How Effective Are Dolby Atmos Upward Firing Speakers | Blind Listening Test |

[@joentell]

I also found that upfiring can work. Good video.

[@magnoliamo]

Thank you Sir! I am honored!

[@magnoliamo]

I would also appreciate any other feedback from you on how I can make my videos better. I love how your videos so easy to follow and understand. You do a great job with your content!

[@joentell]

@@magnoliamo I'm still trying to figure that out myself. I always say that the hardest thing is to make things simple. Especially if the topic is complex. Side note, do you already have our Spatial Audio Calibration Toolkit? If not, I would like to get you a copy.

[@magnoliamo]

@joentell Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I would love to get a copy of the Spatial Audio Calibration Kit and do a video on it!

[@magnoliamo]

@joentell Please let me know how can get the Spatial Audio Calibration Toolkit. My email is on my KZbin channel. Thank you Sir!

[@1MrPark]

thx for this video.. i run 4 high end kef r50 dolby enabled speeakers on my B&W CM S2 setup. i always get alot of hate on the forums.. but it actualy sounds amazing in my small rental apartment.. thx for the advice on the trim levels.. mine were set 1,5 db more than the rest of my speakers.. i wil test if it makes a differnce. it is now in line with the rest of my system. you have a great setup by the way!

[@magnoliamo]

Thank you Sir! Much appreciated.

[@joeylo1720]

People on forums usually hate on Klipsch in general, and they also hate upfiring speakers. They think everyone lives in a mansion has $50000 to build a system or everything else like siund bars or budget speakers are trash. I myself also have a B&W setup, 702 signature+HTM71 S2+706 S2, and I use some retired klipsch bookself speakers for Atmos. My setup sounds good to me and that's what matters. I also use a Q990C sound bar for pc gaming only and I enjoy every bit of it. Use what works for you and enjoy it, ignore the negative & aggressive so call audiophiles on forums who think they have better hearing than dogs and bats.

[@graysonpeddie]

@@joeylo1720 No wonder why audiophiles are very toxic... I mean, in my opinion.

[@seldom_seen8713]

Good evening Mo, How much of a difference is your accoustic panels improving the sound in your space? I am about to start adding panels and bass traps to my viewing area. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

[@magnoliamo]

Room treatments have made a big difference. I need more on the ceiling. The RT60 decay measurement using REW is between 330 and 400 across 100 hz to 10 kHz

[@SaifQuraishiLKMKX]

Awesome video. Really helped me make up my mind!

[@donlew8222]

I did the bouncy house for a bit, when I was starting out. Didn't care for them with slightly vaulted ceilings.... I prefer direct sound. So I did the 4 svs elevations mounted high on my walls. Much better Atmos! Super easy install.

[@magnoliamo]

Agree. Height speakers or ceiling mounted speakers will 100% sound better.

[@leroypreston2762]

Thanks for the video. I never had doubt that upwards firing wouldn’t be as good. But I wanted to know would it be better than 0 atmos enabled speakers. And some people are snobs and will say if you don’t have what I have don’t bother.

[@magnoliamo]

Exactly. You can’t change people’s minds. All you can do is try

[@JavonDGreen]

This video needed to be made. I ran Dolby enabled speakers for years before I built my dedicated theater. They work very well if setup properly. This video is very good my friend.

[@magnoliamo]

Thank you!

[@eddiebaby22]

Great test 👍

[@csimet]

Not wanting to basically toss my investment in some Polk XT90 up-firing speakers that just did not work well enough for me when placed on top of my ear level fronts and surrounds, I mounted them on wall hangers, but... I left them pointing up at the ceiling. Mounting them on their sides to directly point at the listening position was not optimal, too hard to accomplish and just looked bad (if that matters, haha). They are approximately 16" from the ceiling, pointing up so that they reflect properly to the listening position. This took a bit of adjusting with a laser pointer and mirror to get the angle perfect. This has greatly improved their performance IMHO. Because they are more than 6-7' closer to the point of the ceiling reflection, their dispersion is greatly reduced and more focused. In my opinion, the bad thing about up-firing speakers is the great distance they need to get to the listening position... more than double that of the ear level speakers. They just disperse & lose too much power over that distance and moving them up closer to the reflection point (ceiling) helps.

[@magnoliamo]

Thanks for the comment. What was the distance to the ceiling when you originally placed on top of your front speakers? Also does your receiver have an additional distance compensation for Dolby enabled upfiring speakers?

[@csimet]

@@magnoliamo Approx. 40-44" off the floor. Yes, my Onkyo TX-RZ50 permits adjustments. I'm just about to start a full Dirac run/config now that my room's furniture is settled.

[@magnoliamo]

Thanks. I mean the distance from the top of the Dolby speaker to the ceiling when you originally placed it on top of your front speakers. Thanks.

[@csimet]

@@magnoliamo About 56-58"

[@magnoliamo]

Thanks. I was curious if you had 9 ft ceilings or more. I think the upfiring speakers are the most effective with 8ft ceilings. I also found them to be more effective if you have four of them. If only using a pair they are more effective when placed above the side surrounds instead of the front speaker. That’s been my experience. They are definitely tricky to place and require care in placement like you did. I like the onkyo receiver that you have.

