Ep 49. Home Theater Dolby ATMOS Angles. Easily place Atmos speakers!! Home Theater Gurus.

So I asked a question awhile back about Atmos set-up with a ceiling fan getting in the way of where my optimal location for Atmos speakers should be. However, I may have gotten a little overzealous and I placed by Atmos speakers about 55 degrees (a little off due to the ceiling fan) and I often feel like they're not super noticeable. Granted, I know these are support channels, but I think where I goofed up is that I only have a 5.1.2. Would 55 degrees from the MLP be optimal with only 2 Atmos speakers or would 60 degrees or possibly closer be better? My worry is if they're too close they'll bleed into my surrounds. Any advice on if 55 degrees is the optimal placement for 2 height speakers? If I move them I want it to be my final time as I hate popping holes in my ceiling.

Thanks for the great content!
Have a question on whether the MLP needs to be centered between top speakers vs maintaining separation.
When looking at the room from the side, and rears are raised 20deg, does that push both pairs of tops forward to maintain separation, resulting in MLP being closer to the rear tops?
Like (180 - 20) / 3 = 53deg between each speaker?
Or does the angle (or distance) from the midline need to match for rear and front tops?

what does bedlayer mena? newbie here. first video I have ever watched on this channell

Great video! This has definitely pushed me to buy some Krix ic-52 in ceiling speakers to run a 5.1.4 setup.
I'm a bit puzzled on how to work out the recommended 55 deg angle equation when the in ceiling speakers are already aimed 20 deg on the unit. Any help greatly appreciated!
Regards.

So if you can't aim your atmos independently (built into floor speakers) 45 would be the sweet spot?

So If I bought Klipsh slm 3400 and get 55 degrees it will be not great becouse they not directional to my seat ? Do I should do like 60degrees ? My audio will be 5.1.2.
Thank you

I don’t know why. But the width of placement is really messing with me. Because when I follow the calculations it’s always in line with my mains or outside my mines. Never inside. My x is 80” x .7 = 56” but width, 56” too? Or 56” total so 23” from center? My room is 10’ wide, 10’ tall

I guess I have my Atmos front height speakers all wrong.... They're about 30 degrees...

What should I do if my couch is only 3ft from back wall? At 60 degree my back atmos speaker will be exactly at my back wall.

What about if my main listening seat is up against a wall?

Is the information in this video limited to X.X.4 setup or can this video information also pertain to a 5.1.2 setup?

Is this formula using downfiring or adjustable in ceiling speakers?

What Tolerance would you recommend for down-firing speakers ? 60 degrees front & back ?

Steve, This info is EXACTLY what I have been saying for as long as I've been dealing with Dolby's layout discrepancy. The HT layout must be as close to the studio in which the engineer mixed the content in order to hear the same thing the engineer did. Period - no argument! I hope everyone follows you and this info. Then I hope all of us give Dolby enough grief to straighten out their act. Dolby is RESPONCIBLE for all of the arguments between the folks in the HT hobby.

It's a pitty I made holes in my ceiling already.
I set Atmos speakers at 45 degrees front and back, and it sounds great, but as you say, Im not always feeling the sound is coming from the ceiling and not front the front or rear speakers.
I wish I could change to 55°, but I can't anymore.

Super keen to try this! I’ve been running front heights and rear heights for years and never experienced the “bubble” everyone speaks of. My FH angles are 25 deg, which I now see is no good(some people swear by 30-35 deg though?) My RH are obviously closer with MLP being almost against the back wall, they are 50deg though. I want to move my FH, but would it matter if they are say at 45deg and the RH are at 50? I’ll also set them as top front and top rear after moving the front. They are Dali Alteco speakers(similar to SVS prime elevation) Thanks again for these detailed techie videos, really enjoying it.

I'm going to be using 4 kef eggs for the height speakers which could be used on wall or on ceiling but I'm struggling to find out if better to put them above the front and rears or on the side walls or even on the ceiling in the same configuration as described here. Can anyone point me in the direction of which way would be best? Thanks

Love this!! I have watched so many of your videos now. I do have a question. With sloped ceilings, how should I adjust my width? For example, If I'm centered below the peak height of the ceiling, which is 10'6, it's easy to find how far in front and back the atmos should be (roughly 5ish feet ahead of me at my seating height for 55 degrees). But as I move them left and right, they actually get lower and lower into the room (ceiling slope down from 10.6 to 8.3 or so on both sides, so a pretty gentle slope). Should I adjust for this, or live with it?

