Is an Atmos setup doable in this small room?

[craigj]

Last year we split our integral garage into 2 and the half accessed from the kitchen is now a little 'den'/home movie room. It works fine, is about 3m x 2.8m and I have a 58" Ambilight (Love ambilight, in this little room with no windows) and a 5.1 surround setup. Due to the small size, the 2 surround speakers are directly above the sofa at the top of the wall - any lower down and it would be right beside somebodies ear, as the sofa has to sit against the wall. Now.... My Onkyo amp does not like the Philips TV and I keep needed to power off at the plug the whole setup for 20 seconds before sound will come out the amp using ARC connection. I am in talks with Philips about this but also have the go ahead to replace the amp which is a few years old now, next spring. Im trying to work out whether its worth putting 2 front height speakers in and getting an Atmos amp? My worry is that as the surround speakers are high anyway, I would not get any benefit? You can see one of the surround speakers above the light in the pictures

 

[craigj]

I should add I actually have 3 spare speakers - I originally had 5 in silver, all the same, then bought the left right and centre in the black finish, so all I need is the amp and to figure out where to put the additional speakers if I get the Atmos amp

 

[Damp Squid]

If you can i would lower the side surrounds to about the height of the lamp, that way they will not be too close to anyone's ears. The height speakers should be placed either above where your knees will be when sitting on the couch or possibly slightly further forward considering the length of the room.

 

[Sloppy Bob]

You'd have to lower the rear surrounds as you need layers of height for Atmos to work.

If you have your rear surrounds at the same height as your Atmos you'd lose the effect a lot.

 

[AmericanAudio]

The new amp (and probably the current one) will allow you to adjust the levels each channel (speaker) runs at. This can be done either manually or by some in-processor room correction function.

So when you bring the rears down, you can adjust them so they don't dominate the soundtrack / listening experience.

Then, as others have said, you can add the upper layer for heights/atmos

 

[craigj]

So, lower the rears, that can be done easily enough, what about the Atmos heights, where do they go?

 

[Sloppy Bob]

what about the Atmos heights, where do they go?

The height speakers should be placed either above where your knees will be when sitting on the couch or possibly slightly further forward considering the length of the room.

Above you on the ceiling or high on the walls pointing down towards you.

 

[gibbsy]

So, lower the rears, that can be done easily enough, what about the Atmos heights, where do they go?

As mentioned before place them in the ceiling roughly above where you knees will be when seated at the MLP and in line with the front left and right is the usual advice. As you have those front in a corner then bring the Atmos speakers in around 18 inches from the wall.

 

[craigj]

Thanks folks! Will no doubt have a few more questions, once I actually have the new amp