do 3 front Centers like SDDS.

"A minimum of three screen loudspeakers is required. For a screen wider than 12 meters (approximately 40 feet), we recommend the addition of left center and right center loudspeakers."

I know most rooms are only like 12-15FT wide , but I am surprised no manufacturers have made a consumer AVR/AVP for 3 front centers like the commercial Atmos.

If you make it, they will buy it.

Right?!?!
I can’t imagine stuffing five speakers across my 16’ wide room. Lol.
I do believe trinnov makes a consumer level processor that supports it, and I feel like JBL does too but have to check. Not sure I’d “like sdds” but yeah…

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If you have a sec, try this.

Trinnov | Ultimate Immersive Sound Home Cinema Processor

Combined with the Altitude32 AV Processor, the Altitude 48ext delivers Dolby Atmos at home with a scale only found in real cinemas

www.trinnov.com

 

[TLS Guy]

If you have a sec, try this.

Trinnov | Ultimate Immersive Sound Home Cinema Processor

Combined with the Altitude32 AV Processor, the Altitude 48ext delivers Dolby Atmos at home with a scale only found in real cinemas

www.trinnov.com

I'm not convinced front wides are necessary or even a good idea.

I think a lot of the problem comes from having left and right fronts too close together. Speakers close together set you up for comb filtering issues.

I have my fronts wide apart and far enough from the center not to be an issue. In addition the center polar response is designed for even coverage of the listening area.

So I have found that I have a seamless front soundstage and very even coverage. Not only that, but on good sources, the sound stage sounds much wider and deeper than the room actually is. So, I find that 7.2.4 is plenty adequate for my room. That also seems how most current domestic offerings for Atmos are being mixed and produced.

Most Atmos that I listen to is from the BPO and 7.2.4 is what they recommend as optimal. So that is what I use to Dolby specs, and it works well. So that is my recommendation for most domestic rooms that are suitable for an Atmos installation. The latter is a big caveat, as I think if conditions are not suitable then optimize channels for what is most appropriate to the room. The suitability of homes and their rooms, I see as the biggest barrier to implementation of this technology by far.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I'm not convinced front wides are necessary or even a good idea.

I think a lot of the problem comes from having left and right fronts too close together. Speakers close together set you up for comb filtering issues.

I have my fronts wide apart and far enough from the center not to be an issue. In addition the center polar response is designed for even coverage of the listening area.

So I have found that I have a seamless front soundstage and very even coverage. Not only that, but on good sources, the sound stage sounds much wider and deeper than the room actually is. So, I find that 7.2.4 is plenty adequate for my room. That also seems how most current domestic offerings for Atmos are being mixed and produced.

Most Atmos that I listen to is from the BPO and 7.2.4 is what they recommend as optimal. So that is what I use to Dolby specs, and it works well. So that is my recommendation for most domestic rooms that are suitable for an Atmos installation. The latter is a big caveat, as I think if conditions are not suitable then optimize channels for what is most appropriate to the room. The suitability of homes and their rooms, I see as the biggest barrier to implementation of this technology by far.

I’m not sure wides are a great idea either. But I have seen many reports of users that like them. The problem is, unless the soundtrack is coded for an object to pass through those speakers, they stay quiet unless you use DTSnx(and maybe DSU now). I think the reason people like them is because it helps fill the gap between mains and surrounds/sides that are too far back, like past 100°.
I agree that 7.x.4 is appropriate for most rooms. However there’s a quickly growing number of enthusiasts that are using .6 overheads, and even more. I can see in cases of multi row HT’s, and even believe that the overhead panning and ear to overhead panning is better, but there are some playback issues, like wides have. I think a lot of tracks are done in 7.1.2. I also believe most of these are “locked” tracks where the objects are locked at certain speaker locations. Some of the best tracks use objects that pan freely throughout the speakers, and are not “mixed” by any channel counts.