You mentioned an array of height speakers. What is the proper way to split a channel from the processor to multiple amp channels to power an array of speakers?

What if my seating position is close to back wall? Should I install rear atmos speakers just slightly behind my ears or none at all? Would having just front pair at 55 degrees do anything for DA experience? Please help 🙏

I have an important question for you and hope you can answer soon if possible.
I'm currently on a 5.1 setup and installing two in-ceiling Atmos speakers tomorrow (RSL C34E MKIl). There is a wall close behind the seating position so won’t ever update to any more Atmos in the future. I'm going to use the 55° angle you recommend. Since these speakers have a 15° angled baffle do I need to adjust the angle for this? Also, should I rotate the speakers so that they are aimed directly at the main listening position, or keep them aimed directly at the back wall? Thanks for any help.

Hi, my name is Robert McCarty, could you send me an email so I could get your email address? I need to send you my room measurements and see if you can help me set up my Atmos speakers in my HT. Thanks, this is driving me crazy.

If my front speakers are at 60 degrees from MLP when I do the calculations for 55 degrees with a 12 foot ceiling height that more or less puts the in ceiling atmos in line with the mains. My question is that too far apart for the atmos. Seems kind of wide. Over 13 ft apart. Or should I move them closer?

how far apart should the front left Atmos and front right Atmos speakers be?

Hello! Love your videos! I’ve been watching a ton. I have a compromised room and I would love your suggestion.

If I’m understanding this correctly, the distance from my ear to the ceiling is roughly 4ft 6in. Using your super helpful graph I now know the atmos speakers for my 5.1.2 setup will need to be 3ft 1in forward and wide to be your recommended 55 degrees.

I have a ceiling fan right where my right atmos speaker would be. I’d need to make it 3ft 10inches to clear the fan. I know it’s not ideal, but if I fix my level trims with my SPL to compensate do you think I’ll still have a good Sonic experience? Or should I try to match the left speaker to also be 3ft 10in wide? I’m really racking my brain and want to know what’s best before I buy and set up.

Thank you for your time

Hi Steve - great diagram. However, I was just thinking, if you mark a point 55 degrees to the front and then mark a point 55 degrees to side, in like an L shape, forming a square grid, then the actual angle to each speaker directly drawn diagonally from the MLP to each speaker actually becomes more like 45 degrees. So should the 55 degrees be worked out diagonally, by drawing a circle around the MLP at 55 degrees then placing the Atmos speakers along that circle, or should it be done by going forward by 55 then to the side by 55, despite the longer distance diagonally? Thanks

If a ceiling joist is in the way for the height speakers and assuming they are 60 degrees apart is it better to move the heights inward thus decreasing the angle between the heights to less than 60 degrees, but increasing the angle between the bed layer and the heights or move the heights further away from each other increasing the separation between the heights but lowering the angle to the bed layer. I know there is a range, but what is the min angle before smearing to one layer or another happens in your experience. If I make the heights to wide I will create a gap between them (think Ozone hole :) ) - Thanks for the great vids - working my way through them one by one.

I get the 55 degree angle and resulting distance from front to back atmos placement but what is the calculation for the proper width of the placement (wast to west)? Based on your recommended formula I would be setting my atmos 3.2 ft in front and back of my MLP but how far apart should they be from each other? Because of sloped ceilings I can only spread them apart by about 4.5 ft, is that enough separation side to side?

Hey man love your videos! I’m getting 4 Triad Sat 9s tomorrow for my theatre. Going to have my speakers at that sweet 55 degree spot. I’m worrying about the Triad’s woofer being angled at 45 degrees which is 10 degrees off axis to the listening position. Is this a problem? Would love your input :)

I've only ever seen 1 person in these videos. Why does your channel say " Gurus" with just you on film?.

ive been watching your videos and i have not nptoced if youvecovered this . i have a 5.1 setup and i want to add atmos but i dont want my couch as far forward as it would need to be to quite get 55 degrees behind me on the ceiling. if its a speaker on the back wall but its at a point where its still 55 degrees would that be similar or do you think that would be very noticable etc.

