New guy here; new house with theater room (1 Viewer)

[TheGame9377]

Hi, all. New guy to the forum here. I just bought a house with a dedicated theater room, and have been surfing these forums for the past month or so soaking it all in and learning as much as I can. I'm going through different parts of the room and updating/upgrading equipment one-by-one since buying the house about a month ago. I've attached a few pictures of how it sits as of today.

• Optoma UHD65 projector
• Onkyo TX-RZ820 receiver
• Infinity in-wall speakers. Models unknown. Currently a 7.1 set-up
  • These are what I'm looking to update next. Researching now and looking at installing ceiling speakers to go the Atmos route.
• Roku
• Xbox One
• Sony Blu-Ray Player
• Just switched the front row from the older, manual reclining seats to the power recliners with a middle loveseat. Will be replacing the back row on the riser with the same new seats, but as all single seats without middle loveseat.

 

[JohnRice]

You'll probably have to upgrade your receiver, or go separates, to get the 7.x.4 setup you're probably heading toward.

I noticed from the photo that the receiver has zero ventilation. I mean, there is a shelf about 1/16" above it. That will positively destroy the receiver. It needs room, and a fan powered cooling unit would't be a bad idea. To be honest, I'm surprised it hasn't gone into thermal shutdown.

Not that you asked, but in a room that elaborate, I'd definitely use separates (preamp/amplifiers) rather than a receiver.

 

[TheGame9377]

Here is a stock pic of the back of the receiver. I was thinking the ceiling speakers could wire into the "height" and/or "Zone 2" audio outputs, no? This is probably a noob question, so appreciate your guidance.

As for ventilation, I agree. I just put that new receiver in yesterday, and it's tight. I need to rework the shelves over the holiday break and get some space there.

Can you tell me more about the separates you mention? What's the benefit of going that route? This is a new hobby for me, so I'm trying to learn as I go.

Appreciate your response!

 

[JohnRice]

I figured in the size of that room that you'd probably want to go with four surrounds and four Atmos speakers. So, that's an eleven channel setup, or 7.x.4. The middle "x" is subwoofers, and ideally you probably want two of them. Your receiver is capable of a non-Atmos 7.1 or a 5.1.2 Atmos. It's a big room. I do recommend trying to work for 7.2.4, but it'll cost some $.

If you can rearrange things and get 1 1/2" above the receiver, you can use an A/C Infinity cooling unit (about $120) that pulls air through the receiver and exhausts it out the front.

Separates, in your case, would mainly be so that you can get more power to fill the room. It's sometimes a contentious issue around here. The idea of expanding beyond a receiver is something not everyone is open to. It costs more up front, but allows the ability for significantly more power than any receiver can even come close to. It basically involves using a surround preamp, which is essentially a receiver with no power amps. Then you use more powerful, external amps. Again, it costs more. It can possibly save money in the long term, but that's not really the appeal.

 

[TheGame9377]

New theater seats have arrived. Seatcraft Diamante with the Soundshakers all hooked up.

Also changed out the in-wall speakers from the Acoustic Audio brand speakers to Klipsch Reference in-walls (R-5502-W-II for Center and R-3650-W-II for L/R/surrounds), changed the sub to a Klipsch R120-SW. WOW what a difference the speaker upgrades made!

 

[John Sparks]

A very beautiful home theater!!!

 

[Lord Dalek]

As others have already said, those Onkyos have a high failure rate due to the lack of ventilation. If you are upgrading to Atmos I'd look somewhere else.

 

[CyFactor]

That’s a beautiful room. I am almost finished with mine, although it pales in comparison to what you have. Maybe the next house. My seats (Seatcraft Signature Venetian 7000) arrive Monday.

I went through a few of Onkyos over the years, the last of which is currently non-operational. Supposedly I can reflow the DSP chip and get it working again, which I may try since I had gifted it shortly before it died and the person I gifted it to is still without a receiver. When I went 4K HDR and Atmos, I switched to a Marantz SR6012. Eventually, whenever the budget allows, I plan to go with a mini-DSP and separate amps.