Wanting to upgrade from 7.2 to 7.2.4 (1 Viewer)

[udtsealeod]

Per the diagram, I have a 66’x30’x9’ finished basement, with a HT 25’x15’x9’ room open to the rear to 40’ rec room. I used my existing equipment and added the Sony projector and wall/ceiling speakers. I wish to upgrade to accommodate a 7.2.4 4k/Atmos system. I live in the sticks, internet is limited and streaming is a joke! Media will be 4K Blu-rays/Blu-rays and sports/movies from DIRECTV. I have a 55” Plasma in the middle of the rec room for 80% of our watching. The 4 ceiling speakers for Atmos are not purchased/installed. I have been reading (FORUMS) and visiting our only HT store to acquire a working idea of my needs and cost. I plan to keep the DT 2002 front speaker system, they have 12” amp sups to balance my REL T1 subwoofer requirements. The Polk Audio side and rear speakers are space holders and up for replacement, the ceiling speakers are TBD. I cannot arrange all speakers at ear level, it does not meet my room setup. My budget is 10K, TBD based on cost of 4K projector, AVR 7.2.4, 4K Blu-ray and wall/ceiling speakers. I hope this is enough info to get me started on how to “skin the cat”.

What issues is there with staying with my front & sub sound system?
If Definitive Tech is my front system, do I stay with DT for all my speakers?
I hear no sound from my rear speakers, they are in wall firing down. I have a 35" high counter behind the prime seat. I need to replace with a box speaker and swivel bar. Recommendations.

 

[Type A]

Ill share what I know, from my limited Atmos experience. My existing system is 7.2 with front height speakers for dialog lift (more on this later) Because my system is bookshelf-speaker-based I also run dual mid bass monitors that supplement between my speakers and dual subs. Anywho, I began building my very first Atmos system this weekend. I began by hanging four outdoor speakers, I went with Paradigm stylus 270 and went with outdoor speakers because the brackets are included, the speakers have a wide dispersion pattern (which is a feature recommended by dolby) and they are fairly light weight (Im using swag hooks through compressed insulation panels and didnt want to press my luck on heavy speakers). Dolby recommends "timbre and power matched" ceiling speakers and since my existing system is all Paradigm I stayed with Paradigm. Yes stay with your existing speaker manufacturer if possible and maybe ask the manufacturer if the ceiling speakers of your choice timbre matches your existing speakers.

My new atmos avr is the yamaha rxa3080, should arrive end of the week. From my research denon makes a better avr (at least in their top of the line models), however "dialog lift" (a yamaha exclusive feature afaik) is a staple of my 5 speaker front stage and a feature I could not do without.

Btw my Oppo BDP-93 will need to be replaced as it does not bitstream atmos without audio dropouts and there is no firmware fix. This pisses me off to no end and my replacement blu ray player will not be another $500 Oppo (or any other Oppo ever again for that matter). Ive read sony makes good blu ray players, I have no intention of going 4k in the near future.

 

[Type A]

Heres what my install looks like, need to repaint the front wires as I obviously grabbed the wrong paint for the dark section of the room....

 

[Dave Moritz]

If your really happy with the sound then I would not see a problem with keeping your front speakers! That being said I would stick with the same brand and make sure your matching up the same line of Definitive Tech or approximate equivalent. The goal is to have the same speaker timber from speaker to speaker as you will have a better sounding home theater. You want the same sound to sound the same as it moves from speaker to speaker. Now if your open to other brands or you find yourself wanting to check out some other speakers for the heck of it I would suggest checking Klipsch or SVS. Check out some other speakers and if your still 100% on your primary left - center - right speakers then just match the other Definitive Tech speakers to what you already have. The SVS subs however I believe you will find will out do your subs built into your definitive speakers. And at least with the stand alone sub you can move that around the room till you get your best bass response for your listening area.
Definitive
https://www.definitivetechnology.com/

SVS Speakers
https://www.svsound.com/

This is the Godzilla Sub
https://www.svsound.com/products/pb16-ultra

Klipsch
https://www.klipsch.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl6Pw0eW13QIVFavsCh16Tw-CEAAYASAAEgK_VPD_BwE

Bowers & Wilkins
https://www.bowerswilkins.com/

Monitor Audio
https://www.monitoraudio.com/

Even if you where not going to upgrade to Atmos I would have recommended ditching the down firing speakers for your surrounds. But since your going Atmos / DTS-X you will want down fire speakers for your height channels. My recommendation is for your height speakers to have adjustable tweeters so you can aim them at your listening area. My recommendations is to keep your surround tweeters at or close to ear level. You want some separation between your front and rear sound stage and the sound coming from above.

If your going for a Sony 4K projector I would suggest waiting a few months for the new Sony UBP-X800M2 4K UHD Blu-ray player. This is the player I am waiting for to replace my Samsung 4K Blu-ray. I highly recommend the line of Marantz surround receivers as you will also get in there higher end models Auro 3D! If you can afford to squeeze the Marantz SR-8012 into your budget you will not regret it! This is the receiver I have that replaced my older Pioneer Elite SC-05 7.1 receiver. The SR-8012 also has a IMAX upgrade and will have a HDMI 2.1 upgrade available, how many receiver companies are doing that? The SR-8012 has 3 4K HDMI outs, a 7.1 analog input and a toridal transformer for extra punch for 11 monolithic amplifiers split between two heat sinks instead of being loaded onto one common heat sink! If you do not go Marantz then my next recommendation is Denon, after that Yamaha. Denon and Marantz share a number of technology as they are both owned by Sound United. Almost forgot the Marantz SR-8012 has dual subwoofer crossovers so you can cross them over seperatly something not available in many receivers. And the Marantz SR-8012 is no slouch in the preamp out department ether. Many or most of the receivers output around 1.2 -1.6 volts out the preamp outs, but the Marantz outputs close to 4.5 volts so it will push any amplifier to full output which most likely will not happen with 1.2 - 1.4 volts output.

I hope this helps you.

My home theater system: My next purchases are Klipsch RP600M's for my surrounds then a Klipsch RC-64 lll center channel! At some point I am getting the Sony 4K blu-ray to go with my Sony XBR55A9F 4K OLED! The receiver in the picture is the Marantz SR-8012 I mentioned above.