Atmos Pre-Pro Speaker setup (NHT Powered plus passive overheads)

[motodop]

Really need some sound advice on building a 9.1 setup.
I have a set of 5x NHT M20s and 1x S20 sub for a room.
They are XLR in (powered from a separate amp for each speaker)
I was looking at the Marantz AV7702mkII processer which has XLR outs for my 5.1. plus 4 XLR out for heights.
My issue is the 4 overheads which i need to to be passive as i do not want to put power in my ceiling.

Should i buy a separate XLR in power amp to feed passive speaker?
What would you do so get 4 overheads speakers out of the XLR height outs of the Marantz AV7702mkII?
Thanks,
Moto

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You definitely need additional amplifiers to power the height speakers. However, the Marantz has RCA outputs so you don’t necessarily need an amp with XLR inputs. Any consumer amp (or professional amp, for that matter) will do. Just get one that meets the power requirements of the speakers you choose.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt