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Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 speaker placement for music and movies

lonsarg88

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Aug 21, 2020
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I am just in a process of furnishing the living room in a new apartment. I strive for Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 speaker placement consisted of the following speakers:

Front speakers: Q Acoustics Concept 40
Center: Q Acoustics Concept Centre
Subwoofer: KEF Kube12b
Rear speakers: Q Acoustics Concept 20
Ceiling Atmos speakers: 4x Q Acoustics QI65 Professional
Receiver: Marantz SR6015

I will mainly use the audio system for music, but occasionally also for movies. As you may see from the image, the room is quite small and in addition, the couch is pushed all the way to the rear wall in the corner. This triggers several questions.

1. Obviously, I cannot meet Dolby Atmos Installation guidelines for overhead speakers, so I was wondering what would be the best compromise here? Can I put two ceiling speakers just next to the rear wall, so they would be slightly behind the listener (100-110°)?
But where exactly should I put front ceiling speakers then, should I meet 30-55° specification or rather relatively the same angle to the listener as the rear ceiling speakers, so the angle to the viewer would be symmetrical (70-80°)? Also, how wide apart should they be in my case?
Perhaps I should drop the idea of 4 ceiling speakers and only go for 2? How about the speaker choice, should I pick a different brand?

2. There is also a lack of space for rear surround speakers. It will be hard to have them at the ear level, so should I put them on a higher height and point them downwards? Any specific height recommendation?

3. Another dilemma is a subwoofer placement. I need to choose the TV stand design, so how would the one on the image work? Will it affect the bass if the subwoofer will be covered with a shelf? Do you believe that it could sound better if it was placed on the right side of the TV stand design? If it is impossible to say in advance, then I guess a design without a shelf over subwoofer would be better, so I can place it on the either side accordingly to subwoofer crawl test?

4. The last question is regarding the speaker choice. Do you find it suitable for the given room or would you recommend any other brand/models?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 

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Zedly

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I have a similar 5.2.4 configuration. Since there is no true rear in a 5.1.4 setup, my installer recommended putting the rear ceiling speakers directly over the listeners heads. The idea is that this better handles the reflections off the back wall. I put the front ceiling speakers at a 45° from ear height. My ceiling speakers have adjustable woofers, so that we can aim them directly at the listening position. I also found that setting my speaker configuration to "Front Height" and "Top Middle" gave me better results than using "Top Front" and "Top Rear". You'll want to try and see which works better for you.
 

RipmoRider

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lonsarg88 what did you end up doing? I have a very similar dilemma and just about all of the same questions. Would love to hear what you ended up doing and how it worked out for you, My living room has 4 ceiling speakers from the previous owner. I'm trying to get the design finalized before I purchase anything.
 

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