We just moved into a new house where the plasma will be mounted on the fireplace flanked by bookshelves. I've decided to go with a discrete L/C/R + in-ceiling surrounds for a 7.1 Goldenear system: Aon3's for L/R, Supersat 60c center, but I'm not sure what to use for the 4 in-ceiling surrounds. I found a picture (attached) from a speaker install PDF which is pretty much what I'm trying to do. In that picture they use 4 standard cone-shaped down firing surrounds.

I was thinking on getting the 650's firing straight down mounted over the couch and just off to the left & right for the side surrounds and then a pair of MPX bipole's for the rears oriented in such a way that one bipole speaker fires towards the back of the listener's head and the other speaker reflects off the rear wall. I would consider using the bipoles for the side surrounds as well but as you can see in the attached picture, the large family room has no wall between it and the kitchen nook. I haven't even considered the HTR 7000's as it was my assumption these would be better as LCR fronts but I'm open to suggestions.

Given my setup, what combination of the three Invisa products (640, HTR 7000, MPX) would you recommend for my in-ceiling surrounds and what position and/or orientation should I place them?

Thanks!

Hi SiegeX,
That is a lovely room, a wonderful looking room, and I don't think you should mess with it. Have you got a garage? No, has your neighbor got a garage he is not using much?
Can you add on to your house?
Seriously, that looks tough, have fun with it and tell us what you did, how you handled your dilemma and how it sounds.
I have mounted rear surrounds on the ceiling before, with mixed results, but they were not as good as GEs.
No ideas for you, but I am sure others will be able to help.
Enjoy the ride, all the best,
God Bless,
Wayne

I've got the same question with nearly the identical situation. Triton 2's for L/R, a SC X or XL for the center. For the surrounds, open to kitchen to the right and can mount speakers in soffits along that side. To the left a wall with fireplace and soffits either side. More soffits along back wall. (Lucky for me as it will make installation relatively easy!) Room about 17 ft square with cathedral to the center.

Was considering 7000's all around for a 7.2 system (2 Rythmik 15" subs for HT) Hadn't considered the MPX's.

What say you Moderator Dude? What is the best bang for the buck? Better yet, what is the best selection for the situation?

Brad

I called Goldenear directly and spoke to somebody on the phone who was very knowledgeable and was able to grasp my situation without seeing a single picture; I forgot to catch their name, maybe it was Sandy if he answers the phone? In either case he said that he recommended to forget going with the traditional 7.1 but instead go with an Atmos 5.1.2 setup. He recommended a pair of in-wall MPX's for the rears at ear-level and then 650's slightly in front of the listener for the height channels. Unfortunately, there is no way my wife is going to go along with putting speakers at eye level in one of our main hallways so I'm confined to in-ceiling install. For that, the Goldenear rep recommended the HTR 7000's as an alternative to the MPX's with the speakers aimed at the center of the couch.

I've yet to audition the Aon3's but I plan to do so before the end of he week and if they sound as good as I've heard I'll be purchasing the following:

2x Aon3
2x Invisa 650
2x HTR 7000
1x Supersat 60c

I've already have an SVS 10" sealed sub and I think I might need one more for the size of this room for a 5.2.2 system which I think is going to sound crazy good.

Hi SiegeX,
It sounds like you are getting great advice. And let us know, please, that may be a really cool AND good looking option. You have a lovely home, so I understand your need to keep things a beautiful ascetic.
If going with the Aon 3s, which are wonderful speakers, are they gonna be on stands in front? IF so, I think the Triton 7s will LOOK even better, being floorstanding and they will sound even better.
Just a suggestion.
Enjoy the process of putting together a super great looking and sounding system.
God Bless,
Wayne

Hi, welcome to the forum SiegeX.

Probably was Sandy on the phone

HTR 7000s for in-ceiling surround and/or rear use are excellent as they do not shoot the sound straight down (something most people do not like for surround channels), but rather position the sound in front of the speaker (when the geometry is in the correct range). Using the HTR 7000 you will want to position them further away from the primary listening area to get this effect.

A couple other points worth mentioning here. In the new world of Atmos decoding, surround (5.1) and rear (7.1) speakers need to be at ear level, to distinguish from the Atmos height channels, which presumable are in-ceiling. Also, for clarity, the MPX is not a bipole, it is a wide-dispersion in-wall speaker suitable for effects channels as well as primary L/C/R duties.

Hope this helps. Sandy is preparing a blog post on the whole Atmos subject, should be posted on our website soon.