[Charles Calkins]

      Hi Guys:
               For the past 10 years or so my home theater setup was using 5 speakers and a sub.
               I recently found that Sony and others are making small upward firing speakers.
               I bit the bullet and bought a pair of the Sony's. Perfect fit on top of my Polk front
               left and right speakers.
               WOW!!! I have a hard time believing how much better my home theater sounds now.
                I'm probably the last to know that a 7 speaker system is the way to go. Takes me a
                long time to get in the boat.

                                                        Cheers
                                                    Charlie

[witchdoctor]

Congratulations Charles, what receiver are you using? I have been using height speakers for a while now, HUUUGE improvement IMO over 5.1.

[Phil A]

Congrats.  I have two systems with more than 5.1, 5.1 in the bedroom and 4.1 in a guest bedroom.

[Charles Calkins]

Congratulations Charles, what receiver are you using? I have been using height speakers for a while now, HUUUGE improvement IMO over 5.1.

  witchdoctor:

       I'm using a very OLD!! Onkyo TX-SR674 AV receiver. The publication date on the owners manual is 2006.
       I guess I've had it for 10 or 11 years. I'm thinking about upgrading to a new AV receiver. Of course it
       will be an Onkyo. But I hate the idea of parting with mine. It has never giving me a bit of problem.
       Built like a tank.

                                             Cheers
                                            Charlie

[witchdoctor]

  witchdoctor:

       I'm using a very OLD!! Onkyo TX-SR674 AV receiver. The publication date on the owners manual is 2006.
       I guess I've had it for 10 or 11 years. I'm thinking about upgrading to a new AV receiver. Of course it
       will be an Onkyo. But I hate the idea of parting with mine. It has never giving me a bit of problem.
       Built like a tank.

                                             Cheers
                                            Charlie

OK, the reason I ask is there are two types of 7.1 systems. One type uses the rear surround channels. The other type uses 2 height channels. Your older receiver will be configured for rear surround channels. This link will explain about the newer type with height channels:

http://dolbyatmos.onkyousa.com/

[Charles Calkins]

OK, the reason I ask is there are two types of 7.1 systems. One type uses the rear surround channels. The other type uses 2 height channels. Your older receiver will be configured for rear surround channels. This link will explain about the newer type with height channels:

http://dolbyatmos.onkyousa.com/

        witchdoctor:
       
                   I've been looking at a Onkyo Tx-RZ620 AV receiver. It has dolby atmos. $399.00 at Crutchfield.
                   I'll probably buy it soon. But I don't like to get a new product because for me it will be head
                   scratcher getting it working right. Might take me a year or so.

                                                   Cheers
                                                   Charlie.

[Phil A]

Don’t forget accessories4less.com

[Doublej]

As always do your homework. The Onkyo of today is not the Onkyo of yore. Hopefully they are beyond their issues of HDMI board capacitor failures, audio chip solder joints failing, and the bankruptcy of one of their major investors, Gibson guitar.

The new stuff is much more capable and sophisticated than the older gear. I find it easier to first ask, what do I want to do and then get frustrated when I can't figure out how to get there. 

Examples:

How can label an input so when I select the input, it says displays what I want.
How can I set the gain to be different on different inputs?

I will say I am impressed with how well thought out my low end Yamaha AVR is. It has a setup app to configure it. In addition to a full featured, though not backlit remote, it has a remote app to operate the unit. It has one touch buttons to turn on the unit to a specific input. It has Airplay, Bluetooth, even basic Alexa connectivity (I think).

The only thing funky about it is for some reason the input selector is on the left side of the remote and the volume on the right. This is the opposite of all of my other remotes

Hopefully Onkyo has similar stuff.

Good luck and holler when you get stuck. The good news is with all of the manuals on line it's easy for others to jump in and assist.

[witchdoctor]

As always do your homework. The Onkyo of today is not the Onkyo of yore. Hopefully they are beyond their issues of HDMI board capacitor failures, audio chip solder joints failing, and the bankruptcy of one of their major investors, Gibson guitar.

The new stuff is much more capable and sophisticated than the older gear. I find it easier to first ask, what do I want to do and then get frustrated when I can't figure out how to get there. 

Examples:

How can label an input so when I select the input, it says displays what I want.
How can I set the gain to be different on different inputs?

