Speakers in parrallel or serie for Atmos widespread ?

[Gigowatt Film]

Hello everyone,

I hope I'm posting at the right place.

The front ATMOS speakers in my room are too distant from the main listening position (and the ceiling is low). I would like to place 2 more speakers a lot closer from the center.

The speakers are Dali phantom H60 and work over 6 ohms. So Parallel would make the combo 3 ohms and serie would be 12 ohms.
The amp is a buckeye Ncore NC252 8ch,

• 180 watts @ 2 ohm
• 250 watts @ 4 ohm
• 150 watts @ 8 ohm

So it seems safe to go parallel.

The preamp is an anthem AVM70.

My questions :

Is it better to run it in parrallel and what are the + and - on such a configuration. My goal is to be able to locate the atmos sound from abov and not pretty sidish like now.

Is it so very dumb and should I simply just move the ones that are placed, leaving holes ? Is there a "lobing" issue that could occur, bearing in mind they are "just" front ATMOS channel ?

Thank you very much/

 

[DVDdoug]

After re-adjusting the volume it probably won't matter.

In series, you'll get less power but it puts less stress on the amplifier. If the voltage remains the same you get half the total power (1/4 of the power to each speaker). It will probably still go loud enough for Atmos speakers (after you adjust it).

In parallel you'd get double the total power if the voltage remains the same, but the specs show a drop-off with lower impedance so it will likely be "current limited", meaning the voltage will clip lower.

...I wouldn't recommend non-identical speakers in series but it should be OK if the speakers are the same.

Is it better to run it in parrallel and what are the + and - on such a configuration.

In parallel, it's + to + and - to -. Everything is wired the same as one pair of speakers.

In series the + of one speaker goes to + on the amplifier, and the - of the other speaker to the amplifier. Then the remaining speaker connections are joined together + of one going to - of the other.

 

[Gigowatt Film]

I'm daft. I meant "what are the upside or the downside on such configuration" and should not have used - and +. Very confusing.
Thank you for your response.
The preamp has ARC that will calculate distance and volume.
All speakers will be the same (https://www.dali-speakers.com/en/products/phantom/phantom-h-60/)

I guess the amp is powerful enough to drive them in parrallel.
Is serie a better choice ?

Thanks

 

[Oddball]

Not sure if I understand. You want to have 2 pairs for Atmos fronts - one closer and one further away from MLP, with both being connect to the same amp and thus same Anthem front Atmos output?

I don't think it is a good idea as speakers will have different response due to location and ARC would see only 2 not 4 speakers. That would cause combing and potentially issues with levels. While front Atmos might not be the most important speakers, a much better solution would be to move the speakers, or add top middle if supported by AV 70 so you end up with 6 real Atmos channels.

 

[Gigowatt Film]

You want to have 2 pairs for Atmos fronts - one closer and one further away from MLP, with both being connect to the same amp and thus same Anthem front Atmos output?

Correct.

That would cause combing and potentially issues with levels.

Damn. No way around it ?

add top middle if supported by AV 70 so you end up with 6 real Atmos channels.

Yes the amp supports 6 ATMOS channels.
It would mean relocate all speakers and creating a new way for wires which is a challenge in that room, but still doable.


I originally sticked with dolby specs saying the ATMOS should be aligned with front and back speakers. But in my room with a big wide screen and not much height they are too close from the rear and side speakers so you don't really feel the sound coming from above.

 

[kyuu]

I originally sticked with dolby specs saying the ATMOS should be aligned with front and back speakers. But in my room with a big wide screen and not much height they are too close from the rear and side speakers so you don't really feel the sound coming from above.

What specifications are you looking at? I don't recall ever seeing Dolby recommending aligning the overhead speakers with the front/rear bed-layer speakers.

 

[Gigowatt Film]

I found it here : https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guides/7.1.4-overhead-speaker-setup-guide

 

[Gigowatt Film]

My screen is 3.2 meters wide, so speakers are about 4 meters apart.
The atmos speakers are also 4 meters apart, but on a 2.2 meters ceiling, it is not great, because of the resulting angle, they feel more like side speakers