Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 speaker placement for music and movies

longard8

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I am just in a process of furnishing the living room in a new apartment. I strive for Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 speaker placement consisted of the following speakers:

Front speakers: Q Acoustics Concept 40
Center: Q Acoustics Concept Centre
Subwoofer: KEF Kube12b
Rear speakers: Q Acoustics Concept 20
Ceiling Atmos speakers: 4x Q Acoustics QI65 Professional
Receiver: Marantz SR6015

I will mainly use the audio system for music, but occasionally also for movies. As you may see from the image, the room is quite small and in addition, the couch is pushed all the way to the rear wall in the corner. This triggers several questions.

1. Obviously, I cannot meet Dolby Atmos Installation guidelines for overhead speakers, so I was wondering what would be the best compromise here? Can I put two ceiling speakers just next to the rear wall, so they would be slightly behind the listener (100-110°)?
But where exactly should I put front ceiling speakers then, should I meet 30-55° specification or rather relatively the same angle to the listener as the rear ceiling speakers, so the angle to the viewer would be symmetrical (70-80°)? Also, how wide apart should they be in my case?
Perhaps I should drop the idea of 4 ceiling speakers and only go for 2? How about the speaker choice, should I pick a different brand?

2. There is also a lack of space for rear surround speakers. It will be hard to have them at the ear level, so should I put them on a higher height and point them downwards? Any specific height recommendation?

3. Another dilemma is a subwoofer placement. I need to choose the TV stand design, so how would the one on the image work? Will it affect the bass if the subwoofer will be covered with a shelf? Do you believe that it could sound better if it was placed on the right side of the TV stand design? If it is impossible to say in advance, then I guess a design without a shelf over subwoofer would be better, so I can place it on the either side accordingly to subwoofer crawl test?

4. The last question is regarding the speaker choice. Do you find it suitable for the given room or would you recommend any other brand/models?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 

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With the couch to the wall dont go for 4 atmos,u wont notice the difference,just go for front top configuration.
Pull the top speakers little more towards the couch in case the speakers r not tiltable.
Regarding sub placement we can never tell where it wd sound gud in ur room. I too got such stand before setting up the room and it wasnt the best place for the sub.
Also mention ur room size and budget,that wd help other members to suggest the electronics, accordingly.
 
Please find the below observations and suggestions:-

1. Looking at your setup, It is advised to pick only 2 Ceiling speakers and not 4. Any decent quality Atmos speakers will do, No need to stretch budget on those. Exact and proper location would be above your head but around 30-40 Inches in front of your sofa.

2. Yes, Since Ear level is a problem for you so better put in a bit higher height and point them towards your sitting position head.

3. Yes, Do a crawl test without the shelf over the subwoofer and keep it. Ideally either the extreme right side of the TV stand or extreme left would be better but thos who keep the sub in between the two Front Towers also got decent sweet spot bass.

4. For Me, Spending over a Lac on two towers is bit too much. For the same quality musically I would prefer the Klipschs 260 or RF82 (On expensive side(They are quoted very high price in India), Paradigms are there and then there are Polk Audios RTi Series A7 to be precise. Dali and KEFs around 50-70K. Choice is yours.

5. Subwoofer, Go for Sealed Rythmik or SVS entry series, They are still better than KEFs Qube that you listed above. Not that its a bad sub but in that budget get the ones from SVS, Rythmiks might be expensive.
 
My two cents:

1. Since you have a 9 channel amp, it is a good idea to go for 4 ceiling speakers (5.x.4) rather than just 2 to utilize all channels. I would suggest have two ceiling speakers above the seating position and then the other two in the mid position. Ensure you configure the top channel positions in the AVR speaker settings to match with the installation

2. Above the seating position and tilted towards the seating position usually works well but as far down from the ceiling as possible (avoid too close to the ceiling)
 
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