Going from 5.1 to 7.2.4 Speaker Placement Advice

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kgturner

Going from 5.1 to 7.2.4 Speaker Placement Advice
« on: 23 Sep 2019, 12:03 pm »
I currently have a 5.1 system set up in my living room. LCR setup is three Def Tech Mythos 10. Rear channels are Def Tech Mythos Gem XL. Sub is a Mirage FRX-S8.

I'll be keeping the speakers & adding Mythos Gem XL for sides plus 4 in-ceiling speakers for the 2 height channels. Probably Def Tech DI-5.5R or DI-6.5R. I'll pull the Mirage out of service & use the LFE inputs on my Rythmik F12SE dual subs that I use for my dedicated 2 channel setup.

I already have the 5 speakers mounted so now I'm just trying to figure out the best placement for the new side & height channels. The problem is my room is basically a large square with a fireplace in the front corner <17' 9 7/8" (TV to Couch) x 17' 7 15/16" (Across)>. The TV is on one side next to the fireplace & the couch/viewing position is on the opposite wall. The rear channel speakers are on the wall above the couch. There is a door to the outside patio to the right of the couch & a doorway to the dining room/kitchen to the left of the couch. I figured the sides would go there unless I need to move them further forward into the room.

I have NO idea where to put the height channels though. My room setup is a mess compared to what Dolby Labs suggests on their site, but I'm not building a theater room so I'll have to make do. Anybody care to suggest where in the ceiling I place these height channels? I've attached pics of the room from several angles. Thanks!

Kevin T












Phil A


WC

Re: Going from 5.1 to 7.2.4 Speaker Placement Advice
« Reply #2 on: 23 Sep 2019, 03:57 pm »
It appears that your couch is pushed against the back wall. In that arrangement I would not use rear channels. You can keep the current rear channels and make them your rear heights. Atmos works best when there is difference in elevation between the normal channels and the height channels. I would move the side surrounds lower so they are below the light switches on both side walls. You can mount the other set of height channels either high up on the side walls or on the ceiling between the fireplace and the window and across the room in a similar location. You want some separation from the front wall speakers since they are also mounted somewhat high in the room. So it would only be a 5.2.4 setup.

WGH

Re: Going from 5.1 to 7.2.4 Speaker Placement Advice
« Reply #3 on: 23 Sep 2019, 07:50 pm »
This is a topic I have recently been exploring since acquiring a new processor that has Atmos.

The couch on the back wall will certainly be problematic, you may have to consider a 7.2.2 setup. A good place to start is the official Dolby Atmos speaker setup guide:
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/dolby-atmos-speaker-setup/index.html
You are right, based on the info on the Dolby site, your room is a mess. But I think you can make it work.

Since Atmos is an object oriented surround codec, all the setup drawings have the Atmos speakers placed on imaginary line between the front and rear speakers, in your room that would be close to the beams. I have read that Atmos works best when the ceiling or speaker location is 8' or higher, lower than that and beaming can happen and then only the closest speaker can be heard, one solution is going with a bipole speaker.

I have been checking out the posts at the Triad Forum at AVS Forum, since the threads at AVS get huge I usually start at the last post and read backwards to get the most current info.
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/921427-triad-owner-s-thread.html
Triad designs home theater speakers so there is a lot of knowledge in the owners thread. Dawn Gordon is a Florida based dealer and installer, her posts have real world solutions based on experience.

My ceilings are less than 8' so I am following her suggestion and using bipole Atmos speakers for my 7.1.4 setup, my couch is only 54" from the rear wall and there will a lot of stuff above and behind me, it should be amazing. I got lucky and found half the speakers I need on eBay at a great price so I only needed to buy 2 at retail. Triad only sells through a dealer network, I located a dealer that sells Triad speakers at 10% off, no tax and free shipping.
https://avscience.com/

My Atmos speakers are the InWall Bronze/4 Surround Bipole, mounted in the ceiling, they are sealed and only 4" thick.
https://www.triadspeakers.com/products/home-cinema/inwall-home-cinema/iw-bronze4-surround/
I have a small room, larger rooms may need the Silver or Gold depending on your budget, and yea, they are a lot more than what you were planning on spending. I found a price list here.

I have read comments about Atmos speakers that bounce sound up vs. ceiling mounted and people who have done both say having the ceiling speakers are much better.

Find out more about Triad by watching the $300,000 11.4.6 dts-X: PRO Demo w/ TRINNOV Audio Altitude 32 & TRIAD Speakers!! CEDIA 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifPzkRNbZIQ





kgturner

Re: Going from 5.1 to 7.2.4 Speaker Placement Advice
« Reply #4 on: 23 Sep 2019, 10:56 pm »
After looking over the Dolby site, I realized that 7.2.4 isn't gonna work. I was thinking of 7.2.2, but now I'm wondering if using my current rear channels as rear height channels mentioned above might be a better use of what I have. Unfortunately, the lowest I can mount the sides will be over the doors. WAF is gonna kill anything lower than that. Guess I just need to figure out if I want to configure it as a 7.2.2 or a 5.2.4 setup.

Kevin T

WGH

Re: Going from 5.1 to 7.2.4 Speaker Placement Advice
« Reply #5 on: 24 Sep 2019, 01:22 am »
I like keeping all the surround speakers hidden as much as possible, my living room is also used as my stereo/home theater and even though I could, sticking speakers on the walls and ceiling is ugly. I noticed the A/C vent in the vaulted ceiling, which probably means the sloping space on each side is empty. The perfect place to hide inceiling surround speakers.

A bipole speaker has a wide dispersion area, a dipole speaker has the rear facing speaker out of phase which means the sound fills the room but the speaker is hard to locate and might be ideal for side surrounds mounted higher than usual. How low in the ceiling the surround could be installed would be based on the framing.

Going back to Triad, the Inwall surround is available in both bipole and dipole, is only 12" x 12" and can be ordered with a frameless grill in any color, white is standard. Your wife would never notice it.




Option #2: Consider mounting the Inwall surround higher up in the ceiling and in front of the couch as a bipole Atmos speakers then install a pair of Inceiling Bronze/8 Satellites in the rear wall on each side of the couch as surround speakers, also 12" x 12" the frameless grill can be painted the same color as the wall. The only possible problem is the speaker is 7-1/2" deep so it would probably stick into the room on the other side, a unique interior design feature. The existing rear height speakers stay where they are.