Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners OK Atmos smart guys

So, my boss is putting together a better HT than his current setup, which is still stuck in the non HDMI HTIB world. He has been asking me all the basic questions about screen size, projector cost vs value basic 5.1 speaker setup...

A few days ago he tells me that, while the big screen and a better image will be nice, what its really about for him is the sound. Enter Atmos.

Today he says he found an Atmos receiver for $700. That turns out to be the Dennon AVR-S710W, which is a 7.1 receiver. How do you do Atmos with no place for the ceiling channels??

While he has the money for a full blown system, I don't think he is inclined to pay today's prices for Atmos. To give you an idea, he has $300 - $500 per speaker budgeted. That would put him somewhere in the range of an M3 based HT system from Axiom.

Since he has to buy everything but the bluray player, I'm inclined to suggest to him he find a used 5.1 or 7.1 receiver to tide him over for a year or two until Atmos receiver prices come down from the stratosphere.

So, is the 7.1 Atmos receiver total BS?

For someone for whom its all about the sound is 9.2 even enough?

With 7.x.4 being such a new format, are we likely to see stable receivers in that configuration?

Will Boris Kill Moose and Squirrel?

It has been a long day, so let me make a few brief comments.

There are stable 7.x.4 receivers, but they aren't cheap.

The $700 Atmos receiver is lacking some bells and whistles, but depending on his room size, a 5.1.2 setup could work just fine.

You did mention that there is no room for ceiling speakers, why is that?

M3s are still decent enough speakers depending on the room size.

No, they definitely aren't


So in the right room it would be noticeably better than 5.1? That would be good news.


No room as in nowhere to plug them in to the receiver. From your description one of the surround channels is changed to a ceiling assignment? I don't think he has a very large space. Its an L shaped basement.