Vaulted ceilings modified atoms setup

[Ebaer49]

Hello,

Received the proposed installation suggestion from an installer.

What are your thoughts with respect to speaker placement and what upgrades / modifications would you make?
I am open to bookshelf or floor speakers also but the space might work better with in-wall speakers.

From installer:

“The Living room will be configured as a 9.1 home theater for movies and music with in-wall front and rear speakers, 4 side speakers using in-ceiling speakers with tweeters aimed down toward the center of the room and a subwoofer. This is basically a “modified” Atmos 5.1.4 configuration but without the “vertical depth” of a true Atmos configuration.”

“
1.) In wall speakers are great space savers however since they lack a true cabinet they do not have the same output/impact a full floor standing speaker normally does.

2.) Polks are a great bang for the buck. Thanks to their neutral and natural sound they perform well for music and home theater. There of course are other brands with different tonal qualities.

3.) The front soundstage was limited in placement to current furniture and the sliding door. Based on the distance from the seating area you would not want place the front three speakers too close together.

4.) Ideally placing the center channel below the tv closer to ear level is the best option if possible.

5.) Since your front and back speakers are close to the same height as the rest you would not get a true 3 dimensional feel. The Modified atmos design allows you to run the system as a 9 channel system but if your able to move the front and back speakers closer to ear level then the system can be a 5.1.4 system.

6.) All of the Polk speakers in the design have a swivel or aimable tweeter to help with non ideal speaker placement.

7.) In order to have it work in a modified atmos setup having them in the higher locations give them the height they would need.”

 

[sweetchaos]

Welcome to ASR.
In no particular order:
1. Buying in-wall/in-ceiling speakers from brands other than Revel (or JBL) is risky IMO.
See my post to understand.
We have measurements for Revel in-wall/in-ceiling, so they are a safe bet.
JBL in-wall/in-ceiling is a decent option. Not because we have measurements, but because of Harman research.
Best previous deal...now expired.
If this was my setup, I would go with towers or bookshelf for LR and a dedicated center speaker (as opposed to in-walls), and the rest of the speakers as in-ceiling/in-wall.
2. Subs:
Polk HTS 12...really?
We have CEA2010A data (provided by Wirecutter) for Polk HTS 10. Overall, it will only work for a small room (but your room looks much bigger than a small room) and performance is lacking to say the least.
Typical recommendation is to buy SVS, HSU, Rythmik, Monoprice subs. Why? Because they offer best bang-for-buck, since we have CEA2010A data on most models, so we can judge recommendations based on either your budget or output needed for room size.
What is your room size? Please provide in ft^3 or m^3, so we can make a recommendation on the subwoofer for your room.
3. The humans ability to hear directly from the back is greatly diminished, so choosing a weaker performing speakers is acceptable.
But our ability to hear sound from surrounds is important, so I wouldn't skimp on the quality of those.
In other words, from most important to least...the LCR are the most important, followed by surrounds, followed by Atmos, then rears. So allocate your budget accordingly.
4. What's your budget for speakers and subs (without the AVR)?
5. Your room looks like a hall...lots of reflective surfaces...which means sound will be bouncing everywhere until you add some absorption. Thick drapes, floor rugs, will help reduce that bounce. Might want to start thinking about that.
6. I would position a left tower/bookshelf next to the door, move the TV towards the center, and right tower/bookshelf next to glass door. This might give you the separation of left-right that you need. Just confirm your couch position and those locations for speakers using the Dolby chart, to see if that will work for your area. If this works for your seating position, just stick with tower/bookshelves, as they give you a much better sound than your LCR in-wall options would.

 

[Ebaer49]

Thank you for your response.

Added my measurements and proposed locations for a 5.1.2 system to start based on what I have read here.

Front speaker option 2 is a bit outside of Dolby spec but I think it would work better for the room and seating positions.

The rear surrounds I can mount on ear height. Left side I have two options although WAF prefers rear option 2 which is within Dolby spec.

In-wall speakers would only be used for the Atmos height. Location TBD but probably close to where it is marked.






:: As of today I have on hand ::

Denon X3700H
SVS SB-2000


:: Due to BF sales en route ::

JBL Studio 590 (LR)
optional: JBL Studio 580 (LR; if 590 are "too big" ?)
optional: Revel Concerta2 F35 (on pre-order with BF sale) (those might match more to the Studio 580 in terms of woofer size)

JBL Studio 520C (C)

JBL Stage A120 (rear surround)
optional: Revel Concerta M8 SP2 (WAF likes the Revel cylinder better; they do have a smaller woofer than the A120, however. 4" vs 3")


Not sure yet if I stay all JBL or mix and match. Once I have everything set up and see how it sounds in this room with those Studio 590 or 580 I would like to eventually move those to the basement and upgrade to the Revel F35/F36 with C25.
My budget for LFR is ~3k.


*At one point I was looking at the Paradigm line of speakers for the simple fact that they are not made in PRC. I would have liked something US made.

 

[sweetchaos]

Sorry for the late response...

Based on your provided dimensions, you have a 18*23*15=6210ft^3 (approx) room, ignoring the opening to kitchen/dining area.
That's considered 'Extreme' size in Bassaholic rating.

Your SVS SB-2000 will work fine in a 'Medium' room, but your sub is essentially underrated for the size of the room. See my previous post for explanation.

For your room, I would recommend the following 'extreme' rated subs:

HSU:
- VTF-3 MK5 HP US$800
- VTF-15 MK2 US$900
or higher priced (aka more capable) models, called DualDrive.

Monoprice:
- Monolith 15" THX US$1150
- Monolith M-215 (Dual 15") for US$2000

SVS:
- PB-3000 US$1400
- PB-4000 US$1900
- PB16-ULTRA US$2500
or even discontinued models like PB12-Plus DSP, PB13-ULTRA, PC13-ULTRA

Rythmik:
- FV15HP (15" ported) US$1469
or higher priced (aka more capable) models like
- G25HP: +1db (when compared to FV15HP)
- FV18: +3db (when compared to FV15HP)
- FV25HP: +6db (when compared to FV15HP)

Your choice of AVR and speakers look good.
Hopefully Amir measures his JBL Stage A130 soon, so we'll know how well it performs, and you can extrapolate performance to A120.
Also, Amir has Revel Concerta M8 SP2 in line for measurements as well.
Paradigm speakers look questionable. Until we see more Paradigm measurements, I would look at models that Amir reviewed, like the JBL's you mentioned.

 

[Ebaer49]

Thanks, sweetchaos, for the input.

The Revel F35 didn't have a delivery date so I cancelled and the JBL A580 were delayed so I ordered a pair of open box Elac DFR52 due to Amir's review of the bookshelf version here.

The JBL 580 has arrived since then also. JBLs are ok for the price (Black Friday sale) but compared to the Elac the JBLs have been bagged up and are going back.
Love the Elac - more clarity, detailed. Can't stop wanting to listen more.

Look nice and at $480 a piece open box the price was great. Technically it was open box, scratched but cannot find a single scratch.



Now working on running wires for the rear surrounds.