The Truth About Home Theater Speakers: Channel Overload?

This week we look at home cinema, media rooms and living spaces in 2024 and ask what are the best positions for the use of surround sound and Dolby Atmos speakers? Plus, do you actually need all those speakers and has home theater gone mad with the number of audio channels now available?

Presented by Phil Hinton, Dr Julian Scott and Neil Davidson

This week’s podcast is proudly sponsored by Hisense, official partners of UEFA Euro 2024.
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00:00:00 - Start
00:00:54 - Welcome and introductions

Discussion: What’s the best layout for home theatre speakers?

00:04:07 - What can modern multi channel systems realistically deliver in terms of channel numbers?
00:05:37 - What’s the difference between audio ‘objects’ and ‘channels’?
00:07:50 - Does more money and more channels mean a better experience?
00:09:30 - The RP22 Immersive Audio Design document
00:10:27 - What is the typical consumer home theatre speaker system?
00:11:42 - Downsizing as an option
00:12:27 - Thinking about an immersive audio system: Where do I start for a smaller living space?
00:14:12 - Speaker quality vs channel count: Do you need speakers everywhere for the best immersive effect?
00:17:26 - Expectations vs disappointment: How the room can shape the experience
00:19:00 - Do up-firing speakers work well for height channels in the home?
00:22:26 - Is a soundbar solution worth considering?
00:26:05 - What is a bipole speaker?
00:29:02 - What’s the best speaker approach for a larger, dedicated space?
00:30:27 - Does hiding the speakers help with audio immersion?
00:31:51 - At what point should separates should take over from a soundbar?
00:35:13 - ‘No replacement for displacement’: The importance of dynamic range and headroom
00:36:44 - In ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos: What do I need to consider?
00:40:40 - Auro 3D: Does this have the best approach to height channels?
00:44:24 - DTS:X - The best of Auro 3D and Dolby Atmos?
00:45:00 - Auro Max vs Dolby Atmos: Which is better?
00:46:54 - How useful is upmixing?
00:49:18 - Making sure the listening environment is suitable for the listening experience
00:53:24 - Do we actually ‘need’ all these speakers? Wrap up.
00:57:35 - Competitions & new patrons

Q&A plus comments from previous podcast (20th May: Multiple Subwoofers And Your Room - How to Set Up And Use Room EQ)
00:59:44 - Multi subs: Transducers, room EQ and getting the timing right.
01:00:42 - Does Dirac bass frequency processing affect higher frequencies too?
01:02:27 - If the cost of Dirac is an issue, would a calibrator be a better approach?
01:04:31 - Goodbye

Podcast links
Munich High End 2024 Show Report - https://www.avforums.com/articles/mun...
RP22 Audio Document download - https://cedia.org/advocacy/standards-...
AVForums Home AV forums (for support from like-minded enthusiasts) - https://www.avforums.com/categories/h...
Cinema Tools - http://www.cinema-tools.com
Dolby Atmos: Improve your home experience - https://www.dolby.com/en-gb/experienc...
https://www.dolby.com/en-gb/experienc...

Guest details
Dr Julian Scott - https://displaycalibration.co.uk/our-...
  / dr-julian-scott-b1a0b543  

Neil Davidson - https://www.srnd.group
  / srndneil  


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