Distance left to right should be the same as from the fronts to rear atmos speakers? Essentially creating a square with the MLP in the middle. To get 55 degrees based my my ceiling height my atmos are to be place 3 ft forward and backwards of the MLP. Ceiling height is low at 7 foot 9.5 inches. Just trying to make sure left to right is also 3 feet. Head on couch is 3.5 feet which makes A 4.29 feet.

I did 3D model of my media room in Sketchup. Now I know where exactly put any speaker.

what should I do when my ceiling is just over 6ft(75")? If I use the 55 degree the speakers are almost over top of my sitting area. Do you think this will still work well?

Hi I wanted to start off and say thank you for all the great content that you put out. I've watched almost every one of them. With that said I'm having some difficulty in in ceiling speaker placements for a 17' (surround to surround baffle)W x 25' L x 8' high room. I already placed the speakers at 45 degrees which would be 5 ft in front of MLP and 10ft apart from each other. Can you please confirm that based on this video they should be placed 35 degrees which would be 3.5 ft (5ft * tan35 degrees) in front and 7 ft apart assuming no lighting or structural issues leaving a 70 degree field of sound to fill instead of a 90 degree. I just wanted to make sure I was doing my math correct, lol!

How does this workout using RSL in-ceilling Atmos that has a 15 degree angle for Atmos ?

With the 55 degree (from bed layer) Atmos positioning, in-ceiling speakers with a 30 degree angled baffle are on-axis for the MLP! (only 2-4 degrees off by my calculation) Thanks @hometheatergurus

I've tried many different placements for my heights (2). The placement I settled on before watching this was putting them to the sides, didn't smear and got an okay-ish image. But man placing them at the 55 degree angle definitely wow'd me and this is 100% where my heights are living permanently. You're doing gods work with your videos <3

Also HUGE props for adding the diagram and especially the equations

5.2.4 svs elevations, not installed yet ceiling. Front baffle is 20deg. Its pretty tiny circle around mlp 5 feet ceiling from ears with 75deg - 20deg svs = 55 recommended?

this measurement also apply for a a 5.1.2 setup? or it should be more towards the 60 degree if my room allows only for 2 atmos celling speakers? Thank you in advance

I'm building my theater next week and going to use this method after weeks of research. I hope it works out.

What if 55 degrees to the left and right (wide) ends up lining up with the placement of the mains? Do you do any adjustments? Or is it ok?

Speaker placement 5.2.2 system:
I follow Home theater Gurus and Techno Dad, love the effort and information regarding Atmos and speaker placement from both.
I had my Atmos speakers (SVS Prime Elevations ) mounted on my front wall ( as high as possible, 8 feet to ceiling ).
I then moved them to 50-50 dgr in front of MLP, mounted in the ceiling pointing at the MLP. All according to Home theater Gurus recomendations.
I have no clue what is right and wrong, but if you want the sound coming from above in a 5.2.2 setup the 50-55dgr is absolutely the right choice.
Just watched ” All quiet on the western front ”, and it has fantastic height channel sound.
I know 4 height speakers is the recommendation, but I just wanted to share my experience.

Good video!

I’ve been questioning my speaker placement for a while. I’m currently at your recommendations of 55 degrees, but physically this puts the speakers 4’ in front/back and I also have them in line with fronts which make the 4.5’ to the left/right.

I’m using down firing in-ceiling speakers so my question is, would it be better to move these speakers closer, or replace them with 30-35 degree angled speakers?

I’m not sure if the angled speakers would give a “sound directly overhead” effect.

Thx in advance!

Great stuff. Love the wardrobe changes. Hollywood award show style.

You really are the best. Thanks for all your videos

Great video again
Quick Q's
New room. Perfect in everyway
Except the ceiling is quite low
Its probably around 88" in height
Is that too low for .2 or .4 atmos speakers?
I was hoping to mount not in ceiling due to asbestos

Great informative video as always. Do the atmos angle recommendation in the video also work for dedicated rooms with low ceilings such as mine at 6-1/2 ft. Dolby Spec seem to suggest a minimum height of 7.4ft?

What would be useful for me is to have you show us an actual room with all these measurements. Literally pull out the tape measure and other tools and show us, "This is at 55 degrees," etc. And also show where the surround channels are placed in relation to the Atmos channels.