I will say I am impressed with how well thought out my low end Yamaha AVR is. It has a setup app to configure it. In addition to a full featured, though not backlit remote, it has a remote app to operate the unit. It has one touch buttons to turn on the unit to a specific input. It has Airplay, Bluetooth, even basic Alexa connectivity (I think).

The only thing funky about it is for some reason the input selector is on the left side of the remote and the volume on the right. This is the opposite of all of my other remotes

Hopefully Onkyo has similar stuff.

Good luck and holler when you get stuck. The good news is with all of the manuals on line it's easy for others to jump in and assist.

That receiver has more than 80 five star reviews, looks like a lot of happy customers at crutchfield:>

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-66RtksuqUrM/p_580RZ620/Onkyo-TX-RZ620.html

[Charles Calkins]

As always do your homework. The Onkyo of today is not the Onkyo of yore. Hopefully they are beyond their issues of HDMI board capacitor failures, audio chip solder joints failing, and the bankruptcy of one of their major investors, Gibson guitar.

The new stuff is much more capable and sophisticated than the older gear. I find it easier to first ask, what do I want to do and then get frustrated when I can't figure out how to get there. 

Examples:

How can label an input so when I select the input, it says displays what I want.
How can I set the gain to be different on different inputs?

I will say I am impressed with how well thought out my low end Yamaha AVR is. It has a setup app to configure it. In addition to a full featured, though not backlit remote, it has a remote app to operate the unit. It has one touch buttons to turn on the unit to a specific input. It has Airplay, Bluetooth, even basic Alexa connectivity (I think).

The only thing funky about it is for some reason the input selector is on the left side of the remote and the volume on the right. This is the opposite of all of my other remotes

Hopefully Onkyo has similar stuff.

Good luck and holler when you get stuck. The good news is with all of the manuals on line it's easy for others to jump in and assist.

             Hi Guy:
                      Buying an AV receiver is a crap shoot. Some are better than others. Some are reasonably priced. Some cost a
                      a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$. I like to stick with products that have worked good for me with few or no problems.
                       I drive a Ram 1500 truck. This is my third Ram truck..I wouldn't be caught dead driving a Ford vehicle.
                        Chevrolet makes very good trucks but cost a lot of more $$$$$$$$$$$ than my Ram. So There!!

                                                           Cheers
                                                           Charlie

[rlal]

Congratulations Charles, what receiver are you using? I have been using height speakers for a while now, HUUUGE improvement IMO over 5.1.

Hi,

I have been using only 5.2 channels for the last fifteen years and was never thought of adding another two channels. At present I am using just two channels ( Salk silk towers) after moving to US. I attended multiple demos of atmos with speakers on the ceiling but never thought it is really needed. Can you guys give me some more details or advantages. I am planning to add surround speakers. I was planning to get NHT super zero/one and use it as surround. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Thanks

[witchdoctor]

Hi,

I have been using only 5.2 channels for the last fifteen years and was never thought of adding another two channels. At present I am using just two channels ( Salk silk towers) after moving to US. I attended multiple demos of atmos with speakers on the ceiling but never thought it is really needed. Can you guys give me some more details or advantages. I am planning to add surround speakers. I was planning to get NHT super zero/one and use it as surround. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Thanks

If you have a small room like an office or a bedroom I would add height channels in front first for a 5.2.2 system.
If you have a large room I would go to 5.4.2 with 4 overhead channels.

I would add the rear surround channels last if you wanted to expand to 7.4.2.

If you listen to a lot of music my preference is the auro 3d upmixer.
If movies are first their is a lot more content encoded in atmos.

Think about that if you buy a new receiver.

You will love it. 

[rlal]

Thanks for the reply. I have a new receiver and my setup is in living room and have some limitations . I have Arcam 850 Avr and it supports atmos.
I use a stereo amp from Devialet for stereo and  I have only two left and right speakers now and it is used for both HT and stereo.

 Please give me some suggestion what to add to this to improve the listening experience and I do have around 10 4K movies.
I am only planning to add surround speakers, center channel I am not adding as my present Salk speakers give good phantom center and wife
doesnt care much. So thinking of adding couple of surround speakers.

Thanks

[witchdoctor]

Thanks for the reply. I have a new receiver and my setup is in living room and have some limitations . I have Arcam 850 Avr and it supports atmos.
I use a stereo amp from Devialet for stereo and  I have only two left and right speakers now and it is used for both HT and stereo.

