I am going to be installing 2xHTR7000s and 2xInvisa 650s as ceiling speakers in my Atmos setup. I have a couple questions for the positioning and building backer boxes.

1) For the HTR7000 I saw Sandy post on AVS forums he recommends 2-3ft in front of the listening position, but on a 8ft ceiling this is out of Dolby's specs. I was thinking at about 56" in front which puts it in the center of Dolby's specs (45 degrees), but I wanted to double check if there is a reason I should shorten this based on what I read.

2) All these speakers will be backed into an attic, right near a vent to the outside. Since these are pretty expensive speakers I wanted to protect them from dust, moisture, insulation, and keep the sound from traveling too far. I wanted to create some backer boxes, I found a couple posts and it looks like the HTR7000 should be around 1.7cuft and the 650 should be 1.5cuft? I wanted to confirm those specs. I was going to make with OSB or MDF what materials should I use inside the box? I will be using powered sub woofers as well, so I assume the boxes will no affect the sound that much?

In answer to your questions:

1) Dolby's specs do not consider angled speakers like the HTR 7000. Sandy's idea to use this design for height channels in rooms with typical ceiling heights proved to be a genius move, copied by other speaker brands now and applauded by Dolby ... but not part of their spec.

2) That's about right for minimum volume. We suggest all that's needed is to just to surround the speaker with some some lengths of insulation material (along the sides and over the top). If you build a box, line the surfaces with speaker box stuffing, do not overpack. MDF is the preferred material. The box will limit the speakers' low bass response (the bigger the box, the less so), since crossed over to a powered sub this should mean no effect in your application.

Moderator wrote: In answer to your questions:

1) Dolby's specs do not consider angled speakers like the HTR 7000. Sandy's idea to use this design for height channels in rooms with typical ceiling heights proved to be a genius move, copied by other speaker brands now and applauded by Dolby ... but not part of their spec.

2) That's about right for minimum volume. We suggest all that's needed is to just to surround the speaker with some some lengths of insulation material (along the sides and over the top). If you build a box, line the surfaces with speaker box stuffing, do not overpack. MDF is the preferred material. The box will limit the speakers' low bass response (the bigger the box, the less so), since crossed over to a powered sub this should mean no effect in your application.

Thank you for the response. I understand that the Dolby Specs may not work for all speakers, but I thnk it would be really helpful to understand what the placement guidelines are for the 7000s. When cutting a hole in the ceiling and not being able to move the speaker I really want exact guidelines. I have read some users who are happy with 45deg, seen Sandy's post of 2-3ft (which is not very exact or accounts for ceiling height/ear height). On my ceiling height and ear height 3ft would be 57deg, if that is correct I would just like confirmation before starting.

For the box does it matter how close the back of the driver is to the box? I am limited on height but not width and length, thanks!!

We understand, there are some illustrations on our Atmos Systems page on our website. The nice thing about the HTR 7000s is they are going to make a large soundfield that will give you the height channel info in a fairly large listening area. The idea is to get them just off to the side of, and in front/back of the listening area and aim them toward the center listening position.

Please note that we have done all of our setups in the room with a visual evaluation of the environment. We are not going to give architectural drawing accuracy hole locations from afar, for obvious reasons. That's why we have our local dealers and integrators, to be on site and make the judgement based on all factors in their visual evaluation of the space.

As long as the back of the box and insulation does not infringe on the driver, it will not be a problem.

Moderator wrote: We understand, there are some illustrations on our Atmos Systems page on our website. The nice thing about the HTR 7000s is they are going to make a large soundfield that will give you the height channel info in a fairly large listening area. The idea is to get them just off to the side of, and in front/back of the listening area and aim them toward the center listening position.

Please note that we have done all of our setups in the room with a visual evaluation of the environment. We are not going to give architectural drawing accuracy hole locations from afar, for obvious reasons. That's why we have our local dealers and integrators, to be on site and make the judgement based on all factors in their visual evaluation of the space.

As long as the back of the box and insulation does not infringe on the driver, it will not be a problem.

Thanks for the response, I can understand your point on the measurements.