# Rethinking my highs, still thinking about rears.



## fogyreef (Jan 6, 2016)

I could use some advice on fine tuning rear and high placement for this room.

Having received advice to skip cutting holes in the ceiling I'm rethinking my four high speaker approach. For simplicity, bang/buck, aesthetics, timbre, overall cost, etc I'm changing my Chane order to be A5s front, A2 center, a pair of Rythmik L22 subs and the rest of the 7.2.4 as A1s.

My final major design decision is the placement of the rears and the highs.

The room is 18' from screen to back wall. 13' to MLP, 5' from back wall to MLP. The ceiling starts at 9' at the back wall and peaks at 12'.

The center of the couch is the center of the screen. The Projector will be mounted on the ceiling. We have beams in the ceiling that are 8' away from the MLP measured from the near side of the beams. 

1) The back wall poses a challenge for rear placement. The sweet spots are in the middle of the hall and the door to the office. My current guess puts them at the far side of the office door where the white figurines are, and tucked in the corner against the hutch next to the Christmas card. (middle picture). Otherwise it's directly behind without much spread. Thoughts?

2) Considering in the fourth picture I'll have a surround up against that narrow support wall in the kitchen, I'm contemplating if the proper high position would be directly above the rear or closer to the couch along the inside of the beam (8' from MLP). Thoughts?

3) In the second picture the front high's most aesthetic spot is on the far side of the fireplace up top. That's outside Atmos' standard as being higher and farther than the rears. I could slide the speaker closer along the beam, but not as pretty? Thoughts?


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

I've been trying to figure this out. How far is it between beams? (Thinking out loud)I might try to place the rear surrounds (when looking at the couch pic) above the office door in the leftmost 1/3 of the space between center beam and left beam, and next to the hallway opening. That "might"be too wide, but I think putting them at center between beams against where the wall meets the ceiling would be too high. Trying to figure out side surrounds...


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## fogyreef (Jan 6, 2016)

willis7469 said:


> I've been trying to figure this out. How far is it between beams? (Thinking out loud)I might try to place the rear surrounds (when looking at the couch pic) above the office door in the leftmost 1/3 of the space between center beam and left beam, and next to the hallway opening. That "might"be too wide, but I think putting them at center between beams against where the wall meets the ceiling would be too high. Trying to figure out side surrounds...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Eight feet on center.

Side surrounds will go ear level next to the fireplace and against the kitchen support wall. Did you mean Highs?


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Ok. By ear level, do mean roughly 6'?
No. I meant rear surrounds. (Part of the 7.x.x. Not the x.x.4) Normally, a 7ch layout would have the surround speakers at about 6' high. In an atmos system I believe they call for them to be slightly lower, so each plane can image properly. With your high ceilings, I think you could place the side and rear surrounds a little higher if necessary (basically the top of the wall) without much penalty. If you put the rear surrounds on the wall between the office and hallway, the avr can be setup for less/ greater than 6' distance apart. I personally think it would be too close together but imo the hard part will be finding a balance between height(off the floor) and width(between rear surrounds). How far apart will the side surrounds be?


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## fogyreef (Jan 6, 2016)

willis7469 said:


> Ok. By ear level, do mean roughly 6'?
> No. I meant rear surrounds. (Part of the 7.x.x. Not the x.x.4) Normally, a 7ch layout would have the surround speakers at about 6' high. In an atmos system I believe they call for them to be slightly lower, so each plane can image properly. With your high ceilings, I think you could place the side and rear surrounds a little higher if necessary (basically the top of the wall) without much penalty. If you put the rear surrounds on the wall between the office and hallway, the avr can be setup for less/ greater than 6' distance apart. I personally think it would be too close together but imo the hard part will be finding a balance between height(off the floor) and width(between rear surrounds). How far apart will the side surrounds be?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Ear level sitting, so 3'. 

And lol, I just read that a word I used previously got changed to "beautiful" in the last sentence of the original post as I forgot about the forum restrictions on using language which may be construed as offensive. I'll go tweak that.

Here's a mock up that matches Dolby specs. I can live with the rear right since that's an unused traffic lane. Note that it's in plane with the wall. I'll pull the highs toward the front a few feet. They're against the wall to fit in the picture.

The most convenient spot for the sides would be 13' from MLP (center of couch) on the left and 11' on the right. That puts the sides against that small kitchen wall on the left and against the outer wall on the right. Otherwise it would be 5' on either side of the couch, behind the end tables, 2.5 feet from ears.


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## albe (Nov 25, 2015)

Sometimes a room is just not "right" for 7.1.4, sometimes optimal speaker placement calls for 5.1.4 or even 5.1.2.
I believe, based on the room layout, you would be plenty happy with a 5.1.2 Atmos.

I'm saying this because I've gone crazy in the past trying to install 7.1 in customers homes that really 5.1 sounded perfect with plenty of "directional" audio.
I do believe a room with vaulted ceilings require an extra sub as well.

Just my .02¢


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## fogyreef (Jan 6, 2016)

albe said:


> Sometimes a room is just not "right" for 7.1.4, sometimes optimal speaker placement calls for 5.1.4 or even 5.1.2.
> I believe, based on the room layout, you would be plenty happy with a 5.1.2 Atmos.
> 
> I'm saying this because I've gone crazy in the past trying to install 7.1 in customers homes that really 5.1 sounded perfect with plenty of "directional" audio.
> ...


I'll take all the ¢ you can give, thanks. I do have two Rythmik L22's coming tomorrow, so that should cover the subs. Now that I've solidified my hardware decisions, once they arrive I can start learning the ins and outs of fine tuning the room. The best way to learn is to do. I did plan on starting with 5.2.2 as the rear highs can be positioned temporarily and just play with that. I won't mind if 5.2.2 is my best configuration, as long as I've given 7.2.4 a fair trial. Advice like yours gives me permission to allow for that being a possibility.


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