Expanding 5.1 to Wall-Mounted Atmos 5.1.4

Carrera1963

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Hi all,

I've got an existing 5.1 system in my "TV room" that since 2020 lockdown has had a sim racing rig & now home office desk added - so very multi-purpose! :)

I'm interested in playing with new audio formats, and as my couch/sofa is against the back wall I've got no way of doing 7.1, so Atmos is a logical next step.

Room
Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here's the current layout (top down view and side view). The side sofa and bookshelves all moved around a few times to make new things fit in.
TV Room.png

TV Room Side.png


Speaker Locations
I've got a sloped ceiling (front-to-rear), so upfiring Atmos speakers are out, and my ceiling only has a 3" void so I can't install ceiling speakers - I've got a picture rail on all the walls at ~7ft (in line with the top facia of the windows), so that would be a good location for wall mounting speakers above.

So I'm looking at wall-mounted Atmos speakers, for either 5.1.2 or 5.1.4. Possible locations are either:
  1. Front wall mounted heights - A (could go higher to D, but is there any benefit being higher than ~8ft?)
  2. Side wall mounted for atmos "top middle"- B
  3. Rear wall mounted, though would need to be almost pointing straight down to MLP - C
My current thinking is position B for 5.1.2, or A+B for 5.1.4 - but open to suggestions! :)

Speakers
I'm running 5 Krix speakers (aging but perfectly good), and an SVS SB2000.

For atmos wall-mounting, I'm looking around £400/pair (A$700) at angled baffle options like the SVS Prime Elevation, Klipsch RP140SA, Kef Q50a, etc. Ideally something in white so it blends in with the off-white walls. Smaller satellites with angled wall mounts would work too, or even much smaller speakers like the Cambridge Audio Min12 or Min22.
elevation_down_firing_68eb9664-5b8c-4390-8b0d-d42b10f9259b.jpg
min22w.jpeg

Update: Ordered two pairs of the Monitor Audio MASS Satellites to test, if they're good I'll get a 3rd pair to replace my side surrounds.

Receiver/Processor
My Sherbourn PT-7030 Processor has started having issues with the front panel display, so I've got a Denon X6700H waiting to be installed...


Thoughts?
Suggestions?
Questions (other than "why a desk" or "wtf is a sim rig")?
 
Last edited:
I’ve suggested them for others when speakers need to be wall/ceiling mounted, and they’re available pretty cheaply as they’re relatively old.

Kef Eggs.

The 2000 series have built in wall mounts, which would attach to your ceiling, look cool, and are easily disassemble, so can be spray painted any colour you want.

Just pick up a pair from eBay and fill your boots! You could even go 5.1.4 with them!

717F7BFD-0C5B-4F7E-9A33-6F4CF11DA806.jpeg


HTH


edit: or you could do what I did with my overheads and just drill straight through the back of the cabinet - you do then have the pleasure of reassembling the speaker above your head while balancing on a step ladder - not something I’d recommend in a hurry!
 
Thanks, great idea of the Kef eggs! None cheaply available locally, but I’ll keep an eye out.

Definitely the mounting solution is something I’m considering, most of the options either have a bracket or can take a standard pivot mount speaker bracket.
 
Not what you've asked, but have you considered putting your display on one of the shorter walls? It would allow you to have the main sofa off of the back wall, which would be better for all audio (not just speaker locations, but room modes etc).
 
Both back corners have large windows, so the TV would need to be offset to make it fit & would also then be right next to a window - so no plan on moving everything around.
 
Both back corners have large windows, so the TV would need to be offset to make it fit & would also then be right next to a window
Ah yes, I see. Do you have the windows blacked out when watching TV?

Keeping the TV on the longer wall, is it still possible to bring the sofa off the back wall a bit? If you had a test mic, you could run some sweeps on REW to see if it would be worth it. Having the listening position that close to a wall is always a problem for audio.

Maybe you could have some artwork behind the sofa, which is actually absorption panels.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’ve got no plans to change anything else in the room (other than rotating the front bookshelf so FL/FR can each go a foot wider again).

The focus of this thread is about what goes in the top 7ft-10ft of the walls 🤓
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’ve got no plans to change anything else in the room (other than rotating the front bookshelf so FL/FR can each go a foot wider again).

The focus of this thread is about what goes in the top 7ft-10ft of the walls 🤓
Fair enough :)
 
I've updated the top post with better diagrams showing approx speaker angles.

I'm definitely going to do 5.1.4 instead of 5.1.2, using position B for the side height speakers and either A or D for the fronts.

A pair Monitor Audio MASS satellites are on their way to me, and I'm picking up a cheap Marantz SR6013 tomorrow.

Any thoughts on A vs D for the front heights?
 
I've updated the top post with better diagrams showing approx speaker angles.

I'm definitely going to do 5.1.4 instead of 5.1.2, using position B for the side height speakers and either A or D for the fronts.

A pair Monitor Audio MASS satellites are on their way to me, and I'm picking up a cheap Marantz SR6013 tomorrow.

Any thoughts on A vs D for the front heights?
A has them at 24 degrees, and D has them at 31 degrees.
D has them matching Auro 3D and Atmos guidelines.
A has doesn't match either.

D is better.
 
D is better.
Yeah, I figured… A is easier for me to install, but D does match the guideline angles better.

If I can, I’ll try and test both positions
 
6F02B4F6-847B-4764-AA20-A90B1352D107.jpeg
Speaker cables are run for the height speakers - I went with position D to match the recommended 30+ degreee angle.
 
Another day, another tiny bit of progress…

Testing the height speakers before mounting:
EE5F81EA-A8BD-4FBC-9814-1CADE53D3FBE.jpeg

They work well, but low sensitivity compared to… everything else in the room!

After a fairly brief listening session, I’m glad I went with these over smaller options like the Cambridge Minx 12’s.

My original plan was to get a 3rd pair to replace my existing surrounds, so I can have the surrounds easily wall mounted too. I think maybe I’ll get these 4 installed for heights and live with them for a bit first.
 
First pair is up!

They look like they’re at strange angles in the photo, but they’re pointing to “top of head height” at approx 2ft either side of MLP.

3AC9AFE4-F8BA-4715-87BD-19C9190FBB35.jpeg


Brackets and cables are done for the 2nd pair, but they’re not arriving until Wednesday
 

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