Can I mount surround speakers up high?

[meakinsl]

Hi,

I have been dreaming of a surround sound system for years and now just planning it for a new rear extension which is open plan kitchen, diner and lounge, room is long and thin. Problem I have is there is nowhere to mount surround speakers in ideal positions having been doing some reading.

I was thinking of a 5.1 setup using these speakers which seem to get great reviews Home review

And for the surround speakers it says : A final word on the design of those Silver FX surround speakers: their semi-hexagonal design and easily switchable dipole/bipole modes is a real touch for those unable to place them over the shoulders of their listening position.’

The only place I can mount the surround speakers is about 3.5m back from the sofa and about 2.6m in the air on a beam as there the wall is flush on one side and glazed on the other and didn't really want speakers on stands in middle of the room with backs showing.

Is this a complete non-starter or could it work out okay ? Be nice to have a bit of surround sound and would prefer a setup like this rather than a sound bar projecting (although read good reviews on new sonos one) and also listen to music a lot and wanted decent stereo sound for that.

Surround speakers are in red mounted on beam/plasterboard about 2.6m high.

Any thoughts/help greatly appreciated.

 

[ShanePJ]

Can you take a photo of the area where you are going to add the FX speakers? It would be very unorthodox, but as a compromised system, it might work. I feel you're biggest issue is filling the room with sound and bass to another point as its a very large room and you are going to struggle for sure in this area

 

[meakinsl]

Thanks for reply, it has high ceiling as well which doesn't help, here is picture, the wall pictured with mirror on is going and a beam going acooss at approx 2.5m high which will leave a sort of triangle of plaster above it and that is where thinking of mounting the speakers, there will be no pillar each side which is where originally though could get some speakers but now flush which will be better for the room but not the sound system ! :

 

[Conrad.]

I ran a 7.1 system with speakers mounted in the top corners angled down at 45 degress pointing at the MLP for many years without too much issue. Everything sounded "high" but it was definitely behind me and around me. It's not common, as @ShanePJ says, but it can work.

It'll make any move to Atmos a no-go though, you need separation between the base layer and the height layer for it to work well.

Any chance you could mount them on the side walls pointing in towards to the MLP?



I've added some beautiful blue circles to show where I mean.

 

[meakinsl]

Thanks for reply, I had wandered about pointing them down, the ones had been looking at mount flush to wall but could take a look at some that could be angled with brackets. Could mount them where suggested at right height but would be facing each other as to angle them in guess would see back of speaker, would it be better to have at right height but facing each other or behind but far back and high ?

 

[ShanePJ]

Looking at the plan, I guessed the room was much larger than you have shown in the photo, so has work started on the open plan room of have I got this part wrong? This is why I mentioned about the bass levels in the room.

As for the speakers pointing at each other, that's fine as they produce a 180 degree spread of sound meaning that you don't really have the issues like you do with standard monopole speakers. What's more, it will bounce sound of the rear of the wall shown in the photo (if I've got the room plan wrong). If however the room is to be made open plan, the only issue is you will be sending sound into the kitchen area which from that point means that using traditional (monopole) speakers (like the Silver 50's or even the Radius 90's) angled into the front of the room from @Conrad. recommendation would be a better idea allowing you to look at Atmos in the future

 

[Conrad.]

@ShanePJ , I think the wall in the photo is coming out meaning that the two rooms are to be joined together, so I think it'll be a lot larger than in the photo. I had the same thought!

Dipoles on the side wall would work, or monopole if you can angle them in so they're pointing at the couch. I get the back of speakers aren't that pretty.

 

[ShanePJ]

@Conrad. I'm just wondering whether adding some Atmos speakers on the wall in the original place of the FX speakers and using them as speakers as they're naturally angled plus they are so far back, a future Atmos option with in-ceiling or front highs might be achievable. Just a thought

 

[meakinsl]

Thanks again for replies, great forum, yes correct the wall in photo is coming out and will be the kitchen behind it sounds like the silver FX wouldn't be optimal either up high flush so pointing forwards or at right height pointing towards each other.

Looks like the two speakers suggested have brackets that allow them to be angled - would you recommend putting them up at the back up high on the beam pointing towards MLP as a better solution ?

 

[ShanePJ]

@meakinsl I'm really thinking that using something like these speakers (which can be simply wall mounted) in the original space you have ear-marked for the FX speakers is the right way for that room. So, yes they will be high up with the natural angle pointing into the seating area.

 

[Conrad.]

@Conrad. I'm just wondering whether adding some Atmos speakers on the wall in the original place of the FX speakers and using them as speakers as they're naturally angled plus they are so far back, a future Atmos option with in-ceiling or front highs might be achievable. Just a thought

Nice, I reckon that'll work. I love that kind of out-of-the-box thinking.

I actually re-purposed my high surrounds as atmos and the rears work really well. The sides work less well so I'm going to replace those with in-ceiling to bring them closer to the middle of the room.

One thing for the OP to consider, when using object based formats like Atmos, it's often better to use monopole speakers over bipole or dipole. This is because objects are placed in specific locations which monopole have the precision to portray. Bi/Dipoles are great for ambient surround effects, but when you want a specific sound to move clearly, they don't really have that focus. At least that was my experience when I tried them.

The distance between your listening position and the speakers should mean you get a pretty diffuse sound anyway. If you can do it, monopoles would be my preferred choice.

 

[meakinsl]

Fantastic, looks like I could be back in the game ! So guess this means would run with the fronts, centre and sub from the silver av 12 package but for the surround use pair of bronze ams dolby atmos enabled speakers placed in original position on the beam up high pointing towards the MLP, the walls are going to be white so these will blend in perfectly.

Would I just plug these into the surround L & R on the AV receiver rather than surround back or height ?

Do you think this package would beat anything could achieve with sound bar ?

 

[ShanePJ]

As you’re going to be using them as surrounds, they will become your rear surrounds ( that would be the 4th and 5th inputs) leaving you the option at a later date to use the amps official Atmos connections with another pair of Atmos speakers

As for your question about a soundbar, I’ve yet to hear a soundbar outperform a separates system. Hope that answers your question