I have an Atmos / DTS-X Athem AV60 pre-amp. it was more than I really needed but now that I have it, I am wondering if I might as well kit it out.

I originally had two Axiom ADA1000 to give me 7 channels of sound though I never got around to putting in rear surrounds. Those both got traded in for a pair of ADA1500 to power the active speakers. So now I have stereo sound only for my HT room, so clearly i will need to figure out some extra amplifier channels to watch movies and steaming TV shows.

I am happy with using the front L+R to give me the virtual center channel. it works really well with the LFR.

Option 1. just use an existing AudioSource Amp to power my current set of QS8 surrounds.

Option 2. look into getting an new 4 or 6 channel amp and hook up the side surrounds and put up a set of Energy take2.5 satellite speakers that I have unused and mount them as height front and rear speakers.

Option 3. look into going whole hog and get 8 more channels of amplification and add in a set of satellite speakers for the rear surround as well.


I wonder has anyone tried Atmos with height speakers instead of overhead? In my basement HT there was no real place to put in ceiling speaker boxes when I built the room. there was too much vent ducting, water pipes and natural gas lines running in the joist space to be able to put speakers in any meaningful location. You couldn't but them in any symetrical locations from left/right and front/back. I just wired for height speakers as that was the only option.

I have given in to the fact that the LFR active will likely give a different tonal sound to what I will get from the QS8 and definitely from the Energy Take speakers. So I don't think I need to get ADA amps that quite honestly i couldn't afford and would be overkill likely. Trying to get 8 channels of the same brand will eliminate trying to buy a better quality amp via the used market. Who makes even a somewhat decent amp for surrounds?

I hear you … the AV60 is cry’in to be used. ATMOS/DTS-X is great and the content in these formats are starting to be main stream … although I’ve yet to hear anything that actually placed objects expect for the ATMOS demos …

So given that and … I’ll go out on a limb and guess that most of your media is still 5.1, 7.1. Sticking with the older 5.1/7.1 format is still very viable … I.e. using your QS8s.

But part of the fun is to get the latest and since you already invested in a nice prepro …

The size of your room or theater space dictates if the height alone will be sufficient… Think I’ve seen diagrams from Dobly with only front and rear heights …. Tops are still doable in your case in that they don’t have to be in ceiling … I’m using M3ow’s mounted on the ceiling. If your handy, snaking a few wires is usually not a killer (especially if you don’t mind fixing a hole or two if the going get difficult). Or if you don’t mind the aesthetic you can run them out side the wall/ceiling (personally not my thing but doable … even if temporary just to try it out)

money is always an issue. … most people work their way piece by piece into their finial system. You just need to come up with a plan.

I agree with rrlev. Pause and make a plan. Over time you have expressed general disappointment in your room, your families lack of interest in using the system and anxiety over random gremlins from cobbling together items and getting hum and noise. Lack of planning.

My vote would be to change the system into one that will make your family interested in spending time enjoying it. Otherwise you will end up with unused trophies and resent the purchases later as in other threads. Hope this doesnt come off the wrong way. Dont mean it too.

I would start with making the space inviting and go from there. Hit reset and make a plan.

There is absolutely no hope for his room. All solutions lead to negative imaginary components of the eigenvalues in his room's wave equation.

Wouldn’t go that far. Lol.

Its been a hundred years since you shared room info Matt. If you want help there are folks here willing. Best room upgrade I made recently was new paint. Like a new space. Chesseroo did a similar makeover recently.

If you are just looking to experiment grab stuff on hand and mock it up. Nothing to lose. Atmos is the real deal and kind of leaves 5.1 in the dust. The upmixers are probably the best part, as they apply to any input codec and can be used all the time. (Dolby Surround/DTS Neural X)