I am in a nearly identical situation as the original poster. My new build is a similar open floor plan, however, I will be incorporating my existing Triton 1's, Supercenter Reference, and SVS PC-2000.

I'm aiming for a 5.3.2 atmos setup. Attached are a couple of options that I'm seeking input on. Please note that the ceiling height is 11 feet.

Option A: 4 HTR 7000's with 2 used a surrounds and 2 as atmos. The atmos speakers here would be closer to the front wall and could be substituted for front channels, which may aide resale value. Do to the nature of my career, I'll probably move in 4-5 years.

Option B: 2 HTR 7000's as surrounds and 2 Invisa 650 located directly above the MLP. This is almost certainly the ideal audio setup, but if option A is comparable, it would be my preferred choice.

Option C: ???

So after more research, this concept has been discussed many many times on this forum - shame on me!

I'm now leaning towards moving the HTR 7000 further back into the kitchen. This should better achieve the surround (ear level) effect with the 11' ceiling, rather than it sounding more akin to a height channel. For the 2 atmos channels, I'm going with option B (Invisa 650), just in front of the MLP as it should better hit the atmos mark.

I'd appreciate any other suggestions or just confirmation that I'm on the right path. Thanks.

Further reading has led me to this handy calculator and advice to input 30 degrees as the angle from the speaker to ear level of the MLP. It my understanding this "30 degrees" is to optimize a HTR 7000 as a atmos height channel, not a surround channel. I'm trying to figure out how far the 7000's need to be from the MLP to act as surrounds. With my 11' ceilings, my ear height is about 8' below the ceiling. At 60 degrees the speakers would need to be 14' from the MLP. What degree is best to set these up as surrounds?

Also, another manufacturer with a similarly designed speaker as the HTR 7000 had a diagram with the speakers on the outside edges of the couch, but pointed outwards towards the side walls. The premise is to reflect the sound off the side wall and to the MLP, which is in interesting thought. Though I would think this reflection would cause smearing and alter the frequency response. Not ideal, but it might be acceptable for a surround.

Hi Jake, First, using the Invisa 650s as your Atmos speakers would work quite well. In this application, I would recommend placing them 1-2 feet in front of the main listening position - as you've shown in your diagram. Next, using the Invisa HTR7000s would also work well as your surrounds. Since your "seated ear level" would 8 feet away from the ceiling, (if I remember my trigonometry correctly), I would recommend placing these Invisa HTR7000 surround speakers approximately 5 feet behind the main listening position. I would also orient these HTR7000s so they're directly facing the main listening position. (I would not be inclined to point these surrounds toward a wall - so their sound reflects off the wall before you hear them. This would produce a bit too much reflection or diffuse sound quality.) Happy Listening.

Thank you for your response. I just wanted to confirm that placing the HTR 7000's 5' behind the MLP is the optimal placement for a surround channel. This seems close and my fear is that it'll sound like another atmos channel? Is There any benefit to moving the 7000's further away from the MLP, or will that just cause a reflection off the floor behind the MLP due to the 30 degree tilt of the speaker?

Hi Jake, Considering your ceilings are 11 feet high, you really do not need to place your surround speakers that far behind the main listening position. With an 11 foot ceiling, and the 30 degree angle used in the Invisa HTR7000s, (and your ear level being 3 feet or so above the floor), placing the Invisa HTR7000s 5 feet behind the main listening position would be an ideal placement for your surround speakers. Ultimately, you could place these speakers a bit further away from the main listening position which would produce a bit more spatial quality. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, however, they would require a bit more power to produce the correct volume you should hear from your surrounds. (Since these Invisa HTR7000s are playing "surround information", not "Atmos information", I would expect you to hear an immersive sound effect from them.) Happy Listening!