fuzzydog Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) We're beginning the process of building out an unfinished bonus room over our garage into a home theater / family hangout room. I've developed the attached draft speaker layout to give to our contractor who will handle all the drywall installation and wiring. The proposed speaker layout is based on the dolby setup information available online and all the great HT build threads already on this forum. I have all the speakers in hand already except for the subwoofers (TBD) and the in-ceiling dolby atmos speakers for which i'm planning to use four Klipsch CDT-5650's. I also still need to decide on a projector and screen. Before we cut loose our contractor, i wanted to run this layout by you guys to see if i've screwed up anything or overlooked something that we'll regret in the future. As the project moves forward i'll be sure to post lots of progress and completed project photos. Thank you in advance for your input. Kind regards, Peter Edited August 14, 2015 by FuzzyDog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdave Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I would suggest that you run some RG59 coaxial to some rear locations into a gang box, just in case you ever wanted to add subs to the back in the future, nice and streamlined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. The back corners are useless for much else due to the sloping ceiling so I might as well plan to put a subwoofer back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 The four CDT-5650's for Atmos duty have arrived via Acoustic Sound Design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 Major construction begins next week with installation of HVAC system...here is a pre-construction shot for future reference. Until last weekend, the room was full of boxes that accumulated over the past several years while it was used as storage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 (edited) Your IC speaker locations are a bit off. They should be .5 -.7 x width of the front left and right mains. They should also be as close as possible to 45 deg. from the MLP when looking at a side view. From front to back IC speakers should be .5 x length of the front mains to the back surrounds. Hope that helps. Edited August 14, 2015 by Jay L 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 Your IC speaker locations are a bit off. They should be .5 -.7 x width of the front left and right mains. Thanks Jay...just so I understand correctly...if my mains are 10' apart, then my IC speakers should be between 5' and 7' apart? I had based my spacing on the below graphic from Dolby which shows them spaced at the same width as the mains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Your IC speaker locations are a bit off. They should be .5 -.7 x width of the front left and right mains. Thanks Jay...just so I understand correctly...if my mains are 10' apart, then my IC speakers should be between 5' and 7' apart? I had based my spacing on the below graphic from Dolby which shows them spaced at the same width as the mains. Dolby 7.1.4 Graphic_Page_22.jpg CorrectSent from my VS986 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 Correct Thanks...and not that I don't trust your guidance, but since it appears to differ from the Dolby graphic, can you tell me the source of the 0.5-0.7 factor recommendation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I read it straight from Dolby guide I have. Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Dolby needs to make their recommendations a little more uniform. Everywhere else they tell everybody to put them the same width as the mains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I guess I should defer everyone to the latest guide. I have a guide from a while back, apparently they have changed their mind on the layout guides. All the newer guides (3 releases newer since the one I have) do not have near the detailed information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 My biggest question is how much you're gaining with 4 ceiling speakers vs. 2. I don't know if there are four overhead channels on Atmos movies or just two and even if there is just two, I don't know how well four of them smooths things out as opposed to two. A single row of seats may or may not be able to get away with two speakers, not sure about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 I don't know if there are four overhead channels on Atmos movies Supposedly Atmos is not channel based. don't know how well four of them smooths things out as opposed to two I'd guess that it would depend on the size of the room. If a sound object is supposed to fly overhead, I don't know how well you'd be able to produce the overhead front to back effect with only one pair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 (edited) I don't know if there are four overhead channels on Atmos movies Supposedly Atmos is not channel based. You can call it whatever you like, but something tells the receiver that this is information that should be sent to the ceiling speakers. I don't know if that information can only be mono, stereo, or if four different signals can be used. Commercial Atmos is all object based and you can have hundreds of them, but you can't do that with blu rays, you're still limited to a low'ish number of separate signals. I'd guess that it would depend on the size of the room. If a sound object is supposed to fly overhead, I don't know how well you'd be able to produce the overhead front to back effect with only one pair. I can't even figure out if front-to-back action is even possible. When one comes on are they all on or can you pan side to side and front to back? I should have experimented with it more but up until pretty recently there was only one popular Atmos blu ray and I've been too lazy to mess with it for fun. Edited August 14, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 information that should be sent to the ceiling speakers I'd wager that the sound objects (in mono) are assigned x,y, and z coordinates which the receiver uses to divide the signal amongst your array of speakers through interpolation to reproduce the sound at the correct point in your room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 First of all, Congrats on the build. Great space & that will provide a great HT & Atmos experience. I would definitely add (at least) 4 in-ceiling speakers. I went from 2 to 4 upward firing modules & that was a dramatic change. 2 is the absolute minimum & a very basic/interim set up with Atmos. If you have the space (& it seems that you do) I would even add 6 in-ceiling Speakers via an external amp. I might even add 2 more upward firing modules myself (for a total of 6). At this stage of your build, consider 6, but 4 would be excellent... 2 would not be the route to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meenoo5 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Wow. Great thread, and good luck! I will be following along closely as this is my long term plan as well with my rf7ii rc64 combo once I can save up do up a new room. I think you're on the right track. I'm a total newbie but everywhere I've read says that 4 speakers up top make a big difference over just two. Placements look good to me, and adding that extra wiring in the back for future sub relocations is definitely a necessity. Good luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 The HVAC install is complete! Wiring begins tonight which brings me to a question about surround speaker mounting height. I found this on Crutchfield after a quick google search... "Place the surround speakers above seated ear level (as high as standing ear level). If the rear surround speakers are placed at seated ear level, they will overwhelm the sound coming from your front speakers, resulting in muddied and inaccurate surround sound. However, if your system will incorporate Dolby Atmos® surround sound, we recommend placing all in-wall or on-wall surround sound speakers at seated ear level to ensure optimum Atmos height effects." Do you guys think this is good advice? I'm guessing that seated ear level is about 4'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 All floor level speakers should be as close to 1.2 meters from the floor as possible. This means everything that isn't a height channel. It is okay to push surrounds up to 1.25 times the height of your main speakers. Being at ear height is ideal, when the system is calibrated properly, nothing will overload anything else. Also at no point should any speaker be closer than 3 feet (5 feet or more is ideal). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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