Sloped High Ceiling Dolby Atmos

saturn1

Hi,

I was wondering if I could get advice on two aspects of my planned speaker installation.

I want to set up some Polk VT60 in ceiling speakers as Atmos speakers to complement an LSiM 5.1 set up in a 15'x 20' room with sloped high ceilings. The problem is that the minimum ceiling height (above the front towers) is about 16 feet (4x the height of the towers). As you move towards the back of the room the ceiling height increases to about 22 feet.

My first question is can I install in ceiling speakers as a 5.1.2 configuration either in front of the room above the towers or in the middle of the room? Dolby recommends that the height channels be installed between 200% and 300% of the height of the listening position. This would exceed that.

My second question is whether I can go with a 5.1.4 configuration installing two in ceiling speakers towards the front of the room at a height of 16' and two speakers further back at a height of about 20'.

The geometry of the room is further complicated by the fact that the wall on one side only extends half way back.

I apologize for the complexity of the question.

rooftop59

I am not sure honestly. But AVS forum has a lot more home theater peeps so I am sure someone there can...

mdaudioguy

I've never done HT with ceilings that high, but @mantis will likely have some thoughts on this. Here's what he did in his own house with a similarly high ceiling (at least at your low side).
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2426620

rpf65

I always find it amazing that Dolby thinks that people can just put together a new room to accommodate their latest and greatest sound mix. Problem with their thought process is that very few people have a perfect room. Many Dolby speced theaters are a little on the sound challenged side, so as is always the case: use the room you have to the best of its ability.

The first thing to remember is speakers can only project as much sound as their design allows. In other a big space needs big speakers. With that said I think the vet 60’s would be too small for a 16 foot ceiling, let alone a 20 foot one.

I would think the 80f/x-rt would be a better choice for that kind of distance.

As far as the sloped ceiling, that’s what calibration programs and spl meters are for. You may have to take the time to manually measure and adjust them to get the sound that satisfies you. Provided that your room isn’t completely filled with hard surfaces, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Another option would be to use something like the owm series speakers and hang them from the ceiling. Drop the owm 5’s, for example, down to the 10-12 foot level, and you should have pretty good performance from them. Might not get you nominated to the interior decorating society, but one must have priorities.

mantis

saturn1 wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering if I could get advice on two aspects of my planned speaker installation.

I want to set up some Polk VT60 in ceiling speakers as Atmos speakers to complement an LSiM 5.1 set up in a 15'x 20' room with sloped high ceilings. The problem is that the minimum ceiling height (above the front towers) is about 16 feet (4x the height of the towers). As you move towards the back of the room the ceiling height increases to about 22 feet.

My first question is can I install in ceiling speakers as a 5.1.2 configuration either in front of the room above the towers or in the middle of the room? Dolby recommends that the height channels be installed between 200% and 300% of the height of the listening position. This would exceed that.

My second question is whether I can go with a 5.1.4 configuration installing two in ceiling speakers towards the front of the room at a height of 16' and two speakers further back at a height of about 20'.

The geometry of the room is further complicated by the fact that the wall on one side only extends half way back.

I apologize for the complexity of the question.

Your room is not designed to use Atmos sorry to say. What will happen if you install Atmos speakers that high is they will just echo. You would have to treat the reflected areas down the walls so you can tame first order reflections. Not to mention the timing of the signal is going to be out of sync with the rest of the system.
You need a different room if you want to go Atmos.
If you look at the link above in the previous posts, my room just made it for Atmos and I had to use a POINT style speaker on the left side and a downward firing speaker on the right side. I may also go with Atmos Fronts as well but I'm not sure I will.

mantis

rpf65 wrote: »

I always find it amazing that Dolby thinks that people can just put together a new room to accommodate their latest and greatest sound mix. Problem with their thought process is that very few people have a perfect room. Many Dolby speced theaters are a little on the sound challenged side, so as is always the case: use the room you have to the best of its ability.

The first thing to remember is speakers can only project as much sound as their design allows. In other a big space needs big speakers. With that said I think the vet 60’s would be too small for a 16 foot ceiling, let alone a 20 foot one.

I would think the 80f/x-rt would be a better choice for that kind of distance.

As far as the sloped ceiling, that’s what calibration programs and spl meters are for. You may have to take the time to manually measure and adjust them to get the sound that satisfies you. Provided that your room isn’t completely filled with hard surfaces, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Another option would be to use something like the owm series speakers and hang them from the ceiling. Drop the owm 5’s, for example, down to the 10-12 foot level, and you should have pretty good performance from them. Might not get you nominated to the interior decorating society, but one must have priorities.

Dolby isn't going to hold back new cool formats due to the fact many people has way less then ideal rooms. Many people have dedicated theater rooms and can do any format they want.
Atmos is the latest format and is incredible.
In less then ideal rooms you can still make it work except when you get to far out of spec.
This also holds true for 7.1, I can't do 7.1 in my room as the layout doesn't make any sense for that format. I have had 5.1 forever and that works in this room. Atmos I squeezed in and it works but it's better in better rooms.
His room is not even close to slightly ideal so I don't think Atmos is a good idea here. Waste of money actually sad to say.

saturn1

Thanks for all of your replies. The Point speakers @mantis used and the drop speakers sound interesting. I think that I will trade the 4 VT60s for two larger speakers and go with a 5.1.2 setup. I overestimated the ceiling heights and the lenth dimension of the room. The ceiling starts at 12' and rises to 18.5'. I'll put in two large speakers that are aiming at the middle of the room.

Thanks again.

mrloren

I'd look into mounting a pair of speakers at the top of the front wall. SVS Prime Elevation speakers would be ideal. Try a cheap set of bookshelf speakers and see how it sounds

https://www.svsound.com/collections/prime-series/products/prime-elevation

saturn1

Thanks. The Elevation speakers are also a good idea. I was thinking of the OWM5 and I had heard of the Elevations. I could put a rug down over the hardwood floor. That might help with potential echoing.

I would like to try to tack the ceiling speakers to a couple of different positions and see what happens.

I am also thinking of getting in wall speakers for the rear channels. The 703s take up a lot of space. They seem like overkill as surrounds.

ChabDenz

This is a wonderful time for search items. The Sloped High Ceiling Dolby Atmos is best sounds and clear voices for the speakers.

pitdogg2

SPAMMER^^^

saturn1

It's interesting. I found one article that seems to indicate that angled, ceiling mounted speakers can improve area coverage. In that sense the slope of the ceiling may actually be beneficial. My main concern is what happens when you mount 4 speakers on a sloped ceiling. The front speakers will be at a lower elevation than the back speakers. Maybe the receiver can adequately compensate. I wish that there was a way that I could temporarily mount them on the ceiling without cutting holes. That way I could test the actual effect of two vs four.

I purchased VT60 speakers because they were on sale. I compared them to the MC80s and they sound a bit more clear. I will have LSiM speakers for the center, front, and rear surrounds and the VT60s for atmos in either a 5.1.2 or a 5.1.4 setup. At the moment there is speaker wire everywhere. I am enjoying the sound, but my house is a mess of boxes and wire.