To upgrade or not

[yancey1000]

I have a Denon AVR 4520CI 9 channel powered and 11 channel processing receiver. My question is, since I have no plans on installing speakers in or on my ceiling am I as close as I can get to Dolby Atmos? I bought this receiver in mint condition for $400 ( a super great deal). My Denon features Audyssey DSX, DTS Neo X, and Pro logic 2 Z. Since i have no intentions on drilling into my ceiling, am I as close as I can get to Dolby Atmos? I've listened to Atmos and it sounds great, but I am dead set against drilling into my ceiling. I just bought this receiver about 3 months ago and I haven't set it up because i'm having a problem on finding a diagram for speaker placement. Right now i'm still using my Integra DTR 7.8 because all the different sites are in agreement on speaker placement on 7.1. 9.2 and 11.2 speaker placement seems to have people unsure or people have different ideas of where the speakers go. Everything in a nutshell, should I be satisfied with the Denon or start searching for a dolby atmos receiver and where can I find the proper speaker placement for 9.2 and 11.2 setup. All advise and comments are welcome. The more feedback will help me decide. Thank you all in advance.

 

[Leemix]

You can just keep speakers where you already have them i suppose if not going for height or ceiling speakers. How many do you have now?


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[William Lemmerhirt]

Well I guess it depends. Is your goal to get as close to Atmos without going all the way? The short answer is no. Atmos is atmos, no matter what. Putting speakers where there supposed to go without the processing won’t do the job. Conversely having the processing with compromised speaker placement won’t do the job either, but it’s a lot better. IMO, half a$$ed Atmos is better than not having Atmos capability.
So I guess, my question is what are your goals.
You can still get an Atmos receiver, and use something like SVS prime elevation speakers where you won’t have to mess with the ceiling. To me this is less than ideal, but would still be way better than PLIIx or PLIIZ, and I’ve seen plenty of people enjoying Atmos with the prime elevation speakers. You can also use “Atmos enabled” speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling. These are obviously the least desirable but can be installed very easily. However you’ll need to take the time to find the appropriate angle to hit the LP correctly or much of the effects will be lost. Personally I don’t see a big deal with going into the ceiling, but everyone has their line in the sand.

 

[snakeeyes]

Well I guess it depends. Is your goal to get as close to Atmos without going all the way? The short answer is no. Atmos is atmos, no matter what. Putting speakers where there supposed to go without the processing won’t do the job. Conversely having the processing with compromised speaker placement won’t do the job either, but it’s a lot better. IMO, half a$$ed Atmos is better than not having Atmos capability.
So I guess, my question is what are your goals.
You can still get an Atmos receiver, and use something like SVS prime elevation speakers where you won’t have to mess with the ceiling. To me this is less than ideal, but would still be way better than PLIIx or PLIIZ, and I’ve seen plenty of people enjoying Atmos with the prime elevation speakers. You can also use “Atmos enabled” speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling. These are obviously the least desirable but can be installed very easily. However you’ll need to take the time to find the appropriate angle to hit the LP correctly or much of the effects will be lost. Personally I don’t see a big deal with going into the ceiling, but everyone has their line in the sand.

I don’t see the big deal either. I am looking forward to cutting into my ceiling in a few months. I didn’t buy a 5.1.4 receiver to let it go to waste!

 

[yancey1000]

You can just keep speakers where you already have them i suppose if not going for height or ceiling speakers. How many do you have now?


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Right now, I'm running 7.1, but once I set the Denon up, I'll be running 9.2, then add a stereo 2 channel amp to run 11.2

 

[yancey1000]

My Denon isn't a atmos receiver. Only have DTS Neo X and Audyssey DSX. My goal is to get the max from my Denon 4520CI

Well I guess it depends. Is your goal to get as close to Atmos without going all the way? The short answer is no. Atmos is atmos, no matter what. Putting speakers where there supposed to go without the processing won’t do the job. Conversely having the processing with compromised speaker placement won’t do the job either, but it’s a lot better. IMO, half a$$ed Atmos is better than not having Atmos capability.
So I guess, my question is what are your goals.
You can still get an Atmos receiver, and use something like SVS prime elevation speakers where you won’t have to mess with the ceiling. To me this is less than ideal, but would still be way better than PLIIx or PLIIZ, and I’ve seen plenty of people enjoying Atmos with the prime elevation speakers. You can also use “Atmos enabled” speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling. These are obviously the least desirable but can be installed very easily. However you’ll need to take the time to find the appropriate angle to hit the LP correctly or much of the effects will be lost. Personally I don’t see a big deal with going into the ceiling, but everyone has their line in the sand.[/QUOT

 

[2channel lover]

I have a Denon AVR 4520CI 9 channel powered and 11 channel processing receiver. My question is, since I have no plans on installing speakers in or on my ceiling am I as close as I can get to Dolby Atmos? I bought this receiver in mint condition for $400 ( a super great deal). My Denon features Audyssey DSX, DTS Neo X, and Pro logic 2 Z. Since i have no intentions on drilling into my ceiling, am I as close as I can get to Dolby Atmos? I've listened to Atmos and it sounds great, but I am dead set against drilling into my ceiling. I just bought this receiver about 3 months ago and I haven't set it up because i'm having a problem on finding a diagram for speaker placement. Right now i'm still using my Integra DTR 7.8 because all the different sites are in agreement on speaker placement on 7.1. 9.2 and 11.2 speaker placement seems to have people unsure or people have different ideas of where the speakers go. Everything in a nutshell, should I be satisfied with the Denon or start searching for a dolby atmos receiver and where can I find the proper speaker placement for 9.2 and 11.2 setup. All advise and comments are welcome. The more feedback will help me decide. Thank you all in advance.

Atmos is Atmos. Since you don't have Atmos processing, the rest of your post is kind of a mute point.

If you had Atmos processing, you could have speaker top upfiring speakers. IMO it's not quite as convincing as ceiling mounted speakers, but it works.

Where I think you might be investing $ with little return is going beyond a 7.2 system...I've watch/heard 5.2, 7.2, 9.2 systems and considering the vast majority of content is sent to the front 3 speakers, I think a good 5.2 system will suffice for most people...if you have the space for it...7.2 gives you a little more surround content...I couldn't tell much difference in the 9.2 setup...unless I just had an very large theater I wouldn't consider anthing more than a 7.2 system.

 

[2channel lover]

I forgot to add...I'm not the biggest movie buff (my wife is but rarely comes up to the loft where the surround sound system is) so there's no way I would've done in ceiling Atmos if I didn't have easy ceiling access via the attic.

Now that I have it...I like it...I intend to build a small Atmos coded library, but I'm not sure I would do extensive drywall repair just to have in ceiling Atmos.

 

[yepimonfire]

If you don't want to put speakers on the ceiling, you could do a front height /rear height configuration with fairly good results. Most avrs support heights as an Atmos location and Atmos will adapt to wherever you tell it your speakers are placed. I'm assuming you've already got the front heights for neo X, so all you'd need is another pair for the rear heights. Keep in mind rear heights may not work if you're directly against the back wall.

If it's just that you don't want to cut holes in the ceiling, ceiling mounted bookshelves using an omnimount is also an option. I currently have a pair of rb10s mounted to my ceiling and they do an excellent job. Any bookshelf that has a threaded mount hardware (or that you're willing to screw into), aimed at the mlp, should do just fine as well.

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