what in-ceiling speakers for Atmos duties only?
what in-ceiling speakers for Atmos duties only?
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xcentric

Original Poster:

746 posts

242 months

Monday 30th December 2019
quotequote all
Contemplating moving to Atmos in home cinema (separate speakers/amp to music setup) and going for in-ceiling speakers (vaulted ceiling across room so can angle them correctly (as long as amp can correct for different distances as will be unusually far away). A setup with angles compatible with Dolby guidelines for 5.1.4 is easily doable. A second sub may also be added later. Amp will probably be the Denon AVC-X6500H or the AVR-3600H.

So the q is, what sort of in-ceiling speakers? Don’t want to spend a fortune, and so if £100 ones will do the Atmos effects fine then I don’t need to spend much more as I don’t want to play music through them… but no reviews out there that I can find which talk about them for home theatre duties, hence my q here - anyone got experiences/advice?

Red 5

1,093 posts

203 months

Monday 30th December 2019
quotequote all
xcentric said:
Contemplating moving to Atmos in home cinema (separate speakers/amp to music setup) and going for in-ceiling speakers (vaulted ceiling across room so can angle them correctly (as long as amp can correct for different distances as will be unusually far away). A setup with angles compatible with Dolby guidelines for 5.1.4 is easily doable. A second sub may also be added later. Amp will probably be the Denon AVC-X6500H or the AVR-3600H.

So the q is, what sort of in-ceiling speakers? Don’t want to spend a fortune, and so if £100 ones will do the Atmos effects fine then I don’t need to spend much more as I don’t want to play music through them… but no reviews out there that I can find which talk about them for home theatre duties, hence my q here - anyone got experiences/advice?
You have two very differently priced amps in mind, (and I presume speakers) so it’s difficult to say exactly.

Which speakers do you plan to buy please?


Once you’ve chosen the speakers to suit the amp, then you can add the appropriate ceiling speakers. These should ideally be from the same range to have the same voicing.

Ceiling / Atmos speakers do not require full range, but quality counts as always.

Poor cheap £100 pairs of speakers will sound just that.
Unpleasant obvious sound, with a different characteristic to your main speakers will be grating.

AMST09

570 posts

203 months

Monday 30th December 2019
quotequote all
So little is done in the way of Atmos you’re better off spending the money on a better 5.1 setup

Or just 2 meridian speakers 👀

xcentric

Original Poster:

746 posts

242 months

Monday 30th December 2019
quotequote all
Red 5 said:
Which speakers do you plan to buy please?

AV speakers are Ruarks - about £1k for fronts, £500 for rears and £300 for sub.

Red 5

1,093 posts

203 months

Wednesday 1st January 2020
quotequote all
Ah, not so easy to buy matching items then!

Your speakers are pretty damn good though. I’d not expect to get the best out of them with an AVR-X6500, but it will be a very good sound non the less.

I’d get a set of something like B&W CCM665 for about £270. They’re detailed, good quality and should be easily good enough.

They’ll add a big new dimension to ALL content.


Are the Ruark speakers second hand?
I remember the cheapest Ruark sub being £599.

Edited by Red 5 on Wednesday 1st January 19:21

xcentric

Original Poster:

746 posts

242 months

Wednesday 1st January 2020
quotequote all
I've had the Ruarks from new, pretty much. Have some Crusaders for hifi though those are going ti be swapped out soon for something else. And with such decent ones it's hard to find a timbre-matching set of inp0ceilings without spending a fortune on changing them all. So I'll check out your recommendation - thanks.

BigBen

12,120 posts

253 months

Thursday 2nd January 2020
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I have just added Atmos to my system and got some Monitor Audio C165s from Richer Sounds, about £120 each and so far happy.

Not loads of Atmos content yet but it is inevitable so if you are at a good point in the upgrade / DIY cycle to cut holes in the ceiling then go for it!

Ben

Red 5

1,093 posts

203 months

Sunday 5th January 2020
quotequote all
xcentric said:
I've had the Ruarks from new, pretty much. Have some Crusaders for hifi though those are going ti be swapped out soon for something else. And with such decent ones it's hard to find a timbre-matching set of inp0ceilings without spending a fortune on changing them all. So I'll check out your recommendation - thanks.
Ok second hand, or otherwise makes little difference really at this age.

You can’t buy timbre matched ceiling speakers for your Ruarks.
Even if you find out who made the drive units in your L/C/R speakers.

If you do find somebody making ceiling speakers using the same brand cones, they’ll still not be timbre matched, as the electronics in the crossovers dictate too much.

Ceiling speakers are also normally be open backed speakers in a plastic / metal chassis, so don’t over think it.

You were considering an AV amp nowhere near good enough to make your Ruarks sound amazing, yet are concerned with timbre matching Atmos speakers.
These are diametrically opposed trains of though wink

If money is not an object (within reason), then get the bested kit.
If budget is more of a consideration, then plan based around that budget first, so you don’t make any mistakes.