Is it possible to ceiling mount a pair of KEF Q50a Dolby Atmos Speakers?

emmanuelrdzr

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I recently bought a pair of KEF Q50a speakers which are intended to put then on other speakers when used as dolby speakers and then reflect the sound on the ceiling.

Instead of reflecting the sound, I would like to put them directly on the ceiling pointing to me, something similar to what was experimented here:


Unfortunately, those speakers are not prepared to be mounted on the ceiling. What do you suggest? Have anyone used any workaround to put them directly on the ceiling?
 
They have keyholes at back for screw mounting on wall (can work as height channels mounted below ceiling on front/side wall), so you can use your imagination how you get them safely installed on ceiling. Then you can use them there similar way as SVS Prime Elevation speakers, see post #27 where member has them on ceiling showing how it´s done.



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No problem with them being set on the ceiling although keyhole fittings have to spot on from a safety point of view. They are not the lightest speaker in the world at 4.25kg. That'll put a lump on your head if it falls down. Good speakers though and really does give you three options for placement.
 
Keeping an eye on this thread. I have a pair I was going to put on my wall (or try to sell and get the Arendal 1961s).
 
I once heard that if an upfiring speaker is placed on top of a front speaker as intended, it gives added 'overhead height' because the sound beam has to travel up to the ceiling and then back down again?

How true do you think this is, for example if an upfiring speaker was 1.5m from the ceiling it would sound like it is 3m above you (assume your ears were also 1.5m from the ceiling), instead of 1.5 m above you if you had it ceiling mounted.
 
I once heard that if an upfiring speaker is placed on top of a front speaker as intended, it gives added 'overhead height' because the sound beam has to travel up to the ceiling and then back down again?

How true do you think this is, for example if an upfiring speaker was 1.5m from the ceiling it would sound like it is 3m above you (assume your ears were also 1.5m from the ceiling), instead of 1.5 m above you if you had it ceiling mounted.
ur overthinking it a bit mate.

they are ok ontop of speakers. give a sense of height but nothing dramatic. u can still localise the sound is coming from the top of the speaker if u listen for it. it just gives u a bit more 'atmos-phere' excuse the pun. like a 3d depth to the sound, but it doesn't give you consistent ceiling discerinble directitonality for atmos.
 
ur overthinking it a bit mate.

they are ok ontop of speakers. give a sense of height but nothing dramatic. u can still localise the sound is coming from the top of the speaker if u listen for it. it just gives u a bit more 'atmos-phere' excuse the pun. like a 3d depth to the sound, but it doesn't give you consistent ceiling discerinble directitonality for atmos.
I tried to find the video where I heard about this, I found it below from Pioneer's Andrew Jones. I really can't hear much sound leakage from my KEF Q50As and I sit on a fairly low sofa and reflective low ceiling (I can literally touch it if I tip toe) which helps.

 
Most are now placing them on either the front or side walls as illustrated in the image below. I'm not sure how you would lock the Q50a speakers in place although many have ceiling mounted the T-101 and T301 speakers, so it's not insurmountable, you'd just have to figure out the angles to something like the third image so the audio funnels correctly like Dolby suggest on the second image. You'd also have to look at creating a locking system to hold the speaker in place so it didn't work itself free

full-system-2.jpgcomplete-ceiling-5-1-2.jpgfull-system-2-ceiling-front-or-back.jpg
 
Most are now placing them on either the front or side walls as illustrated in the image below. I'm not sure how you would lock the Q50a speakers in place although many have ceiling mounted the T-101 and T301 speakers, so it's not insurmountable, you'd just have to figure out the angles to something like the third image so the audio funnels correctly like Dolby suggest on the second image. You'd also have to look at creating a locking system to hold the speaker in place so it didn't work itself free

View attachment 1829583View attachment 1829555View attachment 1829584
Shane so if mount these on the front and rear walls wouldn’t that create a big gap from the from to back? Even though that seems to be the most convenient place.
 
With Atmos, if you are moving the location of the speakers, you have to try and mimic where the sound would come from if they were placed in-ceiling. Below you can see where Dolby show and if you look at the seating plan, you will see they expect the speakers to be situated within a certain zone. I actually feel Dolby also upset this by not aligning the speakers correctly for overhead as you would see the speakers would in fact be nearer to what I've shown on my images and not theirs

So, if you are trying to achieve a .2 or .4 Atmos soundstage, then it's easier to ensure you use some common sense and try to work the angles out in order to achieve the best compromise to in-ceiling placement

complete-ceiling-5-1-4.jpg
 

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