Soundbar to Atmos Home Theater

sumitkpandit

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Hello everyone

In July, I bought a sound bar to upgrade the audio of my TV. While it did help but I still am having issues with dialogues. I am also very fascinated with the new Dolby Atmos technology, so I am thinking to make another switch and get into a proper home theater system.

My purchase of soundbar makes me feel that having front three speakers crammed in one bar creates issue with vocals because front left and front right speakers being so close to it probably overpowers the center channel. Also I do not get any stereo separation. My side surrounds are placed a good width apart and I can sense if the sound is coming from my right or left, which is not the case with front left and right. Also if I am not sitting exactly in front of my soundbar, these issues become more pronounced. I read somewhere that speakers should be at least 6' apart which is not possible with a soundbar. Also, I see everyone lower the volume on expolsions and increasing for conversations, which I do not like. May be the soundbar is not good enough to be set and left on a particular volume and enjoy the movie.

Dolby Atmos at the same time promises more natural channel free sound scape which I think would be awesome if it comes through as claimed. So, with all these reasons, I am all set to go for it. But as always, we have a budget. Particularly, in my case I have a very challenging budget of INR 1,00,000 only. Even this is not yet approved by the home minister. But hopefull, not going beyond it can be handled.

I have also researched a bit and found one product which fits within my budget and also seems to fulfills everything I want to achieve with it. May be it may lack enough power to hit reference level in my 14' x 14' living room.
Onkyo HT-S5915 priced at INR 78,000
But I am not able to find it anywhere. Also, I am not seeing any recommendation also on the forum about anything Onkyo. Is it out of business? So far, I have only seen Onkyo having Atmos Home Theater in a Box.

I am also open of custom combination, but most combinations surpass my budget. Few combinations that are close to my budget and can be negotiated to fall within INR 1,00,000 are
Yamaha RX-V585 (INR 47,000) + Polk Audio TL1600 (INR 48,000) + Taga Harmony TAV-806S (INR 10,400) = Total (INR 1,05,400)
and
Yamaha RX-V6A (INR 56,990) + Polk Audio TL1600 (INR 48,000) = Total without Atmos Speakers (INR 1,04,990)
I am okay to go with upgradable 5.1 for now.

With all this information, I hope I was able to give enough details of what I am trying to go for. Now I am all ears to hear from you guys.

Thanks.
 
If you go through similar threads on here, you will find many many recommendations. Consensus is to never go for Home Theatre in a box if possible and if budget is not tight. HiTB always come with pretty underwhelming soundstage and garbage subwoofers.

Also, don't try to buy everything at once. Because at this point you are entering a new hobby with very little understanding of what you want. If you buy everything at once, you will be tempted to upgrade once you know better options or better understanding of the limitations of your gear. The suggested build is to get 2.1 system with a good AVR and then gradually add other speakers. You could also start with LR and Center channel speakers, then add a subwoofer, then surrounds and last the ceiling/atmos speakers.

My ideal build for someone starting up and wanting Atmos is something like this -
Yamaha RX-V6A - 57K
5.0 set : Taga 606 V3 - 30k
Subwoofer: HTS12 or Bic America PL200-ii - 45K
Atmos - Micca or Polk - 8-10K

Yeah, this goes above the mentioned budget, but you can get a basic subwoofer from Yamaha or Taga for around 30k and that will bring the budget to some normality. But from my personal experience, a Sub is often the most important part of any HT build. A good sub will elevate your watching/listening experience to the next level. Also, if you build this in parts and ideally wait for a few months before purchasing each component, you can manage the budget better.

Lastly, do audition each