Highs positioning - ceiling or on top of the fronts?

[admsh]

I'm finally upgrading my office sound system to atmos (5.1.2). I have the Triangle Borea 5.1 setup at the moment. I was thinking of getting the Borea atmos speakers, but I would really much prefer to have them hanging from the ceiling rather than putting them on top of the front floorstanding speakers. However, looking at the diagrams on the Dolby website and on the Triangle website I don't see anything that looks like that in any way. On the Triangle website they suggest putting them on top of the fronts, and hanging them from the back on the wall (which doesn't apply to me since I'm only adding the two highs).

In my living room the ceiling speakers were put into the ceiling so this wasn't an issue. What do you guys think? Does it make any sense hanging these from the ceiling? Or should I just use them as intended on top of the fronts? Does it matter that much in the end of the day? The whole idea of sound "bouncing" never appealed to me but I haven't really tried it tbf.

 

[marpow]

Good for you taking the Atmos plunge. It is quite rewarding.
I will preface by I have never heard upfiring Atmos system. Obviously the invention of a upfiring speaker is to get the customer to purchase who believe they can't attach speakers in the cieling. A even further downstep would be the so called Atmos Soundbar.
I have read countless threads on QQ and seems the upfiring Atmos system does not get the attention as the down fireing speaker does.

My advice, being that you have the speaker system that is upfiring and you have the capaibility to attach to ceiling, is to try both ways.
This way you will be fully educated on your particular lay out.
My guess is you will be happier with the down firing.
A little tip is to increase DB (speaker volume) for the Atmos speaker/s.
In the beginning of becoming an Atmos listener it takes a bit for the brain to really start to hear the discreteness of some recordings. Easy to hear the envelope of surround, but some recordings are ambient in the heights and some recordings are more ballsy.
Good luck.
I will enjoy following your progress and findings.

 

[admsh]

Good for you taking the Atmos plunge. It is quite rewarding.
I will preface by I have never heard upfiring Atmos system. Obviously the invention of a upfiring speaker is to get the customer to purchase who believe they can't attach speakers in the cieling. A even further downstep would be the so called Atmos Soundbar.
I have read countless threads on QQ and seems the upfiring Atmos system does not get the attention as the down fireing speaker does.

My advice, being that you have the speaker system that is upfiring and you have the capaibility to attach to ceiling, is to try both ways.
This way you will be fully educated on your particular lay out.
My guess is you will be happier with the down firing.
A little tip is to increase DB (speaker volume) for the Atmos speaker/s.
In the beginning of becoming an Atmos listener it takes a bit for the brain to really start to hear the discreteness of some recordings. Easy to hear the envelope of surround, but some recordings are ambient in the heights and some recordings are more ballsy.
Good luck.
I will enjoy following your progress and findings.

Thank you! I guess the real dilemma here however is that these Atmos speakers are slightly tilted. And what I'm seeing in the diagrams is flat speakers pointing down. So if I hang these from the ceiling they'll be pointing slightly towards me and not straight down. Do you think that's a problem or does that not matter?

 

[marpow]

If you can test/experiment that would be best.
If only two, I would try behind me firing at my head.
The front sound stage is so powerful that mounting them front ceiling the sound might get lost?

 

[madscot]

Thank you! I guess the real dilemma here however is that these Atmos speakers are slightly tilted. And what I'm seeing in the diagrams is flat speakers pointing down. So if I hang these from the ceiling they'll be pointing slightly towards me and not straight down. Do you think that's a problem or does that not matter?

I imagine as long as they are above you and pointed at your MLP it will be fine. I have upfiring speakers and think they are a waste of time, never heard anything bouncing off the ceiling yet and I have them turned up 6db’s, I cannot fit ceiling speakers due to various obstacles

 

[AYanguas]

The recommended location for x.x.2 is hanging from the ceiling, just above the MLP or even better a little moved to the rear.

The front ceiling location, as said above, could just elevate the front stage, in a similar way as the Auro-3D does. This would limit the perception of sounds coming from "other" directions. Either discrete or bubble surrounding effect.

In my experience, (x.x.4) I "feel" more directional effect, when the sounds are coming from Top Rears, because thet are coming from "rear" (up), the same way we enjoy surround when sounds are coming from rear.

So I think the recommendation of a little more rear than the vertical location at ceiling (but not to the full room rear) would be the best.

 

[barfle]

I’ll chime in, even though my atmos ceiling speakers are not yet connected, so it’s book-learning that I have to offer, as compared to actual experience.

The standard is to have the speakers in the ceiling, or as high as you can get them. Those little wedges seem to allow for either ceiling or high on the wall mounting, so I’d do one of those rather than the upward-firing positions.

Let us watch your journey! We’ll probably learn something new.