[@garyausten5939]

I just got a pair of Klipsch RP-500SAs delivered a couple minutes ago (Amazon Prime) and will install them within the next few days :) That will bring me to a 7.2.4 set-up. I'll put them on the back wall opposite my other Klipsch RP-500SAs. I can't wait to experience four height speakers at once...a true Atmos experience. The front two by themselves were pretty nice. I'm sure the others will make it sound like a whole new system.

[@magnoliamo]

That’s awesome!

[@garyausten5939]

@@magnoliamo I put them up over the last couple days, but ran into trouble with one of the speakers...I think I will solve it soon. When I did test tones, the sound was really weak, then died and the amp went into protect mode. I figured out that I didn't put the speaker wires in correctly (tight dark space), and found some old (probably corroded) banana plugs in a junk drawer...put them on and now I get no sound from the speaker, but at least the amp doesn't blow. I have a bunch of new banana plugs arriving tomorrow (Sunday) via Amazon Prime and will replace the other plugs. In the meantime, I watched The 5th element with all but my left rear height...still sounded good :)

[@magnoliamo]

@@garyausten5939 did you check the polarity on both the amp and speaker end?

[@garyausten5939]

@@magnoliamo I've had polarity issues with one speaker or another when doing the Audyssey calibration...it plays, but just tells me there's an issue and it's up to me if I want to ignore it. I think in the case of he height speaker, the two wires must have been shorting on each other. That's why I'm going to change out the banana plug tomorrow with a new one rather than one that's about 40 years old. The wires on the speaker look good.

[@dannyr2272]

What did you set the toggle in the back of the speaker to ?​@@garyausten5939

[@pinarellorider9023]

Nice setup, Sir. Not sure if I missed it or not, but hat are the dimensions of your room? Thanks for sharing!

[@magnoliamo]

Thank you. The dimensions are 32 x 15 x 8ft. The setup goes the shorter way from screen to seat is 11 ft. The back wall is plus 4 ft for the couch.

[@phatmeow7764]

i am no audio expert but sometimes being "certified" for the latest standards dun matter as much as speakers designed to sound good?

[@MrChrisGER]

Hey man, I love your channel - I want to buy the new b&w 702s3 or the klipsch ref 8060fa2 with the Dolby atmos build in - could you give me some thoughts and opinion? With the b&w I don’t have atmos because I don’t could build speakers in my ceiling. Thanks a lot 🤗

[@magnoliamo]

Hi. Thanks for comment. 702 S3’s are in a league of their own. They are excellent sounding speakers. Klipsch 8060FA2 are great speakers as well. I would recommend going into a local retailer and auditioning the Klipsch and the new Definitive Technologies Dymension Series. You will find the Def techs to be more balanced and fuller sounding than the Klipsch. Def techs also have the integrated height modules.

[@andykurniawan4749]

Nice video....Wow

[@magnoliamo]

@@andykurniawan4749 Thank you!

[@vanderhoff66fu]

You have so many hype speakers of course you're going to hear the sound I'm just running two front tight

[@magnoliamo]

@@vanderhoff66fu To clarify, for this video, I only ran the Dolby Atmos Enabled Upfiring speakers. All other height speakers were disconnected. It was just 7.2.2 with the upfiring speakers. All the demos were done after running Audyssey MultEQ XT32 with 7.2.2. Thanks for the comment.

[@tg9891]

Well done. Thank you.

[@magnoliamo]

Thank you 🙏

[@taseti4803]

Up firing speakers creat a sound bubble more so than down firing ceiling speakers.

[@magnoliamo]

I agree. It’s different from in ceiling or wall mounted speakers. More diffused sound. Less localization.

[@Lov3Hertz]

All them speakers and u decided to use that tv?

[@magnoliamo]

It’s the Sony 77” OLED A80J. I also have the Epson 5040 and an Elite Screen 100” Saber Tab Tension Acoustic Pro. I used to have the Sony VPL-VW295ES which I sold because I wasn’t happy with the black levels. What would you recommend instead? Thanks for the feedback.

[@shaolin95]

Work is a tricky word. Can you get some effect bouncing? Sure. Is it like having PROPERLY installed height speakers? Not even remotely close. Anyone that tries to argue that, has never heard proper Atmos

[@magnoliamo]

With all due respect, I have heard and have a proper Atmos setup. My point to this video is not that Dolby enabled speakers are better than an actual height speaker setup, instead they can “work” or are effective is certain situations for folks who cannot have a full on Dolby Atmos height speaker setup. Thanks for the comment

[@magnoliamo]

@shaolin95 checkout this video by Joe N Tell. He also arrived at the same conclusion. Thanks. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZCooX2oa96Fr7csi=XPjqYDf9EE6TRkfM

[@D.L.W.]

I've got accoustic panels on my ceiling to absorb undesirable reflections, so tossing sound up there would be useless. Anyone serious about audio always controls reflections.

[@magnoliamo]

I agree. Upward firing speakers are not ideal and don’t work for everyone.

[@nsqtr7578]

Up firing Dolby is just a "cheat 😂

[@HarishGovindarajan3092]

My home minister making KZbin videos 🫡

[@vanderhoff66fu]

By the way I do not like the Yankees let's go Mets

[@magnoliamo]

Lol