 

[TLS Guy]

I’m not sure wides are a great idea either. But I have seen many reports of users that like them. The problem is, unless the soundtrack is coded for an object to pass through those speakers, they stay quiet unless you use DTSnx(and maybe DSU now). I think the reason people like them is because it helps fill the gap between mains and surrounds/sides that are too far back, like past 100°.
I agree that 7.x.4 is appropriate for most rooms. However there’s a quickly growing number of enthusiasts that are using .6 overheads, and even more. I can see in cases of multi row HT’s, and even believe that the overhead panning and ear to overhead panning is better, but there are some playback issues, like wides have. I think a lot of tracks are done in 7.1.2. I also believe most of these are “locked” tracks where the objects are locked at certain speaker locations. Some of the best tracks use objects that pan freely throughout the speakers, and are not “mixed” by any channel counts.

Not sure about that. My room is larger than average and I think all speakers are appropriately spaced. More speakers is not necessarily better. I think all speakers are appropriately placed. That test demo that was recently posted that I downloaded moves seamlessly throughout the room. I am pretty sure the number and placement of speakers here is optimal.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Most living/family rooms I’ve seen are smaller than 18x20 and most “media” rooms I’ve seen are smaller than that. But that doesn’t stop many people from feeling good about stuffing 20+ speakers into their rooms.

So if they made a consumer SDDS-type (commercial ATMOS) with 3 MAIN front centers, I have NO DOUBT these many same people who stuff 20+ speakers into their rooms will be stuffing 3 main front centers in the same rooms.

My HT room is 26L x 22W x 14H and I use 5.x.4. I am 100% fine with it. So it’s not about what some of us would use.

 

[Movie2099]

This is a fun layout!

 

[Movie2099]

This is from Cedia 2022.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Most living/family rooms I’ve seen are smaller than 18x20 and most “media” rooms I’ve seen are smaller than that. But that doesn’t stop many people from feeling good about stuffing 20+ speakers into their rooms.

So if they made a consumer SDDS-type (commercial ATMOS) with 3 MAIN front centers, I have NO DOUBT these many same people who stuff 20+ speakers into their rooms will be stuffing 3 main front centers in the same rooms.

My HT room is 26L x 22W x 14H and I use 5.x.4. I am 100% fine with it. So it’s not about what some of us would use.

Agreed. Most media/LR are smaller than yours by comparison, and the number of speakers some people place in them seems crazy, and I wouldn’t likely do a build like that. At least in a common living space. I have seen them though.
And also remember, there are plenty of actual home theaters that make even yours look like an HTIB. The sky is the limit nowadays, and if you look at what Movie posted you might agree. Most of us here aren’t in the market for a 500k or more home theater but they’re out there! On the flip side there are much more pedestrian HT’s that do have more speakers in place than needed, but who am I to judge…

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Not sure about that. My room is larger than average and I think all speakers are appropriately spaced. More speakers is not necessarily better. I think all speakers are appropriately placed. That test demo that was recently posted that I downloaded moves seamlessly throughout the room. I am pretty sure the number and placement of speakers here is optimal.

I agree. More speakers aren’t always better. But they’re not always worse either. I do believe your room is special as are your speakers. But it’s not impossible to say for example if you used six or eight overhead speakers that you’d have better in room imaging, and multiple seat coverage. I love that demo btw.
More speakers could be superfluous too. Just that one man’s end game is another’s starter pack. I know my own HT is head and shoulders above a lot of them. But it’s also entry level to others.

 

[Movie2099]

Agreed. Most media/LR are smaller than yours by comparison, and the number of speakers some people place in them seems crazy, and I wouldn’t likely do a build like that. At least in a common living space. I have seen them though.
And also remember, there are plenty of actual home theaters that make even yours look like an HTIB. The sky is the limit nowadays, and if you look at what Movie posted you might agree. Most of us here aren’t in the market for a 500k or more home theater but they’re out there! On the flip side there are much more pedestrian HT’s that do have more speakers in place than needed, but who am I to judge…

I would agree that most HT's are below 20x20 in size. I don't believe most homes are/were built with extra rooms that size. Unless you were to find a house with an unfinished basement and design something yourself. Or build a home from scratch. You could also add-on to a house. I have seen pictures of people adding on structures to their house specifically for HT. I wouldn't say it's the most attractive looking structure from the outside..hahaha doesn't flow very well.

Good speakers, well placed acoustics, a solid projector with matching screen and a good processor will go a long way. You can save a lot of money by either building the theater yourself, making all the theater accessories and not spending an arm and leg for movie poster frames, special lighting, seats, cables, etc...