Sound bar placement in a corner of a room

[Adsibob]

We are thinking of having our TV set up in the corner of our lounge, within a custom built storage unit, something like this, but with the tv lower down as I think this is too high:

I’m looking at combining it with a Sonos Arc sound bar which has Dolby Atmos. I presume the Soundbar therefore needs clearance above it, so that sound can be fired upwards towards the ceiling. Can I get away with placing the soundbar above the TV? Ceiling is 295cm high, so a 55” tv placed so that the top of it is about 125cm from the floor, leaves 170cm of space above for the sound bar. I know they are ideally meant to be at ear level, but can I put it higher, at say 160cm from the floor, this would be quite a bit higher than ear level when seated.

 

This might defeat the purpose of having a corner storage unit that SWMBO is insisting on to store a lot of the kids’ crap. Perhaps a solution is to have a shelf projecting forward out of the storage unit on which the soundbar sits so that the upwards firing  sound is not impeded by the storage space above the tv.

 

 Thoughts much appreciated!

[Siochair]

What about a sliding tray or shelf that you could pull out far enough to expose the upward firing speakers and just slide it back in when you are not watching tv?

you could even fix it to a drawer front so that when you fold down the drawer front it automatically pulls the soundbar forward and then the reverse when you close it. This will be a bit more work and only of interest if you think the neater look would be worth the effort

[Adsibob]

4 hours ago, Siochair said:

What about a sliding tray or shelf that you could pull out far enough to expose the upward firing speakers and just slide it back in when you are not watching tv?

you could even fix it to a drawer front so that when you fold down the drawer front it automatically pulls the soundbar forward and then the reverse when you close it. This will be a bit more work and only of interest if you think the neater look would be worth the effort

Yes, that's a good point, I like it. Where should the soundbar go though, above or below the TV. Dolby guidance on this is a bit confusing. On one hand it says: "For optimum playback performance with dramatic overhead effects, mount the Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar at, or slightly above, a seated listener’s ear level." On the other hand, the very same article has a diagram showing the soundbar placed significantly lower than this: https://professional.dolby.com/siteassets/tv/home/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos_sound-bar-setup-guide.pdf

To maximise storage under the TV (one of SWMBO's chief concerns) we would prefer to have the soundbar above the tv, but I query whether this will in any way mess up the soundscape.

[MJNewton]

I wouldn't let the Atmos side of things influence your layout too much. The effect is relatively subtle, and with upwards-firing speakers even more so to the point where there's every chance you might not even notice it. 

 

Regarding height, I'm not sure where Dolby are expecting your TV to be (which should be at eye level when seated) if the soundbar is to be placed at ear level!

Edited May 25, 2022 by MJNewton

[Nickfromwales]

12 hours ago, MJNewton said:

I wouldn't let the Atmos side of things influence your layout too much. The effect is relatively subtle, and with upwards-firing speakers even more so to the point where there's every chance you might not even notice it. 

 

Regarding height, I'm not sure where Dolby are expecting your TV to be (which should be at eye level when seated) if the soundbar is to be placed at ear level!

100%.

With Atmos you're either in or out. Pointless going half-cocked tbh. These need to be via dedicated speakers to get any actual effect, and I'm about to start installing cables in a clients build ( dedicated cinema room ) to do just this. Atmos effect will be delivered via a pair of flush Kef ceiling speakers, small enough to be as inconspicuous as possible as they do very little.

Sound bar should be lower, and take up so little room it shouldn't affect SWMBO's requirement for space below a correctly positioned TV as there would still be room above it?  

Edited May 26, 2022 by Nickfromwales

[Adsibob]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

100%.

With Atmos you're either in or out. Pointless going half-cocked tbh. These need to be via dedicated speakers to get any actual effect, and I'm about to start installing cables in a clients build ( dedicated cinema room ) to do just this. Atmos effect will be delivered via a pair of flush Kef ceiling speakers, small enough to be as inconspicuous as possible as they do very little.

Sound bar should be lower, and take up so little room it shouldn't affect SWMBO's requirement for space below a correctly positioned TV as there would still be room above it?  

I agree with this... to a point. We looked at ceiling speakers but couldn't get our act together in time and already had enough crap on the ceiling with the BCO insisting on sprinklers and alarms in that room. Instead, we're going for a Sonos system made up of a Sonos Arc and two Sonos speakers as satellite as well as the Sonos subwoofer. The Arc has really good reviews and although it won't be as good as ceiling speakers for Atmos, I understand it's the next best thing.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Adsibob

[Nickfromwales]

13 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

I understand it's the next best thing

Indeed.

 

I dearly miss my home cinema, gone since getting a neighbour in our semi. 😭

[MrSniff]

We have the Sonos Beam and two Sonos One's set up as rear speakers. All works surprisingly well, even in an awkwardly shaped room - and still confuses me sometimes to hear sounds from behind me when watching TV. And no extra cabling...

[MJNewton]

9 hours ago, Adsibob said:

Sonos speakers as satellite as well as the Sonos subwoofer. The Arc has really good reviews and although it won't be as good as ceiling speakers for Atmos, I understand it's the next best thing

‘Next best’ doesn’t necessarily mean anywhere near as good as though… 😉 Dont’t get me wrong, the Arc - whilst very expensive - is a very good soundbar even without whatever Atmos effects it might or might not be able to provide. The sub, whilst again overly expensive, is definitely a game changer though as not only does it provide the low frequencies well but it frees the Arc up to deal solely with the mids and highs which naturally is what it’s best at given the size of its speakers.