Will Atmos work in this room?

[Evergreen4]

Hi all,

Before I start I apologize for my poor English.

For some time now I want to add a pair of Dolby Atmos enabled speakers to my 5.1 home theater system.
I have read quite a lot about the Dolby Atmos speakers and I learnt somethings like:

• This audio format was designed to be used with in-ceiling speakers, so the best options to enjoy it would be: overhead speakers – Height speakers – Dolby Enabled speakers (e.g. up-firing speakers).
• If you cannot or do not want to install overhead/height speaker, the up-firing speakers could do the trick. They would not perform so well, but if the room meets certain requirements a reasonably good Atmos effect could be achieved.

Am I correct so far?
If so, let me introduce my non dedicated home cinema room:

This is a square part of a larger rectangular shaped living room.
I have marked in the photos the position of each of the speakers of my 5.1 system as well as the position from which we watch television.

Regarding the relevant distances, they would be the following:

- Distance from the front speakers to the seating positions:
. Left speaker: 3,15m (10,4 ft).
. Right speaker: 3,35m (11 ft).
If necessary, I have enough space to move the front speakers forward or backward.
- Height from floor to ceiling: 3 meters (9,85 ft).
- Height of the front speakers: 1 meter (3,28 ft).
- Therefore, height from the base of the front speakers to the ceiling: 2 meters (6,56 ft).
- Angles of both front speakers are 28°.

The ceiling is perfectly flat and built of reflective material.

I am aware that if I want a guaranteed true Atmos directional height setup I would need to cut 4 holes in the ceiling and install 4 downfacing speakers in the correct locations, but this is not an option in my particular case because of the material that the wall and ceiling are made of.

So considering all the above, I need your opinion on 2 basic questions:

1) Do you think that my room meets the requirements so that a pair of up-firing speakers placed on top of the front speakers can do their job correctly?

2) If (I know, this is a big IF) the answer to question 1) is “Yes, it could work”, what speakers would you recommend?.

After reading a lot, I guess that good candidates could be:

• KEF Q50a (or the most expensive version: KEF R8a).
• Klipsch R-41SA (or the most expensive version: Klipsch RP-500SA).
• Dali Alteco C-1.

My current home cinema equipment is:

- TV set: LG OLED 65E6V
- UHD Blu Ray player: Oppo UDP-203
- AV receiver: Yamaha RX-A3060
- Speakers: Focal-Jmlab Chorus S (front: 716S, central: cc700S and rear: 705S)
- Subwoofer: SVS PB-1000

Thanks a lot, in advance, for your help and advice.

 

[Evergreen4]

If any moderator read my message, please feel free to close the thread as nobody seems to have an opinion about it.
Thanks.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hi E4,
Sorry nobody has responded to your questions. This time of year in the US is overtaken by holidays and travel, so it’s easy to miss a few threads.

Well, as I see it your room would definitely work with your idea. Most of us would recommend “on wall” speakers at the front height location in your situation. However if wall mount is out of the question, then the AE modules are your next chance. Keep in mind, they will take a lot of fussing with to make sure they will fire at the correct locations. I understand from your post that you accept the different nature of the Atmos enabled speaker vs in ceiling, or on ceiling, or wall mounted front height. With that, I’ve done a couple doodles to illustrate how changing the speakers locations and ceiling heights can affect how they project to your seat. Raising the modules vertically will be similar to tipping them back. Keep in mind, my drawing skills are rudimentary. Lol They’re just to give an idea, and show what might be helpful in setting them up. Also, tipping or tilting them backward or forward can be useful as well. Oh, and be patient!

Again, sorry nobody picked this up. Hope this helps some.
Oh, as far as brands go, I can’t say that one brand is better than another for this kind of setup. I would only be able to recommend trying to find some that sound like your focals.

 

[Evergreen4]

Hi William,

Merry Christmas and THANK YOU very much for your kind reply and those gorgeous doodles (they help a lot!!).

I am quite aware that if I want a guaranteed True Atmos directional height setup I definitely need to cut 4 holes in my ceiling and install 4 down facing speakers in the correct locations or, alternatively, place the speakers on wall above the front speakers.

Sadly, neither one nor the other are viable options in my leaving room because both the walls and the ceiling are made of solid bricks and/or cement.

