Help with Hometheater setup Onkyo 787

[tempnexus]

My Onkyo 818 broke and I have an Onkyo 787 that I am currently using in my home theater setup (I am thinking of upgrading to Onkyo NR-7100...don't know if it's worth it). Anyhow I have a small home theater and my rear speakers are bolted to the ceiling by firing at a downward 45 deg angle pointed towards the central position of the front seat.

Also my "ATMOS" speakers are actually located at top of my front Stereo Floor Standing speakers and they are pointing up and at about 30 degree angle towards the front.

How to best optimize my home theater and should I upgrade my Receiver to help with the room acoustics? (NR-7100 is supposed to run DIRAC LIVE).

Below is an approximate layout of my speakers minus the fact that the ATMOS ones are not in the ceiling but on top of the front speakers.

Also, should I just run front Heigh instead of ATMOS?

 

[lovinthehd]

Well to start I wouldn't run Atmos bouncy speakers even if particularly built into a tower L/R speaker. I'd want true overhead but YMMV. Even for the older avr's front height use I wouldn't just put them on top of speakers, I'd mount them where they should go. My avr comments on your other thread (which you could have just made one thread out of really around here ). The rear surround positioning may not be great for Atmos in any case, they should be more separated, i.e. bed layer vs ceiling. Let alone two sets being aimed like that....

 

[Trebdp83]

7.1 with front heights where front wall and ceiling meet or 5.1.4 (four in ceiling atmos speakers.) Adjust main level speakers accordingly for separation of height/atmos speakers.

 

[tempnexus]

Also my mains are Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 which I don't know if they are any good.

 

[lovinthehd]

Also my mains are Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 which I don't know if they are any good.

What do you mean? What are the others?

 

[tempnexus]

What do you mean? What are the others?

LEFT RIGHT and Center are Ascend Accoustics the ATMOS are Pioner bookshelf speakers repurposed as ATMOS and the sides and rears are the THX Klips Computer speakers

 

[lovinthehd]

LEFT RIGHT and Center are Ascend Accoustics the ATMOS are Pioner bookshelf speakers repurposed as ATMOS and the sides and rears are the THX Klips Computer speakers

So you are questioning the Ascends why particularly? You don't like the way they sound? I like all my Ascend speakers (Sierra-1 NrTs, 170SE, 200SE....don't have the 340SE tho).

 

[tempnexus]

So you are questioning the Ascends why particularly? You don't like the way they sound? I like all my Ascend speakers (Sierra-1 NrTs, 170SE, 200SE....don't have the 340SE tho).

I am questioning if those speakers are good pairing for my Receiver and if they could be better if I paired it with a better receiver. I am kind of new to this...well I've been with 5.1 surround since the 90's but could never afford the good gear.

 

[lovinthehd]

I am questioning if those speakers are good pairing for my Receiver and if they could be better if I paired it with a better receiver. I am kind of new to this...well I've been with 5.1 surround since the 90's but could never afford the good gear.

Pairing (I don't care for that word from wine world) or rather choosing an appropriate amp for speakers is fairly straightforward. You need an amp capable of the impedance load and for the spl level you want to listen at with associated headroom for the distance you listen at. Your avr's amp ratings are fairly typical of an avr but also keep in mind a speaker's impedance varies with frequency so a nominal impedance rating is just a guideline compared to looking at an actual plot/graph of impedance vs frequency (and phase angle). Now if you need a higher performance amp with an avr an option is to have an avr with a full set of pre-outs, which do tend to come with the units toward the higher end of various avrs, and use an external (power) amplifier (your 787 does not have any but sub pre-outs, tho).

Try playing around with this calculator to give you an idea of some of the relationships involved http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

These articles might be useful as well

Understanding Ohm's Law, Impedance And Electrical Phase 101

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Loudspeaker Measurements Standard: Our Procedure for Objectively Analyzing Speaker Performance

The Audioholics Loudspeaker Measurements Standard objectively measures performance of speaker systems. Frequency response, distortion, sensitivity, polar & listening window response, impedance, etc.

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