We are currently renovating our basement family room and we’d really like an Atmos setup. Due the layout of our room we’ll have great difficulty getting the LR surrounds physically mounted at ear level. Wall mounted speakers aren’t an option due to windows and freestanding would also be a challenge, so we are pretty much limited to in-ceiling.

I know this probably not ideal/optimal, but I am wondering if a 5.1.2 Atmos setup would be possible with the use the HTR 7000s (for the ear level imaging) as the LR surrounds and then the 650s for the Atmos height channels?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Short answer, sure, that will work. You'll want to make sure you can position the L/R Surrounds far enough away from the listening position for the geometry to work and give you a surround image at ear level. You might also consider the 7000's for the two Atmos height channels, positioned just to the left and right of the listening area, pointing toward the center seat and slightly forward. After much experimentation and listening, the 7000 was much preferred for this application to a direct radiating speaker unless the ceiling is over 9 feet tall.

Moderator wrote: Short answer, sure, that will work. You'll want to make sure you can position the L/R Surrounds far enough away from the listening position for the geometry to work and give you a surround image at ear level. You might also consider the 7000's for the two Atmos height channels, positioned just to the left and right of the listening area, pointing toward the center seat and slightly forward. After much experimentation and listening, the 7000 was much preferred for this application to a direct radiating speaker unless the ceiling is over 9 feet tall.

Dear Moderator / Forum members,

I am doing a 7.1.2 atmos setup in my room. Triton1 for fronts. My 4 surrounds and 2 heights have to be in-ceiling. My ceiling is 11-12 feet high. Room is closed square with four walls. Backwall is about 4.5 feet behind the couch. Where do you think I should use Invisa 7000s vs Invisa 650s for ideal atmos/surround? Would also appreciate feedback on layout/distances (see attached!) Thank you !

Dolby suggests surrounds/rears should not be in-ceiling for Atmos systems. The HTR 7000, if positioned far enough away from the main listening area, can do a pretty good job of creating the effect of a speaker coming from the side and not above. With the tall ceiling, using 650's for the height channels in the locations specified (or perhaps a little closer to the listening area) should be good. You could use HTR 7000s for those too, but they would need to be positioned a bit further to the left and right of the room, pointed toward the center.

Moderator wrote: Dolby suggests surrounds/rears should not be in-ceiling for Atmos systems. The HTR 7000, if positioned far enough away from the main listening area, can do a pretty good job of creating the effect of a speaker coming from the side and not above. With the tall ceiling, using 650's for the height channels in the locations specified (or perhaps a little closer to the listening area) should be good. You could use HTR 7000s for those too, but they would need to be positioned a bit further to the left and right of the room, pointed toward the center.

Hi , thank you very much, sorry to get more thorough, but just wanted to make sure I am doing the right thing before finish building my ceiling this weekend:
(also i understand that dolby does not recommend all in-ceilings, but given i have no choice, perhaps there is something in my setup i can do to accentuate the effect of heights or surrounds, to avoid sounds mushing into eachother and losing the effect?):

- Atmos Heights: Given my ceiling height of 11 feet, which is most ideal: 7000s or 650s? Should they both be aligned with the front speakers? Should they be both toed-in to the listener? (in the case of the 650s, tweeter pointing to listener?). For the 7000, you mentioned they should be wider apart - not sure if you saw my attachement, but in the diagram they are aligned with the fronts, meaning they are 14 feet apart - should they still be wider?

- Surround sides: Given my ceiling height of 11 feet, which is most ideal: 7000s or 650s? If in the case of the 650s, should the tweeter be pointed at the listener, or straight down at the floor (or at the wall?) to create a surround ambient effect?

- Surround back: Given my ceiling height of 11 feet, which is most ideal: 7000s or 650s? Is the distance of 6.5 feet apart ok in this setup?

Also was wondering which of the surround (sides, or the backs) should be more atmostpheric/ambiant, and which should be more "direct" ?

Thank you very much, i appreciate your advice

Hi again,

With an 11 foot ceiling you are in a much better position to get good results with Invisa 650's. Yes, you can orient the tweeter towards the middle of the listening area. The 7000's are better wider spaced than the typical same-as-fronts layout in the Dolby drawings.

Do not use 650's for surrounds or rears in the ceiling in an Atmos setup. Use the 7000's and try to get them as far away from the listening area as possible to take advantage of the geometry of the sound-field. Properly implemented, the 7000's will produce an ear-level image, as opposed to above your head. Perhaps easier to achieve with a 5.1.4 setup as it is probably difficult to get both surrounds and rears an adequate distance from the listening area.

All speakers should be direct to take advantage of the object-based 360 degree sound-field encoding that is Dolby Atmos.