So I am afraid that the upfiring speakers, properly placed on the top of my fronts (as per your doodles), are the only solution.

I finally bought the KEF Q50a (I am pretty sure that the Klipsch would have been an excellent choice as well).
As soon as I receive the speaker and wires, I will let you know about my first impressions.

Again, thak you for your help.

PS: I promise to be more patient.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Looking forward to your impressions. Btw, when I mentioned patients I meant with your speakers lol! I am surprised nobody commented. I just didn’t see it somehow.
Also, for what it’s worth, if you have some handyman skills, they do make bits and screws and anchors and things that allow you to mount things into concrete. This may or may not be above you skill set but just thought it might help to know.
Again, good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

[MR.MAGOO]

In my opinion that room is too small for ATMOS, don't waste time or money on Atmos. In that size space I'd put money on better subwoofers and get the center channel up, closer to ear level. And get rid of that table between the TV and viewing position. There are not any movies being made to warrant the expense and time to use Atmos.

 

[RedCharles]

Here's what you do.

Get an Atmos 9.2 receiver.
Get four more speakers.
Get four 2x4s.
Get some wood screws.

Set up your "atmos" speakers in an upfiring position.
Listen to them. Realize upfiring speakers don't work.

Then set up your 2x4's. Brace them somehow. Mount the speakers to the 2x4s using wood screws.
Listen to them, and then decide whether or not it's worth a minimum of 645 USD, but it will likely cost you 1000.

Pioneer 303 9.2 Receiver $400
4 Sat speakers $200
4 mounts $30
100 feet of wire $15

If you want it, mount those speakers on the wall, and enjoy. If not, return all that stuff, and enjoy what you have.

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf

Read page 57.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

In my opinion that room is too small for ATMOS, don't waste time or money on Atmos. In that size space I'd put money on better subwoofers and get the center channel up, closer to ear level. And get rid of that table between the TV and viewing position. There are not any movies being made to warrant the expense and time to use Atmos.

What? Ok, auditor55, where’d you put magoo?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I do agree with me magoo about the center channel. It’s too low... but totally disagree about being too small.
I also might consider rotating the gear so the display is on the right side wall. This might allow for 5.1.4 as well.

 

[Evergreen4]

Hi all,

A quick message just to let you know that this last weekend I finally got some time to set my new KEF KEF QF50a Atmos speakers up.

I wired them and run YPAO in my Yamaha RX-A3060 AV receiver.

As soon as I can watch a few movies I will let you know about my first impressions.
Anyone owning those KEF and a Yamaha AV receiver, please feel free to post some advise/tricks in order to set the whole thing up properly.

Cheers.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

That’s great man. Curious about your journey.

 

[2channel lover]

Hi all,

Before I start I apologize for my poor English.

For some time now I want to add a pair of Dolby Atmos enabled speakers to my 5.1 home theater system.
I have read quite a lot about the Dolby Atmos speakers and I learnt somethings like:

• This audio format was designed to be used with in-ceiling speakers, so the best options to enjoy it would be: overhead speakers – Height speakers – Dolby Enabled speakers (e.g. up-firing speakers).
• If you cannot or do not want to install overhead/height speaker, the up-firing speakers could do the trick. They would not perform so well, but if the room meets certain requirements a reasonably good Atmos effect could be achieved.

Am I correct so far?
If so, let me introduce my non dedicated home cinema room:


View attachment 32830

View attachment 32831View attachment 32830View attachment 32831

This is a square part of a larger rectangular shaped living room.
I have marked in the photos the position of each of the speakers of my 5.1 system as well as the position from which we watch television.

Regarding the relevant distances, they would be the following:

- Distance from the front speakers to the seating positions:
. Left speaker: 3,15m (10,4 ft).
. Right speaker: 3,35m (11 ft).
If necessary, I have enough space to move the front speakers forward or backward.
- Height from floor to ceiling: 3 meters (9,85 ft).
- Height of the front speakers: 1 meter (3,28 ft).
- Therefore, height from the base of the front speakers to the ceiling: 2 meters (6,56 ft).
- Angles of both front speakers are 28°.

The ceiling is perfectly flat and built of reflective material.

