Atmos height speakers: top-front or top-middle?
In a 5.1.2 layout the two overhead speakers can be placed in front of the listening position (TFL/TFR, sometimes named differently by different amplifiers) or directly above it (TML/TMR). Top-rear is not a real option: it decouples the height layer from the front stage, so a helicopter crossing the screen disappears overhead and reappears behind you.
Top-front (TFL/TFR)
Mounted in the ceiling vertically aligned with the left and right mains, roughly 0.5–1 m in front of the listening position (the exact distance is set by angle, so it varies with room size).
Best when the sofa sits against the rear wall. The blend with the front stage is the most natural of the options: an aircraft approaching from the front, rain falling ahead, dialogue and overhead effects fuse properly, and voices do not drift upward. The trade-off in a very deep room is weaker coverage behind the listener — the helicopter circle test will not fully close, and you hear it moving left and right in front of you rather than circling overhead.
Top-middle (TML/TMR)
Mounted in the ceiling either side of the listening position, vertically aligned with the front left and right. The advantage is the strongest sense of overhead envelopment — sound arriving from directly above. Best in a narrow or small room, where it covers the overhead zone more effectively.
The cost is a more abrupt vertical transition to the front stage, especially in a larger room: front-to-back pans lose continuity, and effects appear and vanish directly overhead rather than travelling.
The short version
Sofa against the rear wall, or a deep room → top-front. Narrow room where overhead envelopment is the priority → top-middle. Never top-rear.
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