 Please give me some suggestion what to add to this to improve the listening experience and I do have around 10 4K movies.
I am only planning to add surround speakers, center channel I am not adding as my present Salk speakers give good phantom center and wife
doesnt care much. So thinking of adding couple of surround speakers.

Thanks

Nice receiver! Arcam has been acquired by Harman and Harman owns JBL and Infinity. I don't know your budget so if you want to buy matching Salk speakers you should call them. If you are going with another line I would strongly recommend the JBL 220's and/or 210's on sale now. They are direct radiators and you can easily mount them on the wall for surrounds and surround height channels. You would want to use the Atmos front height configuration mounting them high on the wall above your L-R speakers near the ceiling. Here are the guidlines:

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf

Here is a link to the JBL 220 speakers. These will work as surrounds or height channels but you will need to purchase wall mounts for the height channels:

https://www.harmanaudio.com/speakers/STUDIO+220.html?dwvar_STUDIO%20220_color=Black-GLOBAL-Current#q=jbl%2B220&start=1

Sales like this generally end quickly or sell out so don't hesitate if you want to get them .

These 210's work well as surrounds but the 220's would be better as height channels:

https://www.harmanaudio.com/speakers/STUDIO+210.html?dwvar_STUDIO%20210_color=Black-USA-Current#q=jbl%2B210&start=1

[rlal]

Thanks a lot witchdoctor for your detailed reply, really appreciate it.
I am not planning to get salk surrounds due to less budget and also I dont have a dedicated room.
JBL 220 looks like a good option/deal but I am bit worried about the rear port. While mounting on the wall rear port will be an issue?
As you mentioned 210 should be fine as surrounds.

I am staying in a rented property and want to avoid overhead mounting, this height channels can I use it on top of front left and right?
I assume it is ok but may not get the expected performance.

 Any idea how this JBL 220 compare with NHT super one speakers? I read many good reviews about NHT but never heard it.

Thanks.

[witchdoctor]

Thanks a lot witchdoctor for your detailed reply, really appreciate it.
I am not planning to get salk surrounds due to less budget and also I dont have a dedicated room.
JBL 220 looks like a good option/deal but I am bit worried about the rear port. While mounting on the wall rear port will be an issue?
As you mentioned 210 should be fine as surrounds.

I am staying in a rented property and want to avoid overhead mounting, this height channels can I use it on top of front left and right?
I assume it is ok but may not get the expected performance.

 Any idea how this JBL 220 compare with NHT super one speakers? I read many good reviews about NHT but never heard it.

Thanks.

You would not want to use the 220's on top of your front speakers. I have the same issue and use tall stands for my height channels. The port isn't an issue on the smaller 220's if you use it close to the wall. I own the 230's, 210's and 225C but have not heard the NHT's to compare.

I can think of three options. option one is you use the very tall stands like I did (see pic below)

The second option is you get typical surround stands and then elevate them by setting them on blocks or boxes:

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Dream-Adjustable-Extendable-MD5401/dp/B01ANAP060/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&qid=1546468093&sr=8-37&keywords=tall+speaker+stands

The third option is to use Atmos upfiring speakers. These you could place on top of your Salk towers NP. This is the type of speaker and they are offered by several vendors like Klipsch, Elac, Sony, etc:

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-SSCSE-Dolby-Enabled-Speakers/dp/B07B48FJFH/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546468394&sr=8-3&keywords=kef+atmos

or from NHT:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019C5LYJY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1

Here is how I set mine up:

[rlal]

Thanks once again witchdoctor for all the suggestions and sharing your room picture. I think the surround stand is a good option and I can go with that and use some box to increase height as I dont have that much space.This atmos  speakers (elac/nht)  is there any special thing with that in design?  I think it is only meant for high frequency in the spec  the lowest frequency is 120Hz.

[witchdoctor]

Thanks once again witchdoctor for all the suggestions and sharing your room picture. I think the surround stand is a good option and I can go with that and use some box to increase height as I dont have that much space.This atmos  speakers (elac/nht)  is there any special thing with that in design?  I think it is only meant for high frequency in the spec  the lowest frequency is 120Hz.

 Exactly, only meant for high frequency. It also depends on having the right ceiling height. Upfiring speakers would be my last option and are probably better for movies than music.

[rlal]

Thanks for your valuable suggestions.