I am aware that if I want a guaranteed true Atmos directional height setup I would need to cut 4 holes in the ceiling and install 4 downfacing speakers in the correct locations, but this is not an option in my particular case because of the material that the wall and ceiling are made of.

So considering all the above, I need your opinion on 2 basic questions:

1) Do you think that my room meets the requirements so that a pair of up-firing speakers placed on top of the front speakers can do their job correctly?

2) If (I know, this is a big IF) the answer to question 1) is “Yes, it could work”, what speakers would you recommend?.

After reading a lot, I guess that good candidates could be:

• KEF Q50a (or the most expensive version: KEF R8a).
• Klipsch R-41SA (or the most expensive version: Klipsch RP-500SA).
• Dali Alteco C-1.

My current home cinema equipment is:

- TV set: LG OLED 65E6V
- UHD Blu Ray player: Oppo UDP-203
- AV receiver: Yamaha RX-A3060
- Speakers: Focal-Jmlab Chorus S (front: 716S, central: cc700S and rear: 705S)
- Subwoofer: SVS PB-1000

Thanks a lot, in advance, for your help and advice.

Reflective Atmos systems...I've heard a klipsch speaker top demo and FWIW...I also heard a Paradigm inceiling demo...same retailer. Both demos played the same material, the inceiling demo was just more realistic sounding to me, but they both "worked".

I have attic space over my listening room, so it made the decision to go inceiling much easier. In fact, I'm pretty convinced that I wouldn't have bothered to try it otherwise.

A golf buddy of mine has a 5.1.4 system (Klipsch) with speaker top atmos speakers. He wanted to show it off...it's better than the retail demo I heard actually, (I think he bumped up the atmos reflective speakers a lot in the Marantz avr) but imo falls short of down firing inceiling speakers.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Reflective Atmos systems...I've heard a klipsch speaker top demo and FWIW...I also heard a Paradigm inceiling demo...same retailer. Both demos played the same material, the inceiling demo was just more realistic sounding to me, but they both "worked".

I have attic space over my listening room, so it made the decision to go inceiling much easier. In fact, I'm pretty convinced that I wouldn't have bothered to try it otherwise.

A golf buddy of mine has a 5.1.4 system (Klipsch) with speaker top atmos speakers. He wanted to show it off...it's better than the retail demo I heard actually, (I think he bumped up the atmos reflective speakers a lot in the Marantz avr) but imo falls short of down firing inceiling speakers.

Does your buddies system use modules? Or are they built in to the towers? I think building them into the speaker is a recipe for failure since you’re at the mercy of the height and angle that klipsch(or whoever) installed them at.

 

[2channel lover]

Does your buddies system use modules? Or are they built in to the towers? I think building them into the speaker is a recipe for failure since you’re at the mercy of the height and angle that klipsch(or whoever) installed them at.

Good question...if modules means speaker top add ons, I'm pretty sure they were modules, but I didn't remember him having floorstanding rear speakers initially.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Good question...if modules means speaker top add ons, I'm pretty sure they were modules, but I didn't remember him having floorstanding rear speakers initially.

Yeah. I was meaning the add on modules that have some freedom of placement vs the ones built in to the top of the speaker. I know some BS speakers have them built in to the top as well. Just don’t know which ones. Never cared...lol

 

[2channel lover]

Yeah. I was meaning the add on modules that have some freedom of placement vs the ones built in to the top of the speaker. I know some BS speakers have them built in to the top as well. Just don’t know which ones. Never cared...lol

iirc, my store demo...i'm not sure about the L & R speaker, but their were 6 floorstanders and the ones on the side and side surrounds had builtin atmos....my friend had modules added to his speakers, but his placement imo was awful....the side surrounds were fine, but mains were too far forward of the MLP...I suppose that's why he had the volume enhanced so much on the atmos speakers

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hi all,

A quick message just to let you know that this last weekend I finally got some time to set my new KEF KEF QF50a Atmos speakers up.

I wired them and run YPAO in my Yamaha RX-A3060 AV receiver.

As soon as I can watch a few movies I will let you know about my first impressions.
Anyone owning those KEF and a Yamaha AV receiver, please feel free to post some advise/tricks in order to set the whole thing up properly.

Cheers.

Don't know about the rest, but I like your Yamaha RX-A3060.