Finally getting my home cinema back after 15 years of waiting! Should I use my old B&W speakers?

glock339

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I had to relocate for work & leave my home cinema room behind & after 15 long years I’ve only just managed to finally settle somewhere with a spare room to rebuild it. I’ve not really kept up with current AV technology during this time as it just reminded me of what I was missing out on so I’m fairly out of touch with things now (I did try the mini speakers in the living room thing but but wish I hadn't bothered to be honest).

I finally admitted my kit like the Amp & PJ etc were all antiques a few years ago & sold them off for the few quid they were then worth but I held onto my B&W DM 600 series speakers, which I was hoping to use again to save a bit money unless anyone thinks speakers have moved on enough to justify the expense of buying new?

I have in storage: LCR600 S3 centre speaker, DM602 S3 pair side speakers, DM600 S3 pair rear speakers & a ASW650 sub.

Obviously I've heard of this Atmos malarky so my questions are:

1) would it be worth trying Atmos in a small loft conversion measuring aprox 5.6 metres wide by 5 metres long with a 32 degree sloped ceiling which is 2.2 metre high in the centre? (I’ll try to attach a back of a fag packet style sketch of the room dimensions, I’ve put on screen & speakers for scale but I really haven’t thought about positions etc yet)

2) If I do go for Atmos should I keep my old speakers, what other speakers/how many would you recommend I get for the ceiling?

3) Would it be worth doubling up the Sub in such a small room if I happen to see another one on eBay for a decent price?

Cheers :)

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The only answer to whether you keep your old speakers is if they still fit your hearing needs. Many older speakers still sound great, but if your able (even more difficult with whats going on in the news) to have a listen to a similar standard of speaker to see whether the justification to replacement is warranted. Only your ears can answer that question

With Atmos, your room isn't ideal, but completely workable. If you are looking at fixing speakers to the ceiling, then maybe take a look at pair Kef T101 speakers for a 5.1.2 or two pairs for a 5.1.4. These can be ceiling mount as others use them with Atmos configurations. It won't make much difference what your main speakers are as with Atmos speakers are far more forgiving

I would say for placement. If its a 5.1.2, then look at Dolby's 5.1.2 configuration. With this option, you will just have to be careful not to cross the sound over from the left and right ceiling speakers due to the angles and the speakers being mounted to close to each other

If your drawings are right, the 2800mm pointer you have on the drawings will be somewhere near. More than 2900mm might be ideal, but anything further out could mean the sound doesn't work as it ought to as it could be to low for the seating arrangement

If you place them at 2700mm apart, you may find that the sound crosses over will spoiling the effect. If you have to place them more around the 2700mm points, then you may have to come up with a packing system to reduce the ceiling angle and level the speaker out a little more. The same will be for a 5.1.4 too

So, check the seating arrangement for the Atmos speaker length distances (so that will be somewhere along the length of the room) with their placement just in front of the seating areas using either some packing with a width under 2800mm and flat fitting for over 2800mm but not over 2900mm

I hope that helps a little
 
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That helps a lot thanks ShanePJ, I really appreciate you taking the time to post the response :)

The Kef T101 speakers could be a good shout, I had been thinking I could cut into the ceiling to a depth of maybe up to 200mm ish if really desperate to try & squeeze in some speakers but but the T101s are a much slimmer speaker than I was imagining & making some nice looking packing for them would be no problem at all.

If you don’t mind me asking do you have any thoughts on doubling up Subs fo my set up? It’s not something I really saw much of 15 years ago but seems quite popular now. I’ve seen some people say it’s mainly to enlarge the sweet spot for multiple viewers, which I’m not to bothered about to be fair as it’s only really for me as my other half couldn’t care less & apparently sees/hears no difference in just watching the film on her laptop! Or I’ve seen others list advantages like greater dynamic range, reduced output compression, lower distortion etc. I’ve seen decent looking condition ASW650’s going for £200-£300 ish online so would probably try picking one up if it was of benefit & not just over kill.

Thanks again!
 
Sorry, have to giggle about the laptop phrase :rolleyes:

My advice would be to see what it sounds like first once you’ve got the room sorted. It’s going to be a tough one to answer as the room is not ideal and two many speakers can have an unwanted effect in a room. You may find that when you really want to drive the system in starts to become noisy and this is because the room has been maxed out

It’s something I’ve experienced first hand many years ago and it’s quite an interesting place to be if your stud in the wrong place as you can feel the shift in your ear which makes you a little unbalanced plus it just sounds loud without any quality

Because of this experience, I still feel one good subwoofer is always the right way to start plus putting a little effort into where it sounds best for the main seat. From there, if you do want to bring another woofer into the system, it’s always best to add another identical woofer and then tune both so they work together well. In your situation, you may find that you’ve to work a little harder so you don’t max the performance levels of your unusual shaped room out thus reducing the overall experience
 
Superb thanks for the advise, I need to do a lot of renovation work on the house so I'm still not quite there yet but at least I feel like I have a plan of action for the most important room now.😉

🍻
 

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