Speaker Selection Strategies For Atmos Music

I started a thread on budgeting for BOTH channel based audio as well object based audio. This thread is to help share strategies for budgeting for adding new speakers to an existing system or for starting from scratch.

The BIG misunderstanding I have seen so far is Atmos= cutting holes in your ceiling for ceiling speakers. No, that is only one of many options and I have never tried it (in a 9.3.8 system) so can’t discuss. if a member went the ceiling install route and wants to share some pearls of wisdom, that would be great.

So, let’s break down basic strategy for Atmos Speaker selection.

Strategy 1- Don’t use height channels! Atmos is backward compatible and a 5.1 system will fold the information from the height channels into the bed channels. No muss no fuss.

Strategy 2- Add satellite/monitors to your existing system. Check with your speaker manufacturer or dealer and see what they recommend. Give them your budget, what you already have and believe me, they’ll respond. Tip 1- to the wise, get a 30-60 day return policy just in case. Satellite speakers can be mounted high on the wall as height channels or faced downward and mounted right on the ceiling by purchasing brackets made for this purpose. Tip 2- Do NOT use dipoles/bipoles per dolby guidelines.

Strategy 3- Buy speakers that are made for atmos/height wall mounting. installation. I used JBL Control Now’s in the man cave, SVS makes Prime Elevation speakers, Finally speaker manufacturers have an entire category of atmos speakers, shop til you find what you like. Tip, I like wall mounting because you can angle the tweeters at the sweetspot, ceiling installs often have tweeters aimed at the floor.

Strategy 4- Go active. Active speakers are what they mostly use in the studios, most active speakers are biamped, use active crossovers, and monitors are easily mounted on stands or on sturdy wall mounts.

Strategy 5- If you have budget disregard everything above and just call a good custom installer. CEDIA certifies for this purpose but word of mouth works too.

Re: subwoofers, subwoofers get into a category of bass management which deserves its own thread. My only tip would be to budget for at least two, place them in corners (like front left corner, rear right corner) and use DSP or an equalizer to integrate them (most receivers and processors have this feature built in).