Surround Speaker Recommendation

[William Lemmerhirt]

Placing them high and angling them down is perfectly acceptable for surround use. Sure, it's not the "ideal" location, but it works and quite well in my case.

It would obviously not work if you also wanted to run atmos.

Do movie theaters have their surround speakers at ear level?

Yep. Seems like going way back to the 80’s. You know before some members here were even born… The recommendation was to place surrounds(roughly) between five and six feet off the floor. As far as sounds ONLY being in the horizontal plane? That’s just ridiculous. Iirc, between hrtf and phase manipulation, plenty of sounds can be simulated overhead. For many years in my 5.x system, my tweeters were at 72” angled down and forward towards my LP(110°). I had sounds above and sometimes behind me. It was the same when I added rear surrounds too, only better. I did lower all four surrounds for Atmos, but they’re still above ear level(55” off floor iirc)due to an architectural issue but I still get amazing IN room imaging
Seems most theaters STILL have all the surrounds above all the viewers. Not to mention all the Atmos dubbing stages that have surrounds above the listener. While I do think the ideal for home Atmos places the surrounds close to seated ear height, there is definitely some play in the “guidelines”. Oh yeah that’s right. They’re GUIDELINES, and not hard fast rules.
BTW, I got a new Betta!

 

[Wardog555]

I'm following the Dolby atmos home theater installation guidelines for the most accurate home theater experience. And yes my surround speakers at almost at ear level. I can assure you that it's more enjoyable than having them up too high.
My last two imax experiences felt to me that all the surround sound excluding the front sound stage, was above me and that annoyed me. Yes they of cause are too high in the first place

 

[Danzilla31]

I'm following the Dolby atmos home theater installation guidelines for the most accurate home theater experience. And yes my surround speakers at almost at ear level. I can assure you that it's more enjoyable than having them up too high.
My last two imax experiences felt to me that all the surround sound excluding the front sound stage, was above me and that annoyed me. Yes they of cause are too high in the first place

Yeah but that's only if you are setting them up for atmos if not surrounds can be much higher. I had mine at my old home quite high above ear level and they sounded and imaged great. Sometimes I liked them better that way for height effects like rain

 

[Golfx]

I'm following the Dolby atmos home theater installation guidelines for the most accurate home theater experience. And yes my surround speakers at almost at ear level. I can assure you that it's more enjoyable than having them up too high.
My last two imax experiences felt to me that all the surround sound excluding the front sound stage, was above me and that annoyed me. Yes they of cause are too high in the first place

You sound like the type of person that embraces guidelines as insurance against preventable mistakes. I see nothing wrong with that approach. I have a seeming endless supply of toddler grandchildren so I too mount my surrounds higher up on my walls. After time I have grown to enjoy that feature. It does not take away my the sense of involvement in a movie at all.


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[Jdfrey3715]

Hi all,

I am looking for some advice and suggestions on which surround (for 5.1) would be a good option for my terrible living room. Budget would be up to $800, if necessary. I have attached a picture to show the layout and you will be able to see the general issues that make this area impossible for a good immersive experience. This is also temporary for the next year or two. I have 2x Revel M126Be bookshelves on stands up front, will be adding the Revel C205 for a center and I have a Martin Logan 880x and the Marantz SR7015 (future-proofing). I am looking for small but capable surround speakers for movies and TV Shows that could be integrated. Revel has their S16, but those will be too big and too much with just bookshelves up front. I thought the Paradigm 100Bs or Martin Logan 15is might be options (either could be used later for 2-channel casual listening in another room. As you can see in the layout picture, the right surround will be partially in the walkway if positioned properly.

I will accept, "this is not worth it and just enjoy 2.1 or 3.1." Thank you in advance.

Look at emotiva.

 

[fryboy]

Thanks again everyone for the input. I still have some searching and test to see if it is worth the trouble. Maybe I just need to live in another house.