Should I add Height to this setup?

[William Lemmerhirt]

So I've been wondering about the up firing and reflections and angles, but more theoretically than practically since I am convinced to try down firing first.

The sound comes off the speakers in a diffusion pattern that's more cone like than line like, and it gets further diffused (and reduced in strength as it does) hitting the ceiling. Some part of the sound leaves the speakers at a wide angle and goes straight to the listener. If you need an angle that is is more horizontal (say 60 degrees from horizontal rather than 45 or so you have drawn), a lot of that direct sound hits the listener and less of the reflected. For more "up" angle (say 25 degrees from horizontal) for a close-up seating position, this is minimized, the further the seating position the worse the angle gets.

Are these speakers more directional than most, and so this is not really a factor?

Or is there a sweet spot not just to get the angles right, but to also not be too far away (and so need a sufficiently aligned angle you get too much direct sound)? Too far and the speaker has to angle down toward you too much and you hear it, rather than the reflection?

So if one does this, do you actually use straight lines and equal angle reflections, or is some power diffusion calculation needed to ensure the reflected sound is substantially greater than the direct?

(But that even more supports that people may fail at this by getting the angles wrong).

The way I have it figured is upfiring speakers are like making a bank shot on a pool table. Hit, or MISS! Lol

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If you can't get in-ceiling, then I think the next best thing is to get very small speakers above/over each end of the sofa.

The question of whether ATMOS is gimmick is irrelevant. Many of us love ATMOS. But there will always be people who don't have ATMOS who will say it is gimmick.

Agree.

 

[TLS Guy]

If you can't get in-ceiling, then I think the next best thing is to get very small speakers above/over each end of the sofa.

The question of whether ATMOS is gimmick is irrelevant. Many of us love ATMOS. But there will always be people who don't have ATMOS who will say it is gimmick.

I don't think it is a gimmick at all. However, it is mainly of use if your primary interest is movies, as it does expand effects, but even more to the point there is a lot of native material. I do not watch a lot of movies. For what I listen to and watch native Atmos material is not prevalent. The number of native Atmos discs is very limited. My major source is the BPO stream. They are now only doing selected concerts in Atmos. The upmixer certainly works to an extent, but not a huge game changer. A well produced Atmos recording is certainly realistic and impressive. At the current time those are not prevalent.

So, if your main interest is movies, then the trouble and investment in Atmos makes some sense, but if not it is somewhat marginal and money better spent improving the bed layer speakers.

 

[Kingnoob]

I'm still up in the air;
...but the Klipsches with up firing atmos are in long term storage (tried , not very hard, to give them away but no takers) and the, seperate/add on top up firing atmos speakers are on the way to join them.
I got better sound by repairing the the old NHT 2.5I's for rear speakers and sticking with 7.1...

Enjoy!

I’d think the Klipsches would be more dynamic. Maybe you’re not a fan of bright speakers??

If you can't get in-ceiling, then I think the next best thing is to get very small speakers above/over each end of the sofa.

The question of whether ATMOS is gimmick is irrelevant. Many of us love ATMOS. But there will always be people who don't have ATMOS who will say it is gimmick.

It’s too bad you can’t just stack another pair of Regular bookshelves Ontop mains as upfiring modules haah and say poof I got Atmos . But Atmos content is also not supported by cable like spectrum etc . One of my main audio sources, or regular Netflix .
Prologic 2z heights I tried before ages ago. Similar placement to Atmos .

 

[Linwood]

However, it is mainly of use if your primary interest is movies,

Mine is, probably 95% movies (streamed). How many have the effect not sure, but I think it's more all the time.

 

[lovinthehd]

Mine is, probably 95% movies (streamed). How many have the effect not sure, but I think it's more all the time.

I've seen reports that the streamed versions just aren't up to the disc versions fwiw.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Mine is, probably 95% movies (streamed). How many have the effect not sure, but I think it's more all the time.

