New and confused (2 Viewers)

[12fretter]

I have the Costco special. Denon AVR 750, Klipsch 5.0.2 Reference w/ Atmos, plus my old Velodyne subwoofer, and an extra pair of JBL bookshelf speakers that were my previous Surround speakers. I currently have it setup as a 5.1.2 using the upfiring Atmos speakers in the top of the front towers, and the JBL's are unused. Here are my questions:

1. Is it better to setup as a 7.1 using the JBL's as Surround Rears, and forget about the built-in Atmos upfiring speakers in the front columns, or stay with the 5.1.2?

2. Would a 5.1.2 config using the Klipsch Surround speakers mounted on the ceiling for Top Front, then using the JBL's as the Surrounds be a better setup than the upfiring in the Klipsch fronts?

3. What movie/scene can I use to test which configuration gives the best experience? (This question comes from reading that San Andreas was a good one to test with...so I put it on last night and I swear I thought my front speakers were going to turn inside out. The CLIPPING that was happening was HORRIBLE. Real high frequency crackling when the atmos kicked in...it was HORRIBLE. Then I turned the volume way down, so it was just audible and played the same scene, and you could hear the crackling in the same places, just not as loud. That told me the issue is in the sound track, not in the speakers.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[JohnRice]

Johnny,

You need to describe the room, dimensions, seating positions and such for us to give suggestions on what setup would be best.

Regarding question #2, Atmos speakers are supposed to be overhead, mounted in or on the ceiling not just high on a wall. The reflecting modules are probably preferable to just having speakers high on the front wall, but it'll depend on the room. Overhead, mounted to the ceiling will always be better than reflecting.

 

[Todd Erwin]

The other question would be if you ran the Audyssey set up or not.

A good reference to get the most out of using Audyssey set up is the Home Theater United Podcast episode with guest Dave Upton on Room Correction.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/hometheaterunited-podcast-episode-15-dave-upton-on-room-correction-and-calibration-with-rew-and-audyssey.371224/

 

[12fretter]

To answer your questions:

The room is basically square about 19x19 with 8 foot ceilings. One wall (where the tv and system are located, has an angled ceiling which I thought might help the upfiring speakers because the sound would hit the ceiling on a slope, but I don't know if that is true.

I did use Audyssey to do the setup but I have not tweaked anything beyond that.

Do either of you have any comment on the clipping noises I heard on San Andreas?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

When we had our family room remodeled last December, I removed my two rear center speakers from the main home theater, going from a 7.1 to a 5.1 setup. Honestly, I haven't missed the rear centers at all. At some point, I plan on getting a pair of upward firing Atmos speakers to place on top of the front speakers (no ceiling mount speakers in the remodeled room) for a 5.1.2 setup. It just hasn't been a priority for me this year.

FYI, my setup includes a Denon 33000W AVR and 4x B&W 602 large bookshelf speakers, plus a B&W 600 LCR center speaker and B&W subwoofer (can't remember the model # offhand). I actually took out the B&W 604 towers as my front L/R speakers and moved a pair of the 602s from the rear center to the front. The setup sounds just as good as the previous 7.1 setup with the front towers, IMO.