occxlr8ed Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) Any one have any experience with using these as surrounds? As my current AVR doesn't have atmos, given the room size I thought it would be a good investment to add surrounds at a cheaper entry point, with scope to convert them to atmos speakers if I do upgrade the AVR later down the track. Currently have LS50s as fronts, with a Krix KDX as a temporary centre. Small room, about 4x4m. Edited July 15, 2020 by occxlr8ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neurone Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) 15 minutes ago, occxlr8ed said: Any one have any experience with using these as surrounds? As my current AVR doesn't have atmos, given the room size I thought it would be a good investment to add surrounds at a cheaper entry point. Currently have LS50s as fronts, with krix KDX as a temporary centre. Small room, about 4x4m. Are you going to use them to 'reflect' off of the ceiling? or as wall mounted speakers? I used similar Elac speakers as 'ceiling reflectors' with poor results, ended up using them as wall placed rear surrounds. If you are wanting ceiling speakers it is probably best to have them installed in the ceiling Edited July 15, 2020 by Neurone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occxlr8ed Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Plan is to use them as wall mounted speakers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwt Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 29 minutes ago, occxlr8ed said: Plan is to use them as wall mounted speakers I wouldnt ; dolby atmos enabled speakers are specifically designed to work with certain crossover settings in your bass management in your avr or pre pro; and they have specific directivity patterns [on axis] to assist them reflecting of the ceiling Quote Psychoacoustic signal processing Based on an understanding of how the brain interprets sound, Dolby Atmos enabled speakers modify select audio frequencies to reinforce the sense of sound coming from above. This filtering is also applied to any sound that may leak horizontally from the speaker cabinet to further amplify the perception of sound coming from above. 10 Speaker directivity and angling Most speakers have a wide diffuse pattern. This is not an ideal design for a Dolby Atmos enabled speaker where the majority of the middle- and high-frequency energy should be directed to the ceiling. Dolby performs comprehensive testing on Dolby Atmos enabled speakers to insure that the majority of the sound is focused on the ceiling and not leaked horizontally to the listening position. Dolby Atmos enabled speakers are designed to fire their acoustic energy upward rather than directly at you. Dolby has calculated the best angle for the upward-firing element based on where most people place their floor-mounted tower and stand-mounted speakers. https://professional.dolby.com/siteassets/tv/home/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-enabled-speaker-technology.pdf?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=atmos+enabled+speaker&_t_tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3a0029064e-1c6a-485e-87fd-974e3dc7581f&_t_ip=104.129.202.50&_t_hit.id=Dolby_Web_Core_Implementation_Models_Media_DocumentFileMediaType/_9efc770a-a4ae-4b1f-8d85-d161d985fd2a&_t_hit.pos=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xPLAYRZx Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, occxlr8ed said: Any one have any experience with using these as surrounds? Yes. I currently use four of the KEF Q50a (wall mounted) for my surrounds and rear surrounds. More than happy with their performance. As per the user guide, these are also designed to be used for this purpose. Edited July 15, 2020 by xPLAYRZx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occxlr8ed Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 On 15/07/2020 at 6:59 PM, xPLAYRZx said: Yes. I currently use four of the KEF Q50a (wall mounted) for my surrounds and rear surrounds. More than happy with their performance. As per the user guide, these are also designed to be used for this purpose. Yeah i do remember reading their promo material saying they're suitable as surrounds. Any photos of your setup? Would be keen to see it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xPLAYRZx Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 No, don't have any photos of my setup with these speakers, sorry. For context, I have these matched with a pair of KEF R11 fronts and R2c center channel and it sounds great. Below is a sample frequency response (in my room) of the Q50a after calibration below 500hz for both a surround and back speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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