 

[MTB Vince]

Ceiling absolutely! And located/aimed as per the Dolby Atmos guidelines for a 5.1.2 install.

 

[admsh]

Ceiling absolutely! And located/aimed as per the Dolby Atmos guidelines for a 5.1.2 install.

View attachment 92865

Thank you!!! This is what I wanted to see. Looks like a killer listening room you have.

Do you agree with others I should hang the speakers closer to or even behind the MLP? Starting to think maybe I should add four and have them in the front and the back...

 

[MTB Vince]

No worries @admsh. With a single Atmos overhead pair, best practice would be to locate them a little ways in front of the listening position:

https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guides/5.1.2-overhead-speaker-setup-guide/
However the chosen overhead loudspeaker, it's optimal acoustic axis, and the mounting method will also dictate what is possible. Both in-ceiling speakers and those little wedge shaped surface-mount Atmos modules will have a fixed angle listening axis which you must also account for in your placement decision. I chose an "install variant" of a matching conventional ATC box loudspeaker, the SCM12i on sturdy adjustable ceiling mount brackets, in order to give myself more freedom in this regard.

If you do decide to go with Triangle's slant faced dedicated Atmos modules, make certain to align the axis of the slanted face directly at the listening position. Depending on the ceiling height you are dealing with, the optimal listening axis of the Borea Atmos module's slanted front baffle will dictate just how far in front of the couch you will need to mount them. Make sense?

 

[admsh]

No worries @admsh. With a single Atmos overhead pair, best practice would be to locate them a little ways in front of the listening position:

https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guides/5.1.2-overhead-speaker-setup-guide/
However the chosen overhead loudspeaker, it's optimal acoustic axis, and the mounting method will also dictate what is possible. Both in-ceiling speakers and those little wedge shaped surface-mount Atmos modules will have a fixed angle listening axis which you must also account for in your placement decision. I chose an "install variant" of a matching conventional ATC box loudspeaker, the SCM12i on sturdy adjustable ceiling mount brackets. in order to give myself more freedom in this regard.

View attachment 92870

If you do decide to go with Triangle's slant faced dedicated Atmos modules, make certain to align the axis of the slanted face directly at the listening position. Depending on the ceiling height you are dealing with, the optimal listening axis of the Borea Atmos module's slanted front baffle will dictate just how far in front of the couch you will need to mount them. Make sense?

Makes perfect sense. Thank you!

 

[Hamilton59]

Here’s my experience and opinions.
I added 4 Klipsch RP500 SA ATMOS speakers to my system in 2019. These are wedge shaped speakers that are designed to either sit on top of your front and rear speakers and bounce the sound off the ceiling or they can be hung on the front/back walls. They have a switch on the bottom that changes the speaker’s frequency output for full range when wall mounted or a filtered notched output for the bounce off the ceiling mode.
I tried the easiest method first and placed them on top of my main 4 speakers. They did not give me the impression that the sound was coming from above me at all. I have a vaulted ceiling which probably ruins the up firing bounce effect. I then had a couple of friends hold the speakers up on the walls in various positions while I listened to them from my MLP. I found that the rear wall speakers sounded like rear ceiling speakers above me. However, the front wall speakers sounded exactly like that…front high wall speakers, not ceiling speakers. I ended up hanging them from the vaulted ceiling center beam as my top front speakers.
Now my speaker placement was good but I noticed a timbre difference between my ATMOS height speakers and my 7 bed floor speakers whenever I ran the Audyssey setup. The lower 7 speakers sounded the same during Audyssey setup, but the ceiling speakers sounded a lot different. They were lacking and did not come close to matching the sound of the rest of my speakers. This year I have replaced the RP500 SA ATMOS speakers with 4 Klipsch RB-51ii bookshelf speakers which match the sound of my lower speakers much better.
All of this to say I ended up replacing my ATMOS designed speakers with bookshelf speakers for a much better sounding system.

 

[mandrix]

When I had a 5.1.2 system I had best sound with the single pair of overheads in the "mid top" position. Room size and acoustics matter though.
I currently have a 7.1.4 system in a smallish room. Front High and Rear High for the tops. But Mid High and Rear High are good options as well.
Every speaker points toward my listening position.

 

[EdwardMatthew]

Hey! I hope you are doing great. The recommended placement is to have them installed on or in the ceiling. However, if you prefer to hang the height speakers from the ceiling, it is possible with additional installation work. This may involve drilling and modifications to ensure proper positioning according to Dolby guidelines. On the other hand, placing the height speakers on top of the front floorstanding speakers, as suggested by Triangle, is a commonly used option. This can still provide a good Atmos experience as the sound is designed to bounce off the ceiling and create an immersive audio environment. Ultimately, the choice between ceiling placement or placing them on top of the fronts depends on your personal preference and room constraints. Experimenting with different options will help you find the setup that works best for you.