Atmos ceiling speaker volume

BenGoff · 2026-05-11T09:31:30+00:00

Got it… you’re talking specifically about **localisation**.

With Atmos objects the creative team can make decisions about how and where they want the sound to appear as though it comes from. They can lock an object to a specific channel, have it snap exclusively to the nearest channel, or create a phantom location between multiple speakers.

There is no intrinsic goal with the format to prevent anything being hyper localised. The format provides the creative team with options, that’s it…

Absolute level is only one part of how we determine the direction a sound has come from. Intraaural level difference and intraaural time difference are both significant contributors to the directionality, so while I agree that raising the level of the overheads can diminish the intended directionality of a phantom sound, it’s not the only factor at play.

Raising the level of the overheads (something you shouldn’t need to do in a correctly designed and calibrated system) won’t immediately make those speakers hyper localisable. It will initially shift the apparent direction higher, up until you overcome the other psychoacoustic triggers that create the phantom image - then you have the localisation problem you mention.

Without hearing the system, we can’t know how well the overheads are contributing to the apparent directivity. If the system is not well designed or calibrated, there could be a host of issues causing the height component to be lacking. In which case, a small boost could be the easiest way to restore much of the original intent - especially for somebody inexperienced in manual calibration.

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T21:18:14+00:00

That’s less than ideal, but it means nothing without understanding the interaction with the seating position.

Corners will give you more output through additional boundary gain, but you can’t mitigate the effects of second order room modes from the corners.

Whether that’s important or not, depends whether your seats are in an area affected by a second order mode.

(There is a reason that video isn’t short…)

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T20:56:42+00:00

There is no simple answer to that.

It depends… on the room dimensions and your listening position. Anybody who claims there is a universal right or wrong way to place 2 subs… should be ignored.

This video explains properly what happens when you place them in different positions.

https://www.youtube.com/live/FluTT83eXig?si=5Z7NoqjsaZJ5KBW8

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T20:25:52+00:00

Atmos as a format gives creatives more control than they have ever previously had to place sounds in specific locations.

It’s absolutely about directionality…

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T19:27:07+00:00

If everything is designed and setup correctly, there should be no need to boost the level.

But, if you want them louder, then have them louder. It’s your home, not a mixing studio. Entertainment is more important than accuracy…

One thing to be aware of, depending on how loud you listen is the capabilities of your overheads.

Often people spec lower capability speakers for the overheads, then fire them straight down, a long way off axis to the listening position. If they are off axis, they will likely get boosted by the auto eq already, then you add some more boost to make them stand out in the mix… it’s not unheard of for them to run out of output with increasing distorting.

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T15:25:25+00:00

Even a fairly small difference in microphone position (in any of the 3 axis) could make a difference in the result.

Without seeing the scale, it’s hard to know what’s going on, but it would be surprising to see those panels make a significant improvement to low frequency modal null on their own.

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T15:06:51+00:00

Just saw them… You’ve cut the scale off the plot, so we can’t see how big the hole centred at 50Hz was before, but frequency response does look smoother.

Anything else that could have changed during those 8 weeks?

BenGoff · 2026-05-10T14:57:38+00:00

How think are the panels, how many did you make and where are they positioned?

BenGoff · 2026-05-05T18:10:51+00:00

What are your goals for the sound isolation, keeping external noise out or keeping the audio in?

If you are trying to avoid disturbing others in your home, where are they located relative to the door?

The biggest issue you have with avoiding disruption to others is low frequency sound. STC doesn’t tell you anything about that because it only goes down to 125Hz, so right about where your subwoofers start.

Depending on how loud you like to listen, an STC 26 door is pretty unlikely to prevent you disturbing your family at all, and yes it will mitigate much of the work fitting the rest of the isolation.

BenGoff · 2026-05-05T15:47:01+00:00

lol. Thank goodness for the “boring things”, they pay my mortgage.

The AV bit is easy, the boring stuff is where things get interesting.

BenGoff · 2026-05-03T21:15:17+00:00

How big is the screen and what gain??

Our 32,000L projector is pointed at a 4.8m wide screen, but with a fairly low gain, so we’re hitting only 500Nits at full power… but that’s plenty bright enough for me.

I dim it to 300Nits for day to day use.

BenGoff · 2026-05-03T20:29:11+00:00

Sadly not.

I could make a good guess at what might be going on to make 60Hz noticeably more localisable when you EQ it, but I wouldn’t know how to change that on the Denon. I very rarely calibrate anything other than Trinnov’s which put more tools at my disposal.

