Ceiling Speakers For An Atmos Setup

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As part of an Atmos equipped home theatre HT) system, many of us will have to choose between Atmos- enabled speakers, which bounce sounds off your ceiling, or mount speakers either in the ceiling or on it.

 I would suggest the latter if you are rebuilding a HT den. Most hobbyists prefer the sound when the speakers are mounted in or on the ceiling.

 If you choose in ceiling speakers, you can choose to mount them flush with the false ceiling, and you can choose those with directional tweeters that can swivel or tilt towards your listening position.

 Some of us use speakers which are mounted onto the ceiling rather than in it. 

 In any case some points that you should look out for 
Speaker woofer size 

 Bigger woofer = more bass = more vibrations = more bracing needed to prevent vibrations = more cost = more building complexity..
OR

 Take the smaller woofer - direct the bass to your subs - cut a smaller hole - less bracing - lower costs

 Weight of the speaker

 If the speaker is heavy, your builder will need to make sure your ceiling can bear the weight without collapse, and also factor in some dampening without vibration.

 Now some of you might ask:
Do I need purpose built in ceiling speakers or can I simply mount some bookshelf speakers onto the ceiling?

 Well these ceiling speakers work better if they sound like a single coherent source and if you have a low ceiling, there will be a phase difference if you use a bookshelf speaker in which the tweeter is some distance away from the woofer. That's why coaxial speakers work better.

 Otherwise you can use a full range single woofer speaker like the Anthony Gallo Micros or A'Divas. 

 The frequency response does not need to be a true full range speaker, that would make it too heavy to mount. But S&V has an answer:
Which In-Ceiling Speaker Should I Use for Dolby Atmos?

 "recommend using “conventional overhead speakers with wide dispersion characteristics.” How wide is wide enough? About 45 degrees from the reference axis over the audio band from 100 Hz to 10 kHz'

 This link will take you to the recommendations by Dolby:
7.1.4 Overhead Speaker Placement
Some people have tried using bookshelf speakers as Atmos speakers. These are not so ideal for a few reasons. First they are heavy and require adequate bracing to prevent vibrations. There is a real risk that your ceiling cannot support a speaker weighing a few kilos. 

 Second the tweeter and woofer are usually not coaxial, resulting in potential phase difference which may spoil the experience. That's why many ceiling speakers have the tweeters mounted in the centre of the instalment. 

 Finally they look bulky and may fail the all important WAF .. unless you have a very accommodating wife! 


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