Jump to content

FD's Dolby Atmos HT Design & Build Thread


fuzzydog

Recommended Posts

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

 

post-56797-0-92040000-1436231534_thumb.j

 

 

Edited by FuzzyDog
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

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. 

 

post-56797-0-14760000-1439559723_thumb.j

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by Jay L
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

 

post-56797-0-22640000-1439564110_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

attachicon.gifDolby 7.1.4 Graphic_Page_22.jpg

Correct

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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'?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...