Question about Dolby Atmos Ceiling Install

[ncampbel]

Looking to install a 7.1.4 system in my house. With 4 ceiling speakers, are the Dolby Atmos mixes designed for the prime listening position to hear all 4 speakers, or are the 4 over head speakers meant to handle coverage of two rows of seating?

I don't have a super high ceiling (8'4"). If it's designed to be able to hear all ceiling speakers I expect I'd have to have the front row of ceiling speakers to be just in front of the front row facing to the rear and down and the back set to be behind the 2nd row facing forward and down so both rows of seating can hear all 4 speakers.

Thoughts on implementation?

 

[shadyJ]

What you want will depend on the dispersion behavior of the speakers you intend to use. You will want wide dispersion speakers. I would go with some of the KEF speakers. Get the KEF THX speakers if you can afford them. I think the Klipsch THX "L" in-ceiling speaker might work for you as well, look at the angle of its dispersion- You can 'aim' that speaker's downward directivity using the wave guide around the tweeter. It is a relatively powerful speaker too. Its MSRP is high, but it has a lot of room for bargaining with dealers, so try to get a deal if you are interested in those.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Looking to install a 7.1.4 system in my house. With 4 ceiling speakers, are the Dolby Atmos mixes designed for the prime listening position to hear all 4 speakers, or are the 4 over head speakers meant to handle coverage of two rows of seating?

ncampbel,
To answer your question specifically, per the Dolby Installation Guide Atmos appears to be designed with the MLP row in mind, but that does not mean it will not provide benefit to a second row of seating.
- Please see Dolby's Atmos 7.1.4 Installation Guide.
- Furthermore, you can adjust the recommended locations/angles in order to increase the benefit to a second row (at some expense of the MLP row), while maintaining reasonable coverage for both rows as long as the two rows are not too far from each other.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver