Alan Smithee

Just wondering if anyone else is using these kinds of speakers rather than ceiling-installed or higher-up ones. I got a set of these and they don't seem to work the way they're supposed to; they definitely aren't making the sound seem like it's coming from the ceiling. Would be interested to hear other experiences with these.

fumanstan

I'm curious too, i've been eyeing the Onkyo set since they're not too expensive and feel like they would work well in my smaller apartment. I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger in the next few days, although I only have a few Atmos enabled Blu-rays (John Wick, Batman V Superman, Mad Max, Warcraft).

Which speakers do you have?

Alan Smithee

I got the Pioneers, two speakers for $200. They definitely don't do what they're supposed to when sitting on top of my regular speakers, I can play around with their placement a bit but my apartment doesn't give me space for too many other options. I still keep hoping to move out of here soon and then I'll set everything up from scratch, but they advertised these like they're the definite solution for those who can't put in ceiling speakers.

fumanstan

Cool, I just bought the Onkyo speakers and they'll be here Saturday, so i'll see how they do for me. The reviews are really good for the Pioneer speakers on Amazon. Did you do any other recalibration on your receiver? And what movies have you tested with?

fumanstan

The Onkyo SKH-410's arrived today and I set them up and re-ran the Audyssey EQ on my Onkyo TX-NR656 receiver.

My main Blu-ray player is an Xbox One that got Atmos support earlier this year, and their Dolby Atmos app has a few demos. I'm not exactly wow'd either, there's some extra depth but not as much as the overhead effects that I hoped would work. Gave Mad Max: Fury Road a go and kind of the same thing. I need to give John Wick a whirl.

Alan Smithee

I have one of the Atmos demo discs and watched that, haven't had time to watch a whole movie with it yet. I watched the Independence Day sequel (in 3D, of course) a few days ago which was mixed in Atmos but the disc didn't include it- my receiver is supposed to fake the Atmos channels though on tracks that don't have it.

I can't calibrate my receiver yet because the setup mic they sent with it didn't work, they're sending me another one. I've got it tuned pretty well by ear but we'll see if that can do anything for the Atmos speakers. Either my ceiling's made of the wrong material or I don't have the speakers up high enough, but they definitely don't sound like they're coming from overhead. I could possibly at least mount them higher on the wall above the TV but then I'd be afraid of them crashing down and wrecking it. Yet another thing to consider when picking my next residence...

Joe Schmoe

Just curious if you guys have low flat ceilings? That's what's recommended for Atmos-enabled speakers, right? I don't have them, but I've had my eye on the Onkyo set for awhile. I have an 8' flat ceiling in my theater room, and I assumed these speakers would work based on Onkyo's description.

fumanstan

The ceilings in my apartment are 10 feet high, I think.

Alan Smithee

Since this thread got bumped, I've concluded that setting them on top of the front speakers simply doesn't work. I found a place up higher to put them.

Deftones

I too was looking at these to add some dimension to my main HT viewing, but I have 14' ceilings, and figured they would be pretty worthless in my situation.

Deftones

So, I never got upfiring ones. I actually have 2 in wall speakers installed that were there from previous owners. Since I have 2 floor standing speakers and center channel, I never used them. But, with the Atmos stuff, they now become Atmos speakers. After upgrading my TV, I needed a new 4k HDCP 2.2 receiver, so I bought the Sony STR-DN1080 receiver to go along with it. I watched my first Atmos Blu Ray (Hitman's Bodyguard). Damn, that was pretty badass. I imagine there are far better movies for this, but I could definitely tell there were some scenes that used them. I'm quite happy and can't wait to hear some more mixes. I have Valerian blu ray and see that has it, too. I think that is probably better than this.

Brian Shannon

Unless a room is properly setup and the speakers are placed correctly, simply having speakers that meet the spec wont do much.

Deftones

While I won't disagree, I will say there is a scene in particular in the Hitman's Bodyguard, where there is a helicopter flying. I distinctly remember hearing my mains and uppers going to provide the effect of it moving on screen. Even if it is minimal, it is noticeable.