Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 vs 5.1.4 WORTH the Upgrade? + SVS Prime Elevation Review 

Buy the SVS Prime Elevations at SVS: bit.ly/SVSPrimeElevationSVS Buy the SVS Prime Elevations on Amazon: bit.ly/SVSPrimeElevationAmz Techno Dad's Dolby Atmos Review: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iBDtYADLBTA.html Slight Correction: The Prime Satellite System I showed at the end uses the Prime Satellites by default which are similar, but have a different mounting system and are less expensive. Still a good solution and you can still opt to buy the Prime Elevations with that system. Disclaimer: The Affiliate links above earn me a commission if you purchase using those links. This is at no additional cost to you. SVS sent these free for me to review.

The biggest difference between 5.1.2 and 5.1.4 is the extra $1000 you will spend looking for a 9 channel receiver.

Great job on the installation Joe. I love how you demonstrate that regardless of the size or limitations of your room, you can make the best of it. You've got my thumbs up. ;)

The additional speakers are adding spatial cues like subtle reverb and reflections. This is why having controlled directivity is so important in home theater speakers (or so says Dr. F. Toole)

I've got an Atmos 5.1.2 setup, kind of cheap, and a bit of a Frankenstein setup of different pairs of speakers, but I always give the top and rear speakers a few extra notches of volume after calibration. It's probable not the most accurate recreation, and not as the sound engineers intended, but if I have ceiling speakers I want to be damn sure I hear them! Perhaps in time I'll lower the volume a little if they ever get overpowering, but at the moment it's still a bit of a novelty to hear things flying around the place, and plus it freaks out the cats..

Yes, there is a considerable/noticeable difference between 2 speaker setup and 4 speaker ATMOS setup. I recently upgraded my home theater from 7.1.2 to 7.1.4 with all same speakers in the ceiling pointed at correct angle for 2 rows of seats. After calibration, it sounds very good, I observed immediate difference, and better sound field definition. Even with Dolby ATMOS Amaze rain test track, rain is more believable and provided complete sound envelop.

Great install and demo!! No joke it’s a lot of work and more than a 15 minute job to do a good job. You did a great job! These also look like they’ll have a high significant other acceptance factor!

Yep so I started my atmos journey at 5.2.2 and was impressed. I then upgraded to 5.2.4 and was really impressed. But then i felt that i didn't like the surround bleed to the side channels. I now have a dedicated theater with 7.2.4 and what a difference in the 3d bubble. I know most don't have the room for a full 7 bed layer but damn did it make a huge difference.

This video was well done, and done with love. The audio demo was surprisingly effective. I can tell the added impact of adding +2 for a total of 4 atoms speakers.

I just did this same upgrade. Went from 2 atmos to 4. And it did make quite a bit of a difference. More than I expected. I have polk audio 8" in ceiling speakers for the atmos . Watching Mad Max Fury Road. Was surprised at how much sound you get out of those 2 extra channels. Definitely worth the upgrade.

Very cool. Nice recording strategy as well. Believe it or not I was able to hear the differences from 2.1 system on my PC. I feel the difference is are more significant than I predicted. Look forward to m0ore vids! :)

I just put 4 of these on my ceiling for my all-SVS 7.1.4 setup (Prime Towers/Center up front, Prime Satellite surrounds, old 20-39CS Plus sub). Due to where the beams run in my ceiling and where my A/C vents are, my placement ended up at about 37 degrees within the 30-55 degree tolerance in the front and 143 degrees within the 125-150 degree rear tolerance (so a little further forward/back than would be ideal). I found that same dip in response that you noted from being above the tweeter, though post-Audyssey it seems to be a non-issue (and falls right at the point where Audyssey's midrange compensation occurs anyway). The angle on the face of the speaker works, but I can't help but think that about 10 more degrees might have made these better for rooms with 8 foot ceilings, whether ceiling mounted or side-wall. I also found that given their in-room response, you pretty much have to cross these over at 100Hz. If you go with 80Hz, they roll off too quickly for the transition to the sub to occur smoothly and you end up with a small gap in response. I wish SVS had maybe widened the cabinet slightly so that it had a little more volume and could get just a touch lower. I found the same thing with the Prime Satellites, which don't quite have enough extension to use an 80Hz crossover but transition nicely with 100Hz. Their Prime Wireless speakers (which I have in my gaming setup in another room) use the same driver/tweeter compliment but in a slightly larger cabinet, and those are far better suited to an 80Hz crossover so I wish they had gone with that same cabinet volume here. Of course, when I got everything nailed down and watched the opening race scene in Ready Player One, any minor complaints I had quickly became irrelevant. I highly recommend spinning that scene on UHD if you really want to hear your Elevations at work.

