Based on reading all the comments, and using the right angle calculater, if I used HTR7000's as ceiling speakers I would have to have the seating position about 19' from my TV screen, with an 11' high ceiling. Unfortunately the room is not long enough. So the best in this case would be to use MPXs in my ceiling.

Is my analysis correct???

Thanks very much...

Hi, sjlaube

Good question. Can you describe more about the system you want to set up, like number of channels (I guess not Atmos also?), the kind of bass support you may have, to cross the speakers to, etc? MPX's and also 650's are certainly candidates. But if you're not going to have an Atmos type set up where you need to have some channels present at ear level and the heights at overhead level, then the HTR 7000 could be a candidate closer in also as all would present overhead, and with the 7000's 7" driver it has a good deal of "heft" and power handling down lower, more than the MPX or 650 would have.

My original set up, pre Atmos, used 525's as surrounds, and I still use other 525's on a separate zone 2 ceiling music set up, full range at moderate sound levels, so using any of the Invisa's in a non Atmos set up would be workable IMO..

Food for thought.....

Rick

Thanks so much for the advice. This is a standard 5.1 system. No atmos since this is our family room and we use it for watching TV and listening to music. We have a Separate dedicated theater for movies

We can’t use floor standing or in wall the entire front of the room is a marble fireplace which goes floor to ceiling and the bins mounted at about 5.5’ on the marble face above the actual fireplace. So I ceilings are my only choice and given the ceiling height of 10-11’ I think I don’t have much leeway

sjlaube wrote:
We can’t use floor standing or in wall the entire front of the room is a marble fireplace which goes floor to ceiling and the bins mounted at about 5.5’ on the marble face above the actual fireplace. So I ceilings are my only choice and given the ceiling height of 10-11’ I think I don’t have much leeway

Moderator Dude may wish to comment, amend this, but the ceiling height limitations suggested on HTR 7000's of 10' ceilings seem most applicable when they're used as fronts or surrounds where they need to present at the listening position at ear height. I've seen other posts by 7000 owners who ended up using 7000's in ceilings over 10' for other applications and loved them. My own experiences, both when auditioning them at distances beyond 10', and at home in a 9' ceiling with 9 channel HT playing music in Dolby Surround with the 7000's 3' in front of listening position and outboard, is that their dispersion is excellent. And they play with authority. I cross mine at 60 HZ, and they eat up and deliver up all sorts of bass rich content.

Since you can't have ceiling speakers as fronts that present as though at ear level with your room dimensions, then selecting the "best" speaker seem to come down to what speaker work best in your total system. If you have good bass fill available in a sub to cross the MPX's to, that should work fine, and the MPX's certainly have good dispersion. If you want more full, bass rich sound from the fronts to complement your sub's contribution, then the 7000's offer another option.

No bad or wrong choices there, MPX, 650, 7000 IMO.

Happy listening!

Rick

You are correct, in order to achieve the most realistic effect of the 7000’s image dropping to the point of the screen you do need a reasonable distance back from the speakers which is calculated from ceiling height. No room or application is perfect unless you are building the room from the ground up. The 7000’s were originally designed as an L/C/R option for ceiling placement above a TV when mounted high, or when traditional applications simply do not, or can’t apply. As long at the 7000’s are not firing over the top of your seating position to a point behind you, they will sound better than a traditional in-ceiling speaker. And though the image and at screen level effect might not be as strong as when you can get further back, it will be better still than a traditional in-ceiling speaker.

I am personally in the exact opposite scenario. I use HTR-7000’s as front and rear height channels for Atmos / DTS-X in a ceiling that is only 7’ high. Dolby recommends 8-14’ ceiling height. Initial installation with 4 traditional in-ceiling speakers that I lived with for a couple of years. System sounded great, but not as could as it could due to the ceiling height. 3 years ago I switched out to the 7000’s and although they didn’t completely fix my ceiling height issue, they do sound exponentially better and disappear better than the traditional rounds.

Should you decide not to go with the 7000’s, I would recommend the 650’s over the MPX for ceiling application. MPX is a relatively diffuse speaker that works exceptionally well as side or rear surrounds, and even as main L/C/R applications with smaller panels. I don’t think MPX is going to be the best option out of the three for your application.

I hope this helps.