Which ceiling rear surround and center channel speakers should I consider?

atharva

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I'm planning for a 5.1 HT setup and use either my Open Baffles or Rethm Maarga as the front L&R. Due to constraints I can't have a separate dedicated HT and also have to mount the rear surrounds into the ceiling and so that they mount flush with the ceiling and ideally fit within a depth of 6". The room is approx 16'x26'x9' (after false ceiling). I'm thinking one of those angled speakers. Haven't decided on a budget as yet but not looking for the top-of-the-line HT. What's a decent budget? AV receiver and Sub is also not decided.

I could see a few on HiFiMart but looking for good recommendations. A dealer in Pune has suggested Dynaudio Contour C25 as center and P4-65 as rear surround. How is Taga for center channel? Not sure about timbre matching though.

All content is OTT no BD so not sure if Atmos is useful for me.

Thanks in advance.
 
Having looked through lots of old posts members seem to have good experience with Polk RC60 or RC80. Am leaning with RC80i. Also to future proof may be better to put in same for Atmos duties.

Regarding positioning I'm thinking of the following.
- Top black line is the ceiling.
- Listening is approx 3' from floor
- Acoustic ceiling bottom is at 9'

Rear surround is about 3.5' behind (tweeter angled) and Atmos is 1' in front. For Atmos using this page as reference (https://www.dolby.com/en-in/about/support/guide/setup-guides/5.1.2-overhead-speaker-placement) and the rear surround is roughly placed using #4 as a reference from the bottom image.

1651917333597.png

1651917804031.png
 
Hi, regarding placement, please focus on the angles to calculate the Atmos ceiling positions instead of distance. I'm also working on a similar (5.1.4) setup and found that the angles are most important for Atmos.

If you want the front height channels only, your ideal speaker distance from the listening row should be [6'/tan(30 to 55)] = 4.2' to 10.4' in front as per the tolerance specified in Dolby specs.Similarly while calculating the width, it will be similar only the acceptable angle ranges from 30° - 60°.

There is an interesting video regarding this that I just found out.

For the surround speakers, instead of putting them behind your position, try placing them on either side of your seat, be it on wall or in-ceiling and wider than the Atmos channels. This, I believe, will give you better imaging overall.

Regarding the speakers, I'm also going with the RC60is (the 80i is sort of over budget for me), based on the overall feedback of these speakers.
 
Thanks for the video.

I chose 80 degrees for the Atmos based on Dolby 5.1.2 specs.

I couldn't find any articles/videos showing placement for in-celing rear surround. Do share if you know of any.

While the Atmos is shown in line with the front L&R, the rear are shown closer to the side walls. I have tried 2 top view simulations shown below. The L&R distance from side wall is different and also moved the listening position from 15' to 14' in one. In both I choose 120 degrees horizontal angle for the rear surrounds then I get 40 degree vertical angle separation between Atmos and Rear (120-80) as shown in my earlier post which is fine according the video you shared.

1652027275512.png1652027302229.png
 
I couldn't find any articles/videos showing placement for in-ceiling rear surround. Do share if you know of any.
Unfortunately, if you are using height channels, putting rears or surrounds at a level higher than 1.25 times the front LCR is not recommended. However, since you had mentioned that on wall is not an option, I suggested to move them at least to the side (within the 90-110 degree horizontal angle).

But now re-reading your original post, I can see that you are not looking for an Atmos setup, just 5.1. I must have been confused while drooling about my upcoming setup. :oops: 😅
 
I had started with 5.1 but am thinking 5.1.2 might future proof me a bit. Do look at my last post to see my options on Atmos and rear (in ceiling) positions.
 
Please have a look at this video too for surround placements.

The angles in the last post look fine considering your constraints. However, if you decide to go 5.x.4 in future, I would suggest keeping them @ 110 degrees instead of 120.

Another thing is that the atmos heights need not align with the front LR. They need to be at an angle of 30 to 60 degrees from the MLP (look at around 6:35 mark in the first video).
 
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