I have the Marantz 7012 using 4 Onkyo Integra M-504 amplifiers all Klipsch speakers towers for rear surrounds 4 R-51M for atmos speakers using heavy duty speaker brackets. 4 Klipsch 12 subs and 1 Klipsch 15 sub . Unbelievable sound. And I do have a complete JBL speaker system I swap out ever so often. There awesome also.

9:29 My man nailed it. Doing it well is not easy!

I like to listen to Dolby Atmos in the 13.1.10 config.... 10 overhead speakers... Using the Smyth Research A16.... thats 24 channels of Dolby Atmos... sounds amazing...

Good tip about not using these as upfiring speakers. I guarantee some people who didn't want to hang them in their ceiling or sidewall definitely have tried placing them on top of their left and right front speakers. Excellent review as always. Thanks for putting in the hard work and attention to detail on the sound signature of these speakers.

Very very nice channel and it's very heartwarming to see youthmen giving props to others work... Makes us love even more youthmen channel! Also really like Andrew Robinson he is mainly the reason why I spend 2700$ Canadian dollar for an Onkyo tx rz50 with full warranty.. Now shopping for best possible thing closest to ceiling speakers and I think I found them ! Was searching for proper placement and installation and found it in this video so thank you brother

Yo Joe, you are the truest audio guy on the RU-vid-sphere in terms of trying to show others how this stuff works and sounds. I appreciate your efforts when it comes to show how this imaginary surrounding sounds that will elevate our home theater experience. The demos, the tools you get to demo it to us. Love that man.

I tested 2 then added the other 2 (same in ceiling speakers). All you have to do is disable the front height in your processor and a/b test. You'll hear the big difference. Without at least 4, you don't have a 3d soundfield. It's like trying to get surround sound without rears. It's a noticeable difference and just 2 isn't even worth doing IMO.

Love these speakers, just upgraded to these from an old pair of klipsch surrounds I was using as heights.Wasn't expecting much but my wife even noticed the difference immediately from another room. Great job SVS and great review Joe👍

Thanks for sharing, great advice especially it doesn’t have to all be high end! I’ve got full set KEF eggs with matching sub, managed to pick up an extra pair of eggs to go 5.1.2 and i’m really impressed

Pretty significant difference between the 2/4 height speaker setup. With 2 the chopper simply pans left and right. With 4 you can hear the helicopter move around in a circular pattern (is this what it is supposed to be?). I also felt like the sound was even wider with 4.

I've own 4 of these for over a year and they are great. Mounting is easy just a note those rubber mounts don't come with them you have to ask SVS to send them but its free its just annoying that they don't include in the box and it would be more cost effective for SVS if they didn't have to ship separately.

Excellent review. Honest, and strait forward without much fluff. The SVS speakers are nice, though im a Kef fan.

Thanks for the honest review. My impressions are, you liked the speaker, but it's not something that will blow you out of the water since it doesnt have much low frequency extension and I can conculde, at least for myself, these are not worth the price at 800 CDN for a pair or 1600+ tax for 2 pairs. That's a lot of quid...

Great timing! I'm planning on the exact upgrade, definitely an improvement on the 2 ch on my headphones, it sounds like its going more in a circle than left to right so worth it to create more of a 'bubble' like they say its now object based audio, so 'placement' of objects can be far more accurate guess. Nice demo!

Love your honesty Joe :) Thanks for the review!

Listened to the demo with AirPods… yes I could hear it, but the important thing is can you hear it with your set up 😊

I'm so jealous of that ceiling mounting option! I have the KEF atmos speakers and the mounting options are horrible (very British design) so they are almost impossible to mount in the ceiling

"SVS makes subs" is an epic understatement.

demo was awesome. i think the mic is premium.

Good demo Joe N Tell, Thanks for the info... UK

May change change your higher Speaker area from Top middle to the Height version. Dolby Atmos allows that, and give your svs speakers in room more space to sound great. My opinion.

Great video jo. Excellent points

0:28 except for subwoofer duty 😂😂😂🤣 Nice review !

Thanks for the review!

Lol at the Dad joke alert! Thanks for this video, it was really helpful. I've been thinking of upgrading from a regular 5.1 to either 5.1.2 or 5.1.4. I love seeing a video from a dad like me who has the same exact stud finder, small space, etc. I even watched that same Techno Dad video you referenced right before this haha.

