is DTS X/Atmos (5.1.2) & Room EQ worth it

[filmguy]

hello all

i am considering the denon 520 & 1200 avr for purchase which have an approx 10k+ difference in their pricing

listening will be 70 movies 30 music

i was interested in hearing from FM's who'd upgraded from a simple avr to one with Room EQ and/or a Atmos setup to see how much difference they found in their listening experience with these 2 features

i had heard a atmos setup but didnt find anything amazing about it. if you consider the additional cost of those extra 2 speakers then is it worth it for the very few scenes of rain effects of spaceships flying by? plus my room is about 220 sq ft & i am about 7 or so feet away from my fronts & 3 feet away from rears so i'm wondering if there will be any effect of the additional 2 channels on the ceiling & if there'll be enough sound separation. i can understand the bigger rooms with say a 5.1.4 setup being good for atmos but not so sure of 5.1.2 in a smallish room. would love to hear from FM's who have a 5.1.2 setup.

now room eq was a feature i was interested in but then i was told that it barely makes a difference. maybe max 10%

so is it worth spending that 10k+ diff ie about 25% more (plus cost of 2 more speakers) for these 2 features?

 

[elangoas]

hello all

i am considering the denon 520 & 1200 avr for purchase which have an approx 10k+ difference in their pricing

listening will be 70 movies 30 music

i was interested in hearing from FM's who'd upgraded from a simple avr to one with Room EQ and/or a Atmos setup to see how much difference they found in their listening experience with these 2 features

i had heard a atmos setup but didnt find anything amazing about it. if you consider the additional cost of those extra 2 speakers then is it worth it for the very few scenes of rain effects of spaceships flying by? plus my room is about 220 sq ft & i am about 7 or so feet away from my fronts & 3 feet away from rears so i'm wondering if there will be any effect of the additional 2 channels on the ceiling & if there'll be enough sound separation. i can understand the bigger rooms with say a 5.1.4 setup being good for atmos but not so sure of 5.1.2 in a smallish room. would love to hear from FM's who have a 5.1.2 setup.

Most AVR are designed to perform in about 300 sqft area..

now room eq was a feature i was interested in but then i was told that it barely makes a difference. maybe max 10%

For someone who has no experience in manually calibrating the AVR, Auto calibration & Room EQ are a boon.. It is def more than 10%..

so is it worth spending that 10k+ diff ie about 25% more (plus cost of 2 more speakers) for these 2 features?

Yes..

 

[sud98]

hello all

i am considering the denon 520 & 1200 avr for purchase which have an approx 10k+ difference in their pricing

listening will be 70 movies 30 music

i had heard a atmos setup but didnt find anything amazing about it. if you consider the additional cost of those extra 2 speakers then is it worth it for the very few scenes of rain effects of spaceships flying by? plus my room is about 220 sq ft & i am about 7 or so feet away from my fronts & 3 feet away from rears so i'm wondering if there will be any effect of the additional 2 channels on the ceiling & if there'll be enough sound separation. i can understand the bigger rooms with say a 5.1.4 setup being good for atmos but not so sure of 5.1.2 in a smallish room. would love to hear from FM's who have a 5.1.2 setup.

now room eq was a feature i was interested in but then i was told that it barely makes a difference. maybe max 10%

so is it worth spending that 10k+ diff ie about 25% more (plus cost of 2 more speakers) for these 2 features?

Frankly, Atmos is not worth the money. That 10k that you want to spend on the AVR, do you research and see whats the best placement you can do as well as acoustics you can improve in the room. That will add more value than the artificial equalization done by auto calibration.

 

[superczar]

a) Room equalization does make a difference. Hypothetically you could achieve the same but in reality, the right compensation levels are very difficult if not impossible to achieve without professional calibration equipment

b) Almost every single AVR with good headroom and a good amplifier/power supply comes with auto EQ .. Only the entry level models come without one - so even if the room eq doesn't make a difference, the rest of the components would...
It's like how it's impossible to find a good panel on a HDTV these days..and even if you don't care about 4K, you will need to buy a 4K if you want a good panel

 

[VRavichandar]

I have a Denon 1200 and the room equalization definitely made a difference. I was able to fine tune on that to suit my listening needs later. I agree with you on not spending extra for the Atmos.

 

[efernand1]

Hi filmguy,

Yes room EQ makes a difference and the auto setup definitely helps in quick setup and configuration.

Fine tuning can be done easily after the setup based on the room and what furniture is lying around etc.

All models of Marantz NR or SR series has auto calibration and you can fine tune it further with the 9 band adjustable EQ, bass + treble controls, M Dax and source input levels.

We have one of our fellow members using Dali Z7 on a NR series which proves that the avr has enough of spunk regardless of its detailed 50watts rms power per channel.

IMHO, DTS X and Atmos have just come in and is still developing....if you have a decent 7.1 setup, you are not missing anything much....fact is that most content available is 5.1.

Marantz is expensive but worth it.....if budget is a challenge, there is a NR1605 with all features except Atmos available in Hifiads.com

The choice is yours now.

 

[Murlidher]

Hi filmguy,


We have one of our fellow members using Dali Z7 on a NR series which proves that the avr has enough of spunk regardless of its detailed 50watts rms power per channel.

Yes. I agree with that fellow member :lol:

DTS X upmixer sends more sounds to ceiling than the Atmos upmixer. It's a nice feature to have it and switch off when not in mood to have that effect (rather not having that feature at all)

 

[filmguy]

Yes. I agree with that fellow member :lol:

DTS X upmixer sends more sounds to ceiling than the Atmos upmixer. It's a nice feature to have it and switch off when not in mood to have that effect (rather not having that feature at all)

hi

i see from your sig you have a 5.1.2 setup. could you please share some of your experience with it & how different it has been compared to a simple 5.1 setup. also how far from the front & rears are the atmos speakers setup?

 

[Murlidher]

In 5.1.2, you have the option of having your speaker either in Top Front or Top Middle position. I have mine set in Top Middle (which is generally preferred) just in front of the MLP position.

If you have the luxury of going for ceiling speakers, you can go for it. Since i do not have at option, i went with satellite speakers and took the bite of drilling a bit @ ceiling to have the JBL installed.

There is two theory while watching movie. One they say you should not get distracted by speakers giving a immersive experience. The other is that you really want something to happen in some of the speaker position which you have installed after good amount of efforts (for e.g. here ceiling). In my case I prefer both

You can refer dolby atmos speaker specification chart for easy understanding. In the end, it is all coming to what really fits in your room. If you can go for front heights it should also give you a good experience (it would be more front centric sound which some people prefer) or if you have the option to go and place near the rear height wall, you can place them in a stand angling in slightly (and mark as Top Middle while configuring). So there is no such hard & fast rules in this.

Not sure, if I answered your question

 

[filmguy]

Double Post

 

[filmguy]

@Murlidher

yeah no, i meant how has your watching/listening experience changed in significant way with the atmos setup?

something to happen in some of the speaker position which you have installed after good amount of efforts

i would prefer this option

 

[arima007]

I agree with you