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A few weeks ago we did a report on the Platin Monaco 5.1 Wireless Home Cinema System and, well, we just can’t say enough about this system. In a home where drilling holes in the floor and hiding speaker wires just isn’t possible, this COMPLETELY wireless speaker system did something that hasn’t been achieved in some four years of searching and trying every product available. NO SPEAKER WIRES. Sorry… I just thought this needed to be perfectly clear. This is my living room right now and I only pulled the surround speakers out to illustrate positioning.
But for the power cables which will soon be tucked away with surface covers, there are no speaker wires running to any of the eight speakers in this system. As just a bit of a reminder, WiSA sound travels to each speaker via the 5.1 Wi-Fi completely independent of your home Wi-Fi at a transfer rate of 5.2ms which is 10 times faster than BT, with twice the clarity of CD at 24-bit 48/96Khz, and only as as much as a microsecond of difference in sound separation between the speakers. In other words, dead on lip sync on your home cinema. These specifications are exactly the same for the WiSA Transmitter we are reviewing today.
DOLBY ATMOS SOUND
Let’s start with our adding to the Platin Monaco Home Cinema in order to achieve Dolby Atmos. To be completely honest, I had never listened to home theatre sound with Atmos prior. I was willing to invest a bit in order to update my home cinema after speaking to WiSA who stated they would send along two additional satellites, stands and a WiSA transmitter for testing if we had the gear that could run it properly. This mandated a TV update from the older Samsung to the newest LG OLED75C1AUB television which is WiSA 5.1 Ready.
From there, we added the two new satellites for Atmos sound and I had to play a bit in order to determine that the best position was atop the BicAmerica 980PLII towers as the sound then came straight out and above my head. The HDMI cable in use was 15ft HDMI 2.1 8K, 48Gbps 4:4:48K 60Hz 4K 120Hz 2K 240Hz HDR10 eARC HDCP 2.2&2.3, fed through the wall with the SoundSend transmitter.
We initially set things up as a 7.1 system but that was thrown aside after a comparison of these speakers in a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos setting. Dolby Atmos sound is absolutely incredible and, as much as I am NOT an Apple guy, getting a three month free subscription to Apple+ TV was massive as everything they have is premium audio and video. As I write this report in fact, The Morning Show series is playing in 4K with Dolby Atmos.
There are also plenty of Dolby Digital Plus movies with Atmos. I was a bit concerned initially as I had heard that there isn’t a noticeable difference but both my wife and myself recognize a more fulfilling movie theatre sound with the 5.1.2 Atmos setup, in comparison to 7.1 Surround.
Just to be clear the platin speakers for atmos are the ones on your towers? How did you configure the soundsend ap for this (audio mode, distance, virtual atmos?)
A bit lengthy but let me walk through how I got to this. First off, as you can see, the room has cathedral ceilings which are about 25ft up with alot of windows so this is not the ideal ATMOS environment. I tried different positions and angles and found that as they sit, the sound is dispersed perfectly above the seated position. I set the SoundSend App with Speaker Trim on 5 for both L/R Height, with my L/R at 0 and SL/SR/C at 5. If the movie is ATMOS already it will pump the ATMOS through the speakers and it is a good mix with the F/R/L and surrounds. If it is not ATMOS, one can change the setting on the App to Movie and there is a Virtual ATMOS. As for distance, all of my speakers are set to their actual distance.
Thanks for the reply Les. Another question though. Currently I have my room setup for 7.1 with speakers front , side and rear and the Speaker Map on the ap reflects this. When you set the two height speakers did you use the rear or side speakers? Also how did you configure them on the Speaker Map? Did you stack the front and height speakers on top of each other? I understand you also had your system set up for 7.1 so I am curious how you set up the Speaker map when you changed your configuration.
In advanced settings select 5.1.2 in Speaker Config. Release your speakers from their current position by holding down the Associate Button until you hear an audible tone from that speaker. Scan for Speakers in Advanced Settings (or hold down button of Soundsend Puck for several seconds) and then place the speakers according to your need in MyZone. Do a channel check and arrange accordingly.
It would be interesting to see how you mounted atmos speakers. Since the Monaco speakers have a bottom screw, I am yet to find a wall mount that can angle downward.
Amazon has them available.
I have a Platin Monaco 5.1 system with 2 added Milan speakers I use for the Dolby Atmos. It works amazing with the Soundsend transmitter as my “Height speakers” as I can adjust the trim, distance, etc. from the app.
The layout is center channel facing me angled up from the floor, subwoofer off to the side (adjusted on the subwoofer to 8), front left and right speakers wide (not spaced proportionately due to room limitations), rear speakers about 2 feet above my head and 30 degrees behind me due to the wall immediately behind my chair. The rear speakers face directly over my head at each other, one is on the wall to my right (again 30 degrees to my rear) and the left speaker is bolted to a decorative metal bar ( it sticks out just enough to face the right speaker}. The Monaco speakers only have mounting holes on the bottom of the speaker which make it difficult. My method is really overkill, but it works.
The Milan (Atmos or Height) speakers are mounted near the top of a 8 foot ceiling facing directly at me halfway between the front left and right speakers and the rear left and right speakers. The right Height speaker is mounted to the wall and the left Height speaker is mounted against the brick of the chimney. These use different mounting brackets that can be angled down because the Milan speaker have mounting holes on the back.
You will need extension cords in some cases, but that is the cheapest part of this whole project!
Everything is adjusted for sound with the Soundsend app using the Zone measurements (distance to my chair), trim, loudness due to distance, etc.
The mounting brackets were difficult due to the mounts of the Monaco speakers. I had to buy 4 large speaker units, which of course were too big for these smaller speakers, and just use the large bars which mounted to the wall. Then I used a mm bolt to secure them to the speaker which sat on the bar. The decorative metal had to be drilled to accept the one mounting bar. One mounting bar had to have a hole drilled through it to mount the speaker so it wouldn’t stick out to far.
The Soundsend has a few “quirks” as it is a work in progress. It will stop communicating on occasion and you have to unplug it from the transmitter (hockey puck) for 5 or 6 seconds and then plug it back in to get it talking again. You may also have to push the locate speakers if you can’t get one of them to “beep” when setting them up or if one is unplugged for a time. Also if you set up for the Height speakers, on the app they will sometimes sit slightly on top of the front left and right speaker icons in the Zone adjustment portion of the app. You have to push on the icon and move it slightly to see the Height icon. You can then push on the Height icon and move it to the top of the layout to see the full 5.1.2 setup on the screen of the app. It won’t be in the right position if you mount them where I did, but it still works right.
This system is just amazing. The sound is great, the product is very sturdy, it’s really really loud if you want it to be. It makes any soundbar I have heard just…inadequate. The ability to wide space and position the speakers based upon your room layout no matter how oddly shaped or how many openings there are, just makes everything work due to the Soundsend app. With the distance adjustment in the Zone portion of the app and the Trim adjustment for loudness for each individual speaker, you get a THEATER sound for movies, live sports, television shows etc., and when Dolby Atmos kicks in you can really be enveloped in sound.
I have an LG OLED 65 CX television. I had an old LG SJ9 soundbar that I gave to my daughter along with my LG OLED 55 tv for all the help she gave me in getting this system and helping me set it up. Without her I would not have managed to get it all done. Thanks!
So, pick a movie that you have seen a lot to set everything up. I used The Highwaymen on Netflix to set up the original 5.1 system and then again when I set up the 5.1.2 system. I know all the nuances of the movie and can tell when something is right or wrong.
Finally, just go listen to Formula One series…..you won’t be disappointed at even the slow parts.