In wall/ ceiling speakers for Home theater!

[Yamaheart]

Hello members,

Anyone installed in wall/ceiling speakers for their Home theater and what brand? Looking to go 7.2.4 Atmos. Pro and cons for them? I am thinking of getting the Paradigm or Axiom, since Axiom has enclosure on them. My couch will be against the back wall, I am thinking of going in-wall because of that. I will do box speakers for LCR, anything else is in wall and ceiling. Space is small, about 16 x 14. Anyone else can help with my set up please chime in!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Well first off, if the couch will be against the back wall, I would only use a 5ch bed layer. IMO, you should have at least 4’ and maybe even 5’ behind you for 7ch. That also holds true for any layout with 4 overhead speakers. Including 5.1.4 and 7.1.4. Rear top/height should be around 45° behind the LP. Can’t do that with the couch on the back wall.

FWIW, I used RSL c34e for my Top speakers. They image like crazy and blend very nicely with my bed layer, despite having a soft dome tweeter vs titanium in the bed layer. My side surrounds are also in wall. JBL studio 2 55IW. They’re not as good as the in room monitors that used to be there, but they are very good.
All things considered between MLP on the back wall, and small dimensions, I think 5.x.2 will be best. If you try to use 7ch bed, the rear surrounds will be distracting as they’ll be too close, and you won’t get good separation between them. They also won’t image very well. Same for overhead speakers. They should be placed like this.

You can see, the overhead speakers basically form a square over the MLP.

 

[Yamaheart]

Well first off, if the couch will be against the back wall, I would only use a 5ch bed layer. IMO, you should have at least 4’ and maybe even 5’ behind you for 7ch. That also holds true for any layout with 4 overhead speakers. Including 5.1.4 and 7.1.4. Rear top/height should be around 45° behind the LP. Can’t do that with the couch on the back wall.

FWIW, I used RSL c34e for my Top speakers. They image like crazy and blend very nicely with my bed layer, despite having a soft dome tweeter vs titanium in the bed layer. My side surrounds are also in wall. JBL studio 2 55IW. They’re not as good as the in room monitors that used to be there, but they are very good.
All things considered between MLP on the back wall, and small dimensions, I think 5.x.2 will be best. If you try to use 7ch bed, the rear surrounds will be distracting as they’ll be too close, and you won’t get good separation between them. They also won’t image very well. Same for overhead speakers. They should be placed like this.

You can see, the overhead speakers basically form a square over the MLP.

Thank you kind Sir!

 

[head_unit]

Paradigm or Axiom

I don't know if you did something already, but my biggest comment would be to put casters or sliders on the couch to move it out for serious watching/listening. Speakers right next to/behind a listening position will not sound the greatest since one will be too close to one side of the couch. Paradigm has a long history of quality engineering. I'm not as familiar with Axiom but have read good things. Yes, a built-in back box is better for sound but at the expense of limiting bass. I'd still want at least 6" woofers, and aimable tweeters, to be able to adjust the sound.

Are you thinking of putting the Atmos layer high on the wall? Or in the ceiling? If the ceiling, the fronts must be angled or the sound will just play down.

 

[Wardog555]

There's serious consequences. Think about being 90 degrees off axis to the speaker. It's the worst!