Help needed on a 5.1.4 setup

[Tiagodores]

Hello everyone! I'll change house in the first months of 2022 and I want to upgrade my outdated surround setup.
I have a Sony str-db1070 receiver with 4 Sony ss-la500ed speakers, 1 ss-la505ed central speaker and one pioneer s-w150s sub.
My idea is to change the receiver to a Denon avc-x3700h and change the front speakers for a better stereo music listening and the for that I'm considering the triangle borea br08 in light oak colour.
For Atmos once I'm changing to a new house I was planning to go for in ceiling speakers probably one of the triangle's range which to be honest I have no idea what to choose. Regarding the sub I was thinking of keeping this one as it's also light oak colour but I'm open for ideas if the change is for better but not too expensive keeping in mind that I might consider add a second sub in the future.

What do you think about this setup? Will it work? Will the Sony and the Boreas work well together? Will the Sony central speaker appear between the 2 bigger br08 or is it wiser to change it for a borea brc1?

Can you please help me with what to do or to change in order to have the best results for what I pretend.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Eppie]

Yes, that old Sony is mostly analogue except for a few optical inputs, so time to go digital. You'll need HDMI for a newer TV or projector. I assume you will also be replacing the TV since your Sony only has an analogue monitor out and the Denon is designed for digital (although the X3700H does have analogue out as well if the TV is a future upgrade). The X3700H is a good AVR.

I see the Borea BR08 listed for $1700 CDN or £999.00. That is not a brand that I am familiar with. What attracted you to this particular speaker? Did you find any impartial reviews? Is the light wood finish a must or are you open to darker woods or black? I found measurements and a review for the BR03 on ASR and there is a review of the BR08 on AVS. Seems to be in the middle of the pack in that price range. Might be some better options depending upon what country you are in. It's recommended to get a matching centre. The centre speaker carries most of the dialogue in movies and you want the 3 front speakers to sound the same, otherwise it will sound odd when sound pans from L to C to R. The BR08 will likely sound quite different compared to the Sony centre.

Surround and ATMOS speakers take planning. Look at the manual for the X3700H and look and the various speaker setups that are supported. If you want height effects, look at ATMOS, not Auro3D. It will also show at what angle the speakers should be in relation to your seating position. See what speaker setup best matches your room taking placement into account, whether you need stands or wall mounts or in-ceiling. Triangle has some surround speakers but I don't see any in-walls. ATMOS speakers are typically mounted in the ceiling, but for the effects channels it is ok to go with other brands.

The Pioneer appears to be a budget sub. You should probably look to upgrade to something that will keep up with your new main speakers. To choose a sub, you need to know the dimensions of the room and size the sub accordingly. If you want to go all out in your new setup, members recommend two subwoofers to even out the bass response, but there may be budget constraints of course. You could always use the Pioneer at first and save up for a good sub if a new sub is not in your budget. If you know the room dimensions we can recommend some options.

 

[Tiagodores]

Hi! Many thanks for your reply!

Yes I'm also buying a bigger TV so that's why I have to manage the budget wisely. Will be waiting for January deals because normally after Christmas I might find some better prices.

I choosed the Boreas because of price/quality ratio based on all the reviews and comments I found and of course the design and especially this ligh oak/white colour scheme was also a point. This will be in the living room so my wife's opinion is also to be heard and design wise the Boreas fits the demands

My idea is to go for an Atmos setup and I studied the recommended speaker displacement and I can do it in my living room. I have a pair of stands for my Sony la500ed which would stay as surround speakers. Regarding the in-ceiling triangle you can find it here:

In-Ceiling Speakers Secret - TRIANGLE HIFI

SECRET is a range of in-ceiling and in-wall speakers intended for both houses and larger structures (premises, professional buildings).

www.trianglehifi.com

I was planning to go for triangles because it would be easier to buy all the speakers and hopefully sub at the same shop. Having this in mind which of the in-ceiling speakers would you think fit better with the other speakers? Or at least what should I look regarding speaker specs?

If the new sub fits my budget I would definitely change the pioneer. In fact it really fails where it's needed... Plus I would like to add a second sub in the future
My room will be 7m*5m partially open for the kitchen in the corner opposite to the TV wall.
The TV will be at the center of the long wall and the sofa will be approximately in the middle of the room in front of the TV so I have plenty of space to play with the surround speakers behind the sofa although I also consider installing the back speakers on the back wall because I could pass all the cables inside the walls not having cables on the or speaker stands taking space out. I'm just afraid that if I put the speakers on the wall I can have the same sound quality although the speaker calibration on the receiver should be able to deal with it but...
Having this said what sub should I have in mind?

Many thanks for your help!

 

[Eppie]

Difficult to judge without graphs or measurements. Looks like the ICT7 or EMT7 are good options. Both have the same basic specs: 90dB sensitivity, 55-20k Hz and 140W power handling. The subwoofer is usually set to handle frequencies below 80Hz, so surrounds do not have to go very low. The EMT7 appears to have a little better build quality and easy mounting system, so it may be a matter of pricing. Unless you plan to listen to a lot of multi-channel music using the Dolby ATMOS upmixer, it's not that critical. Using the Yamahas for surrounds is a good way to save money. You can always upgrade later if you find they are lacking.

You haven't mentioned what country you are in. If in Europe your subwoofer options will be different from North America, although many here like SVS. In a moderate size room the PB-2000Pro works well. If that's over your budget two PB-1000Pro will be a big step up from the Pioneer but won't quite keep up with the 2000 at high volumes. Depends on whether you like moderate sound levels or you occasional want live concert levels.

