Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater One pair or two pairs of M3 ceiling speakers?

How far from the ceiling will your ears-brain be?

I do not know the dispersion pattern of the any of the M3 types. I think Mojo once mentioned something about a number when we were discussing in-ceiling imaging way back. From my experience, I think you’re fine with assuming a wide dispersion for both these speakers ... maybe someone else might want to comment on this.

Depending on the trade offs made on ceiling placement, your ceiling height, and the size of your listening area you might need to aim them. When hard wiring speakers (especially if in-ceiling) you will need to know your placement up front. You’ll have a good idea if you’ll need to aim them but ultimately you will decide it by experimenting.

BTW: One of the big advantages of using on-walls is that you can move the speaker a few feet with the only downside of how to hide the speaker wire (which is not much of a downside).

About 8-9 feet ...

8 to 9 feet is very sweet. You won't have any issues with multiple drivers from an M2, M3, or M5 fusing at that distance.

The M3 bookshelf sounds very nice. I haven't heard the M3OW but knowing how the M5 and M2OW perform, I'd say the M3 is good too.

There are big differences between the M3 and the M2/M5HP. The M3 lacks a dedicated mid-woofer driver. That affects the timber of the midrange. This sound can be described as less detailed. Admittedly, sometimes I like this sound. But if you want to follow the Dolby recommendations, all speakers need to have the same timber. If you had M50 or M3 fronts, that wouldn't be a problem but with your M80s, the M3s would not be timber-matched. Besides, I think you'd benefit with improved emotional impact with overheads that present more detailed mids.

That then leaves the question of whether M5s or M2s are more appropriate. I still struggle between these two. Without a sub, hands-down it's the M5 although room acoustics can interfere and create bass bloat. But with a sub, it's really too difficult for me to tell which I prefer without A/Bing them side-by-side. For those who don't want to fudge with EQ or placement within the room, I'll always recommend M2s.

The M5 has the same bump the M3 has around 100Hz. That may or may not be a factor given your floor to ceiling distance. Trevor would know better.

Yes, Nick Buol. Can be done. Not a good idea though. In ceiling speakers have concentric drivers so response is the same in all directions more or less. Vertically arranged drivers should be used as intended as they roll off or “lobe” treble once you listen below the tweeter axis.

Yes. Plans coming. Your basement is messed up but we can fix it.

Yes.

No.

Don't think you have enough info to say that Mojo ... need the ceiling height, the listening area width, and if he's going for Atmos only or if Auro is in the mix ... and that's at a minimum.

As far as an M3 or M2 (don't know if you want to hang an M5 on the ceiling and distance to listener would be a bigger factor). I think both are matched well enough. The M3 will sound slightly deeper then the M2 but your giving up some clarity in the mid range. I went with M3's as I felt that one would not notice the difference as a surround is not something you're going to be doing critical listening with. Both are damn good even as mains when a sub is in the mix. Perhaps my ears are not good enough anymore as I only hear the difference when listening for what I know from side by side testing (Mojo probably has a better ear and sonic memory).

I can not speak to Trever's concentric lobe stuff ... as I've never noticed it in real life. So, You know my take ... it's MHO and your milage my vary.

Apologies rrlev, but I tend to agree with TrevorM's position on in-ceiling speakers. Especially when there are multiple listeners, or multiple rows of seating. The Dolby spec also suggested to use sound absorbing material thusly (page 9 in the link I previously shared) "To improve sound quality and reduce unwanted audio reflection, we recommend using sound-absorbing and sound-diffusing treatment to handle reflections from the walls, floor, and ceiling."

In my case, I have the two M80 fronts, a VP150, four M3s for sides/rears at ear level, and four overhead in ceiling M3s. More importantly, I also have sound absorbing baffles from GIK acoustics (https://www.gikacoustics.com/product/gik-acoustics-room-kit-package-1/) to reduce slap echoes. The end result was a tight sonic presentation (materially better compared to my prior system that had QS8s for sides/rears, no overhead speakers).

No Apologies needed ...

I'm not an expert in this stuff and Trever has a lot more experience ...
I'm just giving you the info I know and my opinion on how I would handle it.