The Klipsch 5.2.4 Home Theater in a Condo Living Room

The client wanted a 5.2.4 Dolby Atmos home theatre in the living room of their condominium apartment, with a clean look: speakers set flush into the walls and ceiling rather than standing in the room.

Absolute Sound specified Klipsch in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeakers for every channel except the bass, so the speakers sit flush with the wall and ceiling and only the two subwoofers stand in the room.

The television is wall-mounted on a textured white plaster feature wall. Two THX-502-L in-wall speakers sit flush in that wall, either side of it, and carry the front left and right channels. A THX-504-L in-wall speaker sits in a horizontal slot directly below the screen and handles dialogue. Two more THX-502-L in-wall speakers carry the rear surround channels. Four PRO-16RC in-ceiling speakers, visible only as round grilles, add the Dolby Atmos height channels. Two RP-1000SW subwoofers complete the system.

A film on this system is built around what you can hear rather than what you can see. Dialogue comes from the THX-504-L centre, which carries four 5.25-inch woofers and a horn-loaded tweeter, so voices stay with the picture. Because the front and rear channels use the same THX-502-L, a sound that travels from the screen to the back of the room passes between matching speakers. Four PRO-16RC in-ceiling speakers carry the Dolby Atmos height channels, so rain, helicopters and aircraft pass above the seats rather than across the screen. Two 10-inch RP-1000SW subwoofers give explosions and low notes in the score their weight.