Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-500SA Dolby Atmos Surround Sound Speakers (Pair)

I've got two speakers on my front wall, and I'm thinking about adding two more to the back wall. The problem is, my chair is right against that wall. Would it be worth it, or would the sound just go over my head? Right now, I've got a setup with seven main speakers, two subwoofers, and two overhead speakers. To use the extra pair of speakers, I might need to get another amplifier. Ceiling mounts aren't an option for me.

My personal experience is that the 2 overhear rears probably won't add much unless you can face them downward.

I had a 7.1 setup for a number of years and then upgraded it to a 7.x.4 (7 surround, 4 height speakers (2 front, 2 rear, wall-mounted angled downwards) and 3 subs/4 couch shakers)

I found that the height speakers for atmos didn't make a huge difference, especially if there isn't much separation between the fronts/rears you already have. If you're using small bookshelf speakers you might notice the bigger difference, but even with the back ones you don't want to be right up against the wall.

Switching from wall-mounted atmos to ceiling-mounted made a huge difference though.

If you can rig a wooden shelf on the wall and mount the speakers (down-firing) from that.. basically using a shelf on a wall as if it were the ceiling, then I'd definitely recommend it. I've also heard that there are frames you can use (a crossbar with 2 stands, similar to a photography backdrop-stand) that you can use to mount atmos speakers as if it were to a ceiling, but I haven't tried those before.

I just got a Denon AVR-X4700H (been a Yamaha fan for decades) specifically for Auro 3D, which in some cases provides better overhead effects than Atmos.

These will make for perfect height speakers to match the rest of my Klipsch RP gear.

I just got a Denon AVR-X4700H (been a Yamaha fan for decades) specifically for Auro 3D, which in some cases provides better overhead effects than Atmos.

These will make for perfect height speakers to match the rest of my Klipsch RP gear.

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Big fan of the DENON Receivers -- I moved from Sony up to Yamaha and finally onto a Denon x3700h and I've loved it. None of the issues I've had with the SONY Receivers. Yamaha had a nice audio mix to it, but overall I much prefer the denon.

I believe the 4700h has outputs for 9 channels (5.1.4 or 7.1.2), but if you can grab another amp for it, it will actually decode 11 channels (so you can get the full 7.1.4 setup) if you haven't already. I didn't want to lose the 7 surrounds to get the 4 height speakers and happy to have grabbed it!

The Klipsch stuff gets a lot of mixed reviews, and I've had some mixed experiences from product to product (even similar ones like the R-120SW (which I love!) and the R-12SW (not a big fan of)), but in general I've loved their whole RP line!

Yes, I agree. Best stay away from the Reference line. RP (titanium tweeters, among other build quality upgrades) became the new Reference, and reference became their budget line like the old Icon and Synergy lines (aluminum tweeters).

I started out with Icons, and then upgraded to RP. I believe RP is the best bang for the buck available in home theater/audio today, specifically with these killer Adorama clearance deals. Got my whole system this way and very happy with it.

So you're saying to pass on this, even for a starter system?

This is RP (Reference Premier), the good series with the best quality/price ratio. I'd pass on anything plain Reference (not RP) with aluminum tweeters, and focus on building a system with only RP speakers.

OK I gotta ask. All these "Atmos" speakers are just your bog-standard speaker in a box with a little angle applied to them are they not? Or is there some amazing electronics in these that make them so much more expensive than all other speakers? And I'm speaking about any atmos speakers from any manufacturer.

Thank you for the clarification! If I am starting from a 5.1 system with a 7.2 receiver, would you recommend this to round it out as an improvement?

These speakers are intended as "height" speakers for Dolby Atmos

In a traditional 5.1 surround sound setup you'll have 5 surround speakers (center, front left & right and surround left & right, with a subwoofer). In a 7.1 you have the same speakers with 2 added rear (left/right). For both of those, the speakers are generally around ear-level and in a circle

These speakers are designed for atmos, where you have the same 5.1 or 7.1 setup, but now you have additional speakers up on the ceiling or wall (typically 2 in the front or 2 in the rear, sometimes 2 in the center). For something like this one, you might have you 5.1 or 7.1 setup and then have 2 of these mounted up on your front wall, above your TV, pointing down towards you. This will let you get the normal surround setup, but have added "height" channels for things like bullets flying over your head, rain, helicopters, etc.. basically turning the circle of audio around you (5.1/7.1) into more of a 3D ball shape that you're sitting in.

You'll need a surround setup that supports "Atmos" audio, and it will usually be displayed as something like 5.1.2 (the 5 being the surrounds, the .1 being the subwoofer, the .2 being the atmos speakers). You'll typically see 5.1.2 ... 5.1.4,... 7.1.2 .... or 7.1.4 (depending how much you spend on the receiver!)


The speaker is basically just a normal speaker, but the angle of it makes for the "perfect" atmos angle as you can attach it to a wall and it's angled down towards the couch instead of being a normal box angled forward. Probably the only time you would use this in a 5.1 or 7.1 setup is if you didn't have room for front or rear speakers, and the only option was to wall-mount something.


When it gets to Atmos Height speakers, these are generally a bit of an easier/more friendly option (attach it to your wall!) opposed to the ceiling speakers which actually attach to a ceiling and angle downwards (but are much more immersive!)