Because the design for elevation speakers are more complex than 2 way bookshelf speakers. The crossover network may also be different (so no shared crossover network between the entire series) as these speakers may be used for upfiring duties.

The biggest reason though is that they sell on a much lower volume than the bookshelves, therefore a higher margin is needed.

You only pay Dolby tax for "Atmos" when your speakers are upfiring modules designed within Dolby's specifications.

These are just pre-angled mini bookshelves.

Dolby Atmos "modules" are simply bookshelf/satellite speakers that are designed with an angled baffle and a crossover (that must be within Dolby's specs) to match. These are designated as "up-firing speakers" where you place them on-top of your bed channels (front L/R and surround L/R). They were all the hype and fud back in 2017-2019, before soundbars adopted it too. Up-firing speakers only work when you have a single seating position, have a low ceiling (optimally no more than 8ft) and must have a flat and completely reflective ceiling surface, so no ceiling fans or any fancy "cloud diffusers". The idea was that people don't want to drill holes in their ceiling or high up on their wall, so this was the best solution Dolby came up with.

Actual height channels that Dolby uses in commercial cinemas are mounted on the ceiling. Any half decent home theater will either use in-ceiling speakers or on wall height speakers. These speakers can be anything, ranging from bookshelves to individual drivers without cabinets (in-ceiling) or if you're crazy enough, go hang towers on the ceiling.


Yes well aware of the Klipsch.

I was trying to find info on the D300 spec sheet and no where does it say it has a crossover designed for Dolby's "up-firing" mode like you pointed out. So yeah I think it's simply down to volume of production on these height speakers for its higher price vs its other brothers.

If a bookshelf designed for height duties isn't wearing the Atmos badge, it simply performs like a normal speaker as it lacks the crossover network for Dolby's up-firing specs. Dolby specifies that the crossover be cutoff at 150hz for DAES modules.

So no, it wouldn't sound wrong if you mount the D300 high up on the wall. What would make it sound wrong though is the position of it on the wall as the angle is preset and you can't adjust them without using an arm style bracket.

Yes you can just use them as upfiring speakers without the Dolby spec'd crossover.

All you need to do is digitally bass manage by manually setting the crossover for the upfiring channels instead in the receiver. When I set it up for people, I use 120hz for the upfiring speakers.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Jan 8 2025, 03:39 PM