Hi GE Friends,

I am in the design process of converting a 300 square foot bedroom into a home theater. I was all set to give the thumbs up to my dealer's recommendation to use HTR-7000's as my LCR's until I read that they are best for ceilings 10 feet and under. My ceiling is 11'.

Since I was having trouble picking the right model for my Atmos and surround channels anyway I figured I'd start from scratch and see what the good folks at Golden Ear recommend for my modest room. I attached a schematic for convenience.

My questions are:

1. What in-ceiling speakers are recommended for my Dolby Atmos speakers (position H)?
2. What in-ceiling speakers are recommended for my Surround channels (position S)?
3. What in-ceiling speakers are recommended for my LCR channels (position L, C, and R)?
4. What Triton floor standing speakers would you recommend for the front right and front left channels if I did not want to install a standalone sub?
5. What Triton floor standing speakers would you recommend for the front right and front left channels if I do plan to install a 12" or larger ported standalone sub?
6. What model SuperCenter is recommended for my space if I decide to go with cabinet speakers up front?

That covers it. Thanks in advance for the help and Happy Halloween!

TommyTwoTone wrote: Hi GE Friends,

I am in the design process of converting a 300 square foot bedroom into a home theater. I was all set to give the thumbs up to my dealer's recommendation to use HTR-7000's as my LCR's until I read that they are best for ceilings 10 feet and under. My ceiling is 11'.

Hi and welcome. This relates to using the HTR 7000 for Atmos height channel speakers, not for LCR or Surround (ear-level) applications. Use of the HTR 7000 for ear-level speakers is simply an issue of listening distance vs ceiling height (the taller the ceiling, the further away you must be to get the correct image location). For an 11' ceiling your primary listening/viewing area would need to be, at a minimum, between 12-18 feet away from the speakers' relative position.

TommyTwoTone wrote: My questions are:

1. What in-ceiling speakers are recommended for my Dolby Atmos speakers (position H)?
2. What in-ceiling speakers are recommended for my Surround channels (position S)?
3. What in-ceiling speakers are recommended for my LCR channels (position L, C, and R)?
4. What Triton floor standing speakers would you recommend for the front right and front left channels if I did not want to install a standalone sub?
5. What Triton floor standing speakers would you recommend for the front right and front left channels if I do plan to install a 12" or larger ported standalone sub?
6. What model SuperCenter is recommended for my space if I decide to go with cabinet speakers up front?

1. With an 11 ft (flat) ceiling height, the Invisa 650 would be a good height channel choice
2. For an Atmos setup in this size room, you cannot use in-ceiling speakers for main channels as the distances are not adequate
3. See above
4. Budget, physical size acceptance and listening habits are the keys, but certainly a Triton Two+ at a minimum
5. Triton Fives, with two standalone subwoofers for best performance
6. SuperCenter XXL if it fits your space, SuperSat 60C if you need something smaller.

-reposting my reply-

Moderator wrote:

1. With an 11 ft (flat) ceiling height, the Invisa 650 would be a good height channel choice
2. For an Atmos setup in this size room, you cannot use in-ceiling speakers for main channels as the distances are not adequate
3. See above
4. Budget, physical size acceptance and listening habits are the keys, but certainly a Triton Two+ at a minimum
5. Triton Fives, with two standalone subwoofers for best performance
6. SuperCenter XXL if it fits your space, SuperSat 60C if you need something smaller.

Thanks for the reply.

1. Roger that. 650's for height channels.
2. If in-ceilings are out for surround channels, how about installing a pair of MPX's in the side walls? I'm a bit limited on placement options because of the doors at the back of the room. Please see the attached diagram for where I think you'd recommend installing them. Note the Right Surround would be 2 feet farther away from the primary listening position than the Left Surround due to the shape of the room. Is this acceptable or do you have a better approach?
3. Roger. No in-celiings for anything but the height channels.
4. I think a pair of Triton 1's would be the top end of my budget for my L and R channels. Physical size acceptance? It depends on what the recommended distance is from the front and side walls. Is 12" OK? I don't typically listen to anything at reference levels...maybe 10 to 5 dB's below that. Is the Triton 2+ flat to 16 Hz? Is the Triton One flat to 14 Hz?
5. Triton 5's are what I was thinking if I go with a dedicated sub. But why two subs? This is a small room so floorspace is at a premium. If I went with 2 subs I'd have to get subs with a smaller footprint, and small subs don't get as deep as larger ones.
6. I know how important a good center channel is but won't the XXL dwarf the Titan 5's if I go that route (the direction I'm leaning)? Do you have customers that pair an XXL with Titon 5's? Why the 60C and not the XL as the next step down?

Thanks again for the help.

Hi again, our pleasure. Surprised some of the forum members haven't chimed in to help = c'mon guys!

So, in answer to your questions:

2) Invisa MPX in side walls behind the listening area is perfect, distances will be compensated for in setup, no worries there.
4) Spacing within a foot of the side walls is OK. You're going to toe them in towards the center and adjust the bass level control for any boundary gain. Sounds like Two+ would be fine for you, Ones if you want to have some extra slam, especially at low frequencies where the one has significantly more output capability. The Two+ is room flat to about 24Hz, the One is room flat to about 22Hz.
5) Lot to unpack here ... two subs (or more) will create much more balanced bass in the room. If you don't want to have two external subs in your room, get the powered Tritons (and you get two subwoofers that way that don't add to your floor space issues). As far as small subs not going as deep, not true. The SuperSub X plays as deep as anything comparable in price, regardless of size, and it is only a 1 foot cube.
6) The SuperCenter XXL is the correct match for the Triton Five, Two+ or One. If that's too big for your space, the smaller SuperCenters or the SuperSat 60C are fine alternatives. If SuperSat and Triton Fives, you will need to locate the subwoofer(s) in the front of the room.