A system (100, 300, 400, 500) for playback of spatial audio-based sound using reflected sound elements, comprising: a network linking components of the system in a listening environment; an array of individually addressable audio drivers (472, 702, 1005) for distribution around the listening environment, wherein each driver is associated with a unique identifier defined within a communication protocol of the network, and wherein a first portion of the array comprises drivers configured to transmit sound directly to a location in the listening environment, and wherein a second portion of the array comprises drivers configured to transmit sound to the location after reflection off of one or more surfaces of the listening environment, wherein at least one driver of the second portion is an upward-firing driver configured to project sound waves toward a ceiling of the listening environment for reflection down to said location, in such a manner as to simulate the presence of at least one height speaker positioned in the ceiling, and a renderer (454, 1106) coupled to the array of drivers and configured to route audio streams of the spatial audio-based sound to either the first portion of the array or the second portion of the array based on one or more characteristics of the audio streams and the listening environment, characterized in that the system further comprises a height cue filter, for processing audio being reproduced by said at least one upward-firing driver, which height cue filter reduces a height cue from a physical location of the at least one upward-firing driver and which inserts a height cue from a reflected speaker location, which is a location above a listener. a network linking components of the system in a listening environment; an array of individually addressable audio drivers (472, 702, 1005) for distribution around the listening environment, wherein each driver is associated with a unique identifier defined within a communication protocol of the network, and wherein a first portion of the array comprises drivers configured to transmit sound directly to a location in the listening environment, and wherein a second portion of the array comprises drivers configured to transmit sound to the location after reflection off of one or more surfaces of the listening environment, wherein at least one driver of the second portion is an upward-firing driver configured to project sound waves toward a ceiling of the listening environment for reflection down to said location, in such a manner as to simulate the presence of at least one height speaker positioned in the ceiling, and a renderer (454, 1106) coupled to the array of drivers and configured to route audio streams of the spatial audio-based sound to either the first portion of the array or the second portion of the array based on one or more characteristics of the audio streams and the listening environment, characterized in that the system further comprises a height cue filter, for processing audio being reproduced by said at least one upward-firing driver, which height cue filter reduces a height cue from a physical location of the at least one upward-firing driver and which inserts a height cue from a reflected speaker location, which is a location above a listener.