Sloped ceiling speakers for Atmos (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

It seems to me that your ceiling will already aim the speakers the direction they need to be. Like John Dirk mentioned, you might adjust the placement. It strikes me that your viewing distance is a bit far from the TV. For my taste, at least. I got an Emotiva A-500 for my Atmos speakers, but you can also look at the 5175 or the Outlaw 5000. You'll have a spare channel, but I'm not aware of any 4 channel amps.

 

[Sam Posten]

I’ve seen this posted a number of times today. It’s wrong. Dolby recommends straight down

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/7.1.4-overhead-speaker-setup-guide.pdf

 

[Sam Posten]

In the link below they talk about
Dispersion requirements: straight vs. aimed

http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/dolby-atmos-dispersion-requirements-for-ceiling-speakers/

Did I misunderstand something about aiming speakers?

Yes. Those guys are wrong

 

[ChucksterMania]

I do appreciate you educating me on this matter. As an engineer, I do try to understand things without a preconceived bias and recognize there is a world of misinformation out there. The link you provided does have a lot of good information and after-all, it is the website for Dolby. I spent some time with it today. That being said, if you follow the link below from that website:

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technol...tmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf

You will find this on page 7.

Mounting considerations

If the chosen overhead speakers have a wide dispersion pattern (approximately 45 degrees from the acoustical reference axis over the audio band from 100 Hz to 10 kHz or wider), then speakers may be mounted facing directly downward. For speakers with narrower dispersion patterns, those with aimable or angled elements should be angled toward the primary listening position.


I also found this on page 13 referring to flat ceilings and Atmos enabled speakers.

Room treatment considerations for use of Dolby Atmos enabled speakers

For optimal performance, the ceiling should be flat (not angled or vaulted), with a height between 7.5 and 14 feet (2.3 to 4.3 meters), and made of an acoustically reflective material (drywall, plaster, hardwood, or another rigid, non–sound-absorbing material). The ideal ceiling height is between 7.5 and 12 feet (2.3 to 3.66 meters).

That is the only reference to flat ceilings, which makes perfect sense if you're going to bounce the sound off the ceiling.

Again, I am not trying to upstage anyone or prove anyone wrong. I am trying to educate myself and you have provided me with very appreciated information.

 

[Sam Posten]

@ChucksterMania

Sure. Most speakers are going to provide wide dispersion. The problem is that people are using that line to justify positioning speakers in general at a main listening post. My opinion is those people don't fricking understand what Atmos is doing,, at all. Traditional speakers can be aimed a bit to provide line of sight (as it were) to your ears, if that makes your listening experience more enjoyable. Obviously that doesn't work with bi-poles and dipoles which are using to give surround sound a more airy experience. Atmos is calculating sounds moving in 3d space from the front to the back of your room using all available speakers in concert. Aiming all your speakers at one seat defeats that entirely, or at least confuses the processor and limits the range of effective sound deployment.

And again, I'm no expert here at all. Just a knucklehead who built his own theater and totally appreciates the complications involved in working within limitations and circumventing existing room layout issues..

 

[JohnRice]

My take on this is that Atmos speakers should have as wide a dispersion as possible. Period. In fact, that's a major consideration for me with any speakers to begin with. That's been a long learning experience for me, but what I've found over the past 25 years is that the best sound reproduction is achieved with wide dispersion speakers that are NOT aimed directly at the listener. The Thiel CS 3.6 in my main system, and the ELAC B6.2 in my living room system are set up away from the wall behind them and aimed straight forward. Over 3' from the wall for the Thiels and about 2' with the ELAC. I know everyone toes in their speakers, but I've found aiming them straight forward delivers the best imaging, after years of experimenting. It's not a coincidence that the basic design principles that Andrew Jones uses in his ELAC speakers is very similar to what Jim Thiel strove for his entire career. In a good system you do NOT want to hear points of sound only located where the speakers are. You want localization of sounds to be possible anywhere in the room. In my experience, that is best achieved with wide dispersion speakers that are not aimed directly at the listener, but straight into the room.