Couldn't you have a 7.1.4 with your current set up? Your surrounds seem to be better suited for rear surround, then have the actual surrounds (different pair) be at a sight angle infront of you

Thank you so much for showing how to install on the ceiling. and that just using 2 screws on a stud is enough to hold them up there.

Without all channels you missing what the technology was put in place. You gotta turn up the atmos channels. I get lots of atmos sound on every movie I watch. I fought this for over a year and I had enough cause I knew it had to be better. And now it kicks ass . Same thing with rear surrounds. My system is awesome now.

You need to redo this with 6 height channels and compare the added Top-Middle vs 5 heigts with a VoG

How does having a predetermined angle on a speaker helpful when a simple $1 bracket will give you hundreds of positions instead of just ONE? Also love wall mounted speakers with rear ports on them... Priceless design... SVS rules.

13:08 Kinda wish you would have included that (zero heights) in the test so we could hear the difference. But an interesting video non the less.

Have a 5.2.2. with Dolby Atmos now. Agree with you. That even if a movie not Dolby Atmos. Depending on track it still more spacious. My Dolby speaker are central over head. Had two speakers was not convinced. But four in same area with some minor distances. Wow. I be curious to have a 5.2.4. but that will be another time. Thanks for the video.

watching this with stereo upmix from computer to denon 4400h: neural X, 4 top heights, came through perfectly 👍

I´ve only been used with 2.0 sound for movies. And trying a 5.1 for a few weeks was for me a bit strange. I didnt like the low centre channel but most of all, I felt like I was listening for effects rather than focusing on the movie which made the movies LESS interesting. Maybe its just cause I was new to it and focused too much on the sound. I was also disappointed in the way the audio engineers/designers had placed sound. Even with a 5.1 it was like 75% centre channel, 20% front speakers and 5% rear, so felt a bit cheated on all the gear. Im back to 2.0 now lol.

My system played very well when the 5.1.2 sound was played as thats my configuration

Good tips about having the right tools for the job. Spending $800 on speakers and then not spending $30 on the step ladder is pennywise but pound stupid. My grandfather's saying😂😅. You are a stud.

Tested both ways. If you have a Dolby Demo this is great. But with all the bad atmos sound mixes in almost all disc realizes, you have to question that added expense. How many times can you listen to a helicopter?

Awesome video Other Joe!! I can hardly wait to get 4 height channels up and running, two aren’t doing it for me… BOOM!!

You need four height channels to give Atmos Objects movement.

Distance between front and overhead is too short, 120 cm i guess is not enough, that why you re not full happy with effect .Should be at least 2 meters.

Awesome video bro!

I'm about to go from 5.2.2 to 5.4.2. Previously I never really noticed when the height speakers were on. But as I had to spend 2000€ on a new 9.2 equipped AVR and the two extra speakers, this upgrade had better be worth it!

12:39 old soul in a young body

Its there an issue with placing them flush against the ceiling or wall because the port is being closed in. I would assume you would need a foot away to give the port room to breath.

Great demo! You can totally hear the difference with IEM's. That is a bit unfortunate on the low end as they are spec'd to 55hz. The Prime Satellites have a similar issue where they say 69hz but Sound and Vision measured -3db at 98hz...

Hi Joe, well done on the setup with the great video. Where can I get the Helicopter demo ?

What a useful video. Unfortunately in your binaural portion you didn't provide a reference! Ie we need to first hear your L & R speakers so we would then have a reference to gauge the height effect.

Thank you Joe!!! Sorry I didn't know about your channel, but I do now!! Great measurements, I like these for my height channel atmos and cross them over at 100hz. Thanks again and enjoy your new pad with more room to share your experiences 👍

I love your channel Joe 😎

You should check out our 7.3.6....may be a little overkill tho 🤣 Love the Prime Elevations, have those in our setup!

Awesome job. Was wondering what av receiver are you using?

Another great review, thanks for this... Just one question I wish to clarify, what do you mean by being above, below or to the side of the tweeter? As these speakers are above you on the ceiling, I'm trying to wrap my head around where the best response will be and you mentioned "try not to be above the tweeter" and just cannot picture what you mean in my head (yep call me stupid LOL)... 🙂

This was more a review on your speakers than wether or not going from 2 height Channels to 4 was worth the upgrade :/ just wish I got a more solid opinion but congrats on your speakers man

Your helicopter demonstration actually comes through on my system like its supposed to! I was happily surprised!

I just added the RP 500 SA Dolby Atmos speakers to what I currently have in my setup. I have a couple of questions. Here is my setup: Denon 4700 Klipsch R-625FA Dolby Atmos Floor stand speakers Klipsch RP- 504C II center channel Klipsch R-41M Bookshelf speakers Klipsch R-12SW subwoofer Does this make my setup a 5.1.4 or 7.1.2?

