Atmos novice questions

[Sal1950]

Another way to put it, should I simply take all comments re heights as generally applicable to all of us, regardless of what speakers we have above our heads?

Maybe not?
For Atmos, many folks have to compromise on how their "height" speakers are positioned.
For optimal playback, overheads positioned as shown in the Dolby instructions is really the only way to expect results close to what the production team desired. How anything else (from side wall to floor level ceiling bounce locations) reproduces the mix is anyone's guess..
IMHO if you want to consider other folks mix impressions, it would be best to stick as closely as you can to the others with overheads similar to yours.
We all do the best we can depending on our individual circumstances but do get very varied results.

 

[DrKlahn]

@cbmmm3 a bit late to the discussion, but having been in several room with wides it seems to be setup dependent as to how much they add. Speakers that have a wide dispersion in a room where the L/R are reasonably close to the first surround pair don't seem to benefit much from wides. The room example I would use has all JBL horn loaded speakers where the wides are only a few feet from the L/R. Playing material with the wides engaged I really could not hear much being added. A different room with narrower dispersion speakers (I think they were Monoprice in walls) and a much bigger gap between the wides, L/R and the first surround pair on the other hand, I found the wides to be a nice addition.

I have the ability to accommodate wides. But my L/R and the first surround pair are fairly close. They are also able to place objects convincingly between them. So, for now I just don't see a compelling reason to add them.

 

[cbmmm3]

@cbmmm3 a bit late to the discussion, but having been in several room with wides it seems to be setup dependent as to how much they add. Speakers that have a wide dispersion in a room where the L/R are reasonably close to the first surround pair don't seem to benefit much from wides. The room example I would use has all JBL horn loaded speakers where the wides are only a few feet from the L/R. Playing material with the wides engaged I really could not hear much being added. A different room with narrower dispersion speakers (I think they were Monoprice in walls) and a much bigger gap between the wides, L/R and the first surround pair on the other hand, I found the wides to be a nice addition.

I have the ability to accommodate wides. But my L/R and the first surround pair are fairly close. They are also able to place objects convincingly between them. So, for now I just don't see a compelling reason to add them.

thanks DrKlahn for your input. I have made the decision to eliminate the Wides.