I NEVER had a great Atmos experience at ANY commercial theater. Not in 2013, not ever. And I've been to Atmos theaters in Los Angeles, Orlando, Dallas, and Oklahoma City.
The problem is the exact same thing - the bed speakers and subs are significantly louder than the ceiling speakers so I could not hear anything overhead.
And even in my home theater, I have to increase the Atmos (and Center speaker) trim level above the Front L/R and Surround L/R trim levels.
I've been too disappointed with the quality of theater sound for so long I haven't really gone to the theater for something I really wanted to watch since 2012 when The Dark Knight Rises came out. The IMAX sound system was impressive, but it wasn't better than my theater. Picture wasn't all that great either, but this wasn't one of the IMAX with the 70mm projectors that are supposed to be much better. It was fun, but I was disappointed with the sound quality.
I'm still up for the Dolby theater near me with the 8K laser projector and full Atmos system. That should be at least a good picture.
The only theater I can remember that had a really impressive sound system was one in Odessa, TX when I was in high school/college. It was a THX theater and when movies I wanted to see came to that theater I tried to go simply because it was so much better. I have no clue if THX theaters are still good, but that one was. I had a surround system then, but it was pretty wimpy so by comparison the theater was much better.
If theaters want their attendance to go up they need to get it together and make the theater experience special again. People want something they can only get at the theater, so they're going to have to invest to get people in. Using the same projector from 20 years ago isn't going to cut it if these places haven't already gone out of business. I went to a theater to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in the theater in college. That was special because nothing around me showed older movies in theaters. I love those movies and had only seen them on TV so seeing one on the big screen was a big deal for me. Plus it was a theater with an intermission so that was a nice touch. Basically, the place went all out and made it an ordeal that they were showing this movie. They only had one screen IIRC, and it was pretty neat.
I don't want to see them go, but I also need an incentive to go to the theater.