I need opinions and advise on adding amps and/or processor (1 Viewer)

[Codger]

I would like to upgrade my home theater sound system. I currently have an Onkyo TX NR-3030, with an Oppo 205 BDP. I recently updated my screen (Studiotek G140) and projector (JVC NZ8) and I am considering adding amps with a processor. I currently have 9 surround with 4 in-ceiling and 4 height speakers. This upgrade will be my last rodeo and I would like opinions on how to proceed. All my speakers are Klipsch with the exception of the woofers (2-JL Audio Fathom 113's). Any thoughts are appreciated. Ive been looking at Anthem AVM70 and Monolith HTP-1 processors. Thanks

 

[JohnRice]

Those are both excellent processors. Your speaker setup isn’t clear to me. Would you describe it in more detail? And, what are your objectives?

 

[Codger]

Hello John,
The attached file is a layout of my current speakers. My goal is to have a very defined spatial oriented sound system which may be impeded by my HT dimensions. I watch a lot of movies and I feel that my current receiver, (although a good one) can't handle the channels and provide the power for all the speakers I've added to my room. I'd like to have the smoothest pan possible around the room with no dead areas. I've read that a good processor can make a notable change is most HT setups.

 

[Josh Dial]

Subject to John's comments, I would suggest looking also at the Anthem AVM90. The codec is a bit better if you use your system for music, and it has 19 channels for processing.

Looking at your worksheet it's still a tad unclear to my what signal the ""C" ceiling speakers are receiving. Are they intended to be height channels for Atmos? If so, that invites the question of the purpose for the "H" height channels which I assume are mounted on the wall firing down toward the listening position. Also, the differences between the "S1" speakers and the "RS" speakers (and may I assume that should be "LS" and "RS" for left and right surround?) are similarly unclear.

It all looks a tad non-standard, but I could be reading it wrong.

In any event, given your stated goal of the smoothest pan possible, I would suggest Anthem over the Monolith. In my view, Anthem's ARC Genesis room correction is second only to Trinnov's. I have an Anthem unit myself and the room correction software--while it did have a bit of a learning curve--did wonders for my oddly shaped room and has made my system perform about as good as it can.

 

[JohnRice]

That's a LOT of speakers. It's far outside the configuration of any official surround system. 19 speakers, plus subs. I'm not sure what to do with all of that.

More isn't necessarily better.

 

[Codger]

Josh,
Thanks for the comments and info. Some of the speakers aren't hooked up. That's why I'am looking for advice. Things are not very clear to me either! I also heard the Anthem 90 would be better, but I don't listen to music and the 4k extra cost over the 70 is hard for me to justify so I lean towards the AVM 70.
I originally had the four ceiling speakers with surrounds and rear surrounds. Later, I added 2 front heights, 2-wides, 2-rear heights, and the surrounds (1) between my original surrounds and rear surrounds. Now I am trying to make sense of this and and if someone says "you ought to lose of couple of speakers", it won't hurt my ego. I thought at the time I could make my room seem larger and the sound more seamless, but I may have to undo some of that.

 

[Codger]

That's a LOT of speakers. It's far outside the configuration of any official surround system. 19 speakers, plus subs. I'm not sure what to do with all of that.

Neither do I but I appreciate any feedback and advice. I spend a lot of time in my HT and however I can make it better, I am willing to give it a try.

 

[Codger]

The height channels are Klipsch RP 500's facing down.

 

[JohnRice]

Height and Wide speakers aren't part of any official surround system. At least, not Dolby or DTS. Honestly, I tend to discourage people from going beyond an official 7.x.4 setup. How home surround processors and soundtracks work gets kind of irregular beyond that.

 

[DaveF]

@Codger I suggest browsing Dolby’s speaker setup page and looking for what suits your speakers and tastes.

I have no experience, and have given no time reading about setups past 7.2.4. But Dolby is providing guidance on setups up to 11.1.8.

Dolby Atmos Speaker Setup Guides

Browse our wide-range of Dolby Atmos speaker step-by-step setup guides to find the best speaker placement and configuration for your home theater.

www.dolby.com

 

[DaveF]

“Height” speakers, IIRC, were a thing around 2008. I think Dolby Pro Logic IIz specifically supported Front Height speakers. I considered installing those. This was well before Atmos was a thing.

Today, and I think implicitly confirmed by Dolby’s setup guide, is that “Height” speakers are no longer part of a standard setup. And, I’d be concerned that 6 Atmos ceiling speakers and 6 Height speakers above listener level, would lift the surround sound field too high and not sound good at all.

My estimate is you‘ll need to get rid of all your height speakers and setup a now-normal Surround.Subs.Atmos (e.g. 9.2.4) setup.

 

[DaveF]

A final comment: It looks like you've got a non-AT projector screen with center channel below or above it. There are some custom techniques to do dual center High/Low speaker setup to improve imaging. I just saw Robert Zohn describing the new Sony ES receivers explicitly supporting this for the increasing display size even for direct-view displays.

 

[JohnRice]

Home Dolby Atmos officially supports up to 24.x.10, as I recall. And the Dolby marketing material talks about a lot of options. The thing is, the reality of it gets a little more complicated once you go beyond 7.x.4. I first became aware of this when someone came on here to complain about expanding his system from 7.x.4 to 9.x.6 only to discover the middle surround and overhead speakers rarely produced any sound. He'd spent a lot of money on the upgrade, especially since a processor with that capability was rather expensive. So, I started looking into it and discovered a lot that isn't discussed in the Dolby marketing material. One thing is, once I try to discuss this, the response is often to quote Dolby marketing material, but that dances around the specifics of how home Atmos works. The problem is, it's difficult to get real-world info on it. After all, how many people have a system bigger than 7.x.4? I don't, and I probably never will. I expect to have a processor that goes beyond 7.x.4, but the effort needed to actually test bigger setups is probably more than I want to engage in.

Cinema Atmos is played back in carefully designed systems, but Home Atmos is the wild west. Home Atmos soundtracks always seem to have the "7.1 core" with expansion for dynamic sounds. They will be played back on a dizzying array of systems, from 5.1 systems without Atmos processing, to supposed "Atmos" soundbars, to full-blown systems beyond 7.x.4. How can one soundtrack be mastered to reasonably reproduce on all of those systems? In some cases, the choice seems to be to simply limit the soundtrack to 7.1.4 "bed" channels and allow the engineer to decide all the steering. Honestly, that makes a lot of sense. In other cases, maybe the engineer chooses to add some dynamic sounds in the remaining channels, but those sounds will never be heard in a system that doesn't have Atmos processing. So, how much sense does that make?

So, I tend to discourage people from investing in a system beyond 7.x.4. At least for the time being.

If I do get an Anthem AVM 90, and I plan to... once and if my life stabilizes a bit, I might personally explore it more.