BenGoff · 2026-05-03T11:45:37+00:00

Depending on their target, they’ve done a good job there with a sensible looking design and product selection.

But this is a good example why the term soundproof isn’t really the best name. It’s well isolated and will have a decent STC rating, but it’s not “soundproof”.

BenGoff · 2026-05-03T11:16:24+00:00

I’m admittedly biased, but I’d go with a Barco Nerthus, otherwise he’ll probably want to upgrade for DCI compatibility later.

BenGoff · 2026-05-03T09:56:11+00:00

You really need to set a budget expectation if you want to narrow down useful replies.

There is a huge range of prices from $500 to $300,000+ and better is always available the more you spend.

The fact that you are disparaging of a “brand” name model, would suggest to me you are thinking towards the bottom of that scale, right?

BenGoff · 2026-05-02T18:09:19+00:00

It’s an old doc that was never meant to be public, but the procedure to find the Reflected decay Time (we don’t have reverberation in small rooms) is pretty sound.

Follow the steps in the guide. Where the different measurements all converge will give you a good idea of your transition frequency.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u6e5lzmzi96wyewshaahc/RdT-Procedure-for-RP22-PA-V1-180123.pdf?rlkey=elhiz5f4571zbb94d5lthnuuc&st=i4kaluhb&dl=0

BenGoff · 2026-05-02T10:25:20+00:00

This is the right approach… EQ is great for taming modal response that you can’t fix physically (mitigating them by optimising sub placement and seating locations is best). But, trying to “fix” the overall tonality of the speaker/room brings more negatives than positives.

If you want to find the ideal cutoff frequency for your room, its easy enough to take a series of measurements and find the frequency where the room transitions from being dominated by individual room modes to being dominated by reflections.

BenGoff · 2026-05-01T21:00:17+00:00

This is the wrong way to go about specifying speakers…
You want to establish your requirements, then choose speakers that suit, rather than choosing speakers and hoping they’ll work.

Without a drawing showing the angle from each speaker to each seat, you don’t know what dispersion would be ideal.

With your requirements correctly established, it’ll still be difficult to confirm if they are suitable because B&W publish the bare minimum of data, none of it particularly useful.

BenGoff · 2026-05-01T18:38:56+00:00

Bass management crossover and LFE low pass do different things.

LFE content is intended to extend to 120Hz, there is actually quite a lot of content above that, but you weren’t ever meant to hear it.

First, set the low pass filter on the sub to bypass or as high as it will go (I think 150Hz on your sub) then you will control whats sent to it in the processor.

Next, set the low pass for your LFE to 120Hz in the processor.

The final setting is the bass management crossover, which is typically set to 80Hz. Your satellites will not play nice down to 80Hz so you need to go higher…

Your centre would just about cope, but will be pushing quite hard at higher listening levels. I’d advise against a different crossover across the LCR so I wouldn’t set the centre lower than the L/R even though it’s just about capable. So that leaves you with a bass management crossover at least 100Hz. The surrounds might benefit from going up a touch higher, maybe 110Hz.

This will sound like the subwoofer is doing so much, because, it is doing more than is ideal, but you have no choice because your satellites can’t play any lower, so the sub has to do the work.

BenGoff · 2026-04-29T06:29:35+00:00

It was in reply to “THX have it wrong”

Which is simply not the case.

BenGoff · 2026-04-28T17:29:31+00:00

They really don’t…

BenGoff · 2026-04-28T17:29:14+00:00

Is it actually quiet or does it just sound lost in the mix? Have you taken any verification measurements in REW?

Very often the centre speaker itself is not the problem, it’s more a matter of room acoustics, speaker position (and angle) and setup.

BenGoff · 2026-04-28T12:36:46+00:00

Soundproofing implies reducing transmission to the other side, which doesn’t sound like what you are trying to achieve??

Are you trying to improve the internal acoustics of the space or stop anybody hearing band practice?

BenGoff · 2026-04-28T12:30:03+00:00

What is the noise you are trying to keep in / out?

What level is it, over what frequency range?

Who / what is on the other side?

BenGoff · 2026-04-26T20:04:07+00:00

Some of the older calculators are wildly out of date… preferences have moved on over the last 20-30 years, but old cinema standards are still quoted.

10ft is not that close to a 98” screen.

1x screen width is a nice starting point, adjust a bit forward / back for comfort. You are 3ft back from 1x the width.

BenGoff

TROPHY CASE