I can say that on disk, there are thousands of titles. Ime, streaming offers a bunch too, like Apple TV for example. (Others too)
They have some Atmos music too, but that’s been a mixed bag for me. Netflix offers Atmos, but you need the premium subscription, AND make sure your display is 4k. Otherwise you need an hdmi upscaler to tell Netflix you’re 4k compatible. If not, it won’t unlock the metadata and you basically won’t get Atmos. I found that out the hard way as my display is still 1080. Was hoping Black Friday would fix that but…life.
Even still. Dolby surround, and dts neural X will upmix and use the overhead speakers. It’s not quite the same, but can be really cool.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I've seen reports that the streamed versions just aren't up to the disc versions fwiw.

Mainly what I’ve seen in that regard is the bitrates are less for streaming. I think the metadata remains the same for streamed atmos. I’m still a believer in hard disk for things that I care about, but streaming has gotten pretty damn good.

 

[lovinthehd]

Mainly what I’ve seen in that regard is the bitrates are less for streaming. I think the metadata remains the same for streamed atmos. I’m still a believer in hard disk for things that I care about, but streaming has gotten pretty damn good.

Just going on what I've seen reported....don't know as I don't have Atmos speakers Frequent comments that streaming leaves something on the table in terms of levels/content with the metadata but not sure how that actually works or not. I can't imagine setting up an Atmos system to rely on streaming, tho

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Just going on what I've seen reported....don't know as I don't have Atmos speakers Frequent comments that streaming leaves something on the table in terms of levels/content with the metadata but not sure how that actually works or not. I can't imagine setting up an Atmos system to rely on streaming, tho

Yeah for sure. When I did mine, I had already been collecting disks for it. Streaming was really going to be a bonus just for extra titles that I wasn’t so committed to, and casual watching. Then if I liked, I could buy on disk for repeat watching, or demos etc. streaming still isn’t the same, but a lot of it is pretty damn good. I’d still never go all streaming.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah for sure. When I did mine, I had already been collecting disks for it. Streaming was really going to be a bonus just for extra titles that I wasn’t so committed to, and casual watching. Then if I liked, I could buy on disk for repeat watching, or demos etc. streaming still isn’t the same, but a lot of it is pretty damn good. I’d still never go all streaming.

So generally you're okay with streaming content vs same movie on disk?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

So generally you're okay with streaming content vs same movie on disk?

No, I mean I generally prefer disk. But some streaming is good enough depending on the title. I still buy disks for reference material.

 

[lovinthehd]

No, I mean I generally prefer disk. But some streaming is good enough depending on the title. I still buy disks for reference material.

Prefer based on lacking with streaming or just on principle ?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Prefer based on lacking with streaming or just on principle ?

Probably a little of both depending, but largely principal.

 

[lovinthehd]

Probably a little of both depending, but largely principal.

Principal? Like in school?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Principal? Like in school?

lol. Yep. Guess I need some! Schoolin that is. Auto correct…

 

[lovinthehd]

lol. Yep. Guess I need some! Schoolin that is. Auto correct…

English can be weird....

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

English can be weird....

It definitely can! I normally catch that stuff. I well. Time for an old fashioned.

 

[Linwood]

So this evening sort of in anticipation and sort of because I wanted to see if 4k looked better, I upgraded my Netflix subscription to the 4k/atmos tier. I was half way through the new Knives Out movie. I exited, came back in, there was "Atmos" at the top along with DolbyVision, resumed it and...

Remember, I have 5.2, no atmos speakers. And before the upgrade it was a 5.1 signal as input (according to my AVR).

HUGELY better sound. Clearly 2d presence all around, clearer dialog. The Dolby Vision however messed up the image, it was suddenly very contrasty, but I adjusted that out (for reasons unclear contrast was at 100% in the (older) LG TV, but I know for certain it was not before, so there must be separate settings. Anyway, fixed the picture, but despite having really only 5.2 speakers to work with, the DolbyAtmos (and whatever signal processing my 5.2 output got) the sound was much clearer, and much deeper sense of the surround.

Odd. I'm curious (and hopeful) now to hear it with a couple Height speakers.

But I wonder if people who put in atmos speakers are also benefiting from atmos decoding perhaps they did not have before, that is somehow better? (It was showing Dolby Digital+ as the input signal before I upgraded the subscription).

Anyway... I guess I'm hooked now paying $7 more a month. Not sure if I'm happy or sad (I mean, thousands on speakers and AVR is one thing, but $7 more every month ----)

 

[Wardog555]

Stop the thread asap.