 

[Tiagodores]

I'm so grateful for your help!
I'm in Portugal, in Europe. Having the budget do you think is better one PB-2000Pro or two PB-1000Pro because for sure I won't be able to buy 2 2000pro or if I buy one 2000 now and another in the future won't it be too much for my room size?
Just one question regarding the back surround speakers, if you were to choose and having in mind that I have enough space, would you put the speakers on a speaker stand or at the wall?

 

[lovinthehd]

With a 5 channel bed layer you have surrounds and they should be more to the sides if possible, rear surrounds don't come into play until you have a 7ch bed layer....by mount do you mean a speaker stand? I'd call the way to attach to a wall a mount....either can work, tho.

 

[Tiagodores]

Yes I ment a speaker stand. I'm not planning going to 7.x.4 in the future so if you say with 5 surround channels the back speaker position can stay at the wall maybe I'll go for this setup but leave everything prepared for later if I upgrade the Sony back speakers setting the new one on speaker stands.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes I ment a speaker stand. I'm not planning going to 7.x.4 in the future so if you say with 5 surround channels the back speaker position can stay at the wall maybe I'll go for this setup but leave everything prepared for later if I upgrade the Sony back speakers setting the new one on speaker stands.

More what I'm saying is back surround is only in 7ch setups, it's just a surround in a 5ch, and placed more to the sides (and a bit behind) your seating. Here's suggestions for positioning from Dolby https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guides/5.1.4-overhead-speaker-setup-guide/

 

[Tiagodores]

More what I'm saying is back surround is only in 7ch setups, it's just a surround in a 5ch, and placed more to the sides (and a bit behind) your seating. Here's suggestions for positioning from Dolby https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guides/5.1.4-overhead-speaker-setup-guide/

Now I got it!

Thank you!

 

[lovinthehd]

Now I got it!

Thank you!

Then again in some rooms such placement of surrounds to the sides isn't possible...sometimes they go where they can. In my main system room they're just a bit farther back than ideal but the furniture in the room just doesn't allow otherwise without some major re-arranging I'm too lazy to do and it wouldn't be as good for that stuff if I did....compromises.

 

[Tiagodores]

Then again in some rooms such placement of surrounds to the sides isn't possible...sometimes they go where they can. In my room they're just a bit farther back than ideal but the furniture in the room just doesn't allow otherwise without some major re-arranging I'm too lazy to do and it wouldn't be as good for that stuff if I did....compromises.

I have enough room for the setup as in the Dolby sheet plus if I go for a wall mount at the back wall the speakers would have to stay almost at ceiling level so I guess keeping it to the speaker stands will give me the best results

 

[Eppie]

Yes, with the X3700H if you want 4 ATMOS ceiling speakers you have 5 channels left for 5.1.4 and the surrounds would go to the sides slightly ahead of your seat as pictured in the manual. The side surround height is preferred to be the same as the mains so stands are better than high on the wall.

You can't have too much subwoofer. The extra output gives you more headroom and effortless bass cleans up the whole system. When you have one subwoofer, you can get nulls and standing waves in the room so that the bass sounds boomy in one location and weak in another. Having two subwoofers evens out the bass response through the room which is beneficial when you have multiple viewers in different seats. If you are by yourself one sub can be enough. Moving the sub to different locations can help eliminate the boomy and dead spots.

My room is 4mx5m with an open hallway and I have a single SB-2000Pro due to space limitations. In a 7mx5m room two PB-2000Pro would be preferred, but even two PB-1000Pro will be a big improvement over the Pioneer. If you are in an apartment and do not plan to have it very loud, the two PB-1000 will likely be good enough. If on the other hand you like electronic music with heavy deep bass that you want to feel, that might warrant getting two PB-2000. There are European members here with much more subwoofer output than that so it's a matter of deciding what you want from the system and how much you are willing to spend.

I think the ported PB models are only available in black. The sealed SB models may be available in gloss white and are less expensive than ported but you pay extra for the gloss finish. The ported models go a little deeper and generally perform a little better. If you go sealed, I would definitely step up to the SB-2000Pro as it's only $100 US more than the PB-1000Pro in black and performs very well. (I did some checking and I think that only the SB 1000 Pro is available in gloss white.)

 

[Tiagodores]

Great! Thanks so much for your help! I've been checking prices and pictures and for me the best would be the gloss white sb1000pro and later for for the second one but having one sb2000pro for extra 100€ is really temping and if I like the result 8 don't need to go for the second one saving some money. Now I'm in a dilemma is the difference between the SB and pb that big? And yes I'm moving to an apartment so the loudness may be an issue

 

[lovinthehd]

The main differences between the SVS sealed (SB) and ported (PB) subs would be efficiency in the lower bass range, the ported subs having the advantage. Not that a sealed sub isn't capable of the deeper bass, but will take generally some eq and additional power to get there, so a ported sub just generally is by nature a bit more capable down low. The ported subs are larger boxes, too. Couldn't tell you what subs come in white, tho, not something I think about myself. Apartment living does make using subs at elevated listening levels problematic, tho....

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Great! Thanks so much for your help! I've been checking prices and pictures and for me the best would be the gloss white sb1000pro and later for for the second one but having one sb2000pro for extra 100€ is really temping and if I like the result 8 don't need to go for the second one saving some money. Now I'm in a dilemma is the difference between the SB and pb that big? And yes I'm moving to an apartment so the loudness may be an issue

Well, by the time you get down to 20hz, the PB will be capable of four times the output. That’s a lot. Moving to an apt…..yikes.

 

[Tiagodores]

P

Well, by the time you get down to 20hz, the PB will be capable of four times the output. That’s a lot. Moving to an apt…..yikes.

Pb it is!