Depends how big your room is if your 4 speakers are going to be feet apart you'd be better with 2

I def heard a difference in two to the four. Def more depth. Not a bad price either on them. I would of bought them but went with klipsch 500 sa for double the price unfortunately 😕

Enlightening video Joe. How should one place/angle four of these speakers roof mounted (top/rear front)?? Assuming your couch is approx. four/five feet from the rear wall.

Nice video 😎😎 My badges are no where near that easy to change around. I gave up as it was getting close to breaking.

Will these speakers balance on a shelf upside down without tipping forward? I have two tall shelves flanking the tv so I can place these on top of each of them aiming down.

Will you explain “above the tweeter and below the tweeter”

I have 7.2.4 and love it. Yamaha RXA 3050 and using it's predecessor RXA 2040 as an amp with Klipsch satellites and subs. Perfection. Spent about $2.7k total. I like your system!

Thx joe!

The ceiling Atmos speakers should be mounted vertically or horizontally?

Can you recommend a few good movies that use Atmos? I just watched Mad Max FR and Godzilla KotM and was SEVERELY disappointed with the Atmos on both movies. I turned off my other speakers and BARELY any audio came out of the Atmos speakers.

good video sir, I'm just upgrading to the Marantz 7013 7.1.4 and will buy either the polks or the svs for my heights, my question is that I don't know if you must maintain a line of sight with the heights or if you can have them misaligned, my living room is quite large and the fireplace mantle is not centered with the rear wall, creating a wider left position. I see this video is 2 years old so i don't know if you're still corresponding to comments. ty

Where did you get the helicopter atmos demo?

RECEIVER 5.1.2 OR 5.1.4 ?

Nice video! Can you please let me know what mounting bracket you using @ 5:55 ? I am looking for something without drilling into the speakers. Thanks,

wow great video

For 7.2.2 on a Denon x3800h should I have the heights at front left & right or center front & rear of the seat?

What wire "runners" are you using on the ceiling? I'm trying to figure out best thing to use for that.

I wonder why they didn't front port???

Hey Joe! What about from 4 to 6 ceiling speakers? My room is 13ft wide , 23ft long. Will this help a lot ?

Nice video 👍🏻😉

great video, did you manage to use the banana plugs on the speakers. I tried on mine but it didn't work (maybe I didn't try hard enough :) )

Hey Joe, great video! Really intrigued by this as I have the sofa against tha back wall too. I notice that you called your Atmos speakers top front + top rear, when actually the placement is technically more top middle + top front. Our Denon 4500h won't let us assign the Atmos speakers like that, so I know why you did it, but curious why you didn't go for front heights and top middle as the angles would probably be closer to Dolby recommendations? Did you listen using different labels for the Atmos speakers and decided top front and top rear sounded the best? I haven't placed my speakers yet and keep switching in my head between top front + top rear Vs front height and top middle, so really interested on your views and experience!

I have the exact same setup as you I don't have any room behind my couch so I got to have the back ones directly down on my head. The front ones I did move forward a little bit pointing right at us. Seems to work pretty good I had a question for you what crossover frequency do you use for your elevations

Now awaiting a similar good headset to compete with a proper set up

I use covo s for surrounds. Was thinking about buying two more for atmos. But mostly everything I watch is made in 5.1.

Hello! As these prime elevations can be joined together as Bipole/Dipole speakers, can I use them together (after joining them as Bipole/Dipole) and install as my Auro-3D speaker just above my MLP on the ceiling? My amp is Denon 8500H and currently running in 5.2.4 layout. Thanks much!

I'm going to end up with 7ft 7in ceiling height. Will this work at all?

I have Klipsch up-firing atmos speakers that I keep next to my center channel...I don't have room to put them anywhere else right now. Should I remove the covers to get better sound.

7.1.2 or 5.1.4? That's the question. With one is better?

Confused. Why rotate only 1 front and 1 rear by 90 degrees?

Does this setup sounds better than in-ceiling speakers? If we install one pair as front heights on the front wall up next to ceiling corner. And the second pair on top of couch in the rear as exactly ur rears. Will the setup sounds ok? Planning to install 4 x klipsch RP-502SA speakers for atmos on ceiling and front combination. Thanks.

I used the same speaker cable and the same rca

What's the difference between speaker size? I noticed in your settings you had your speaker size on small but the speaker you have doesn't actually look small. Is there an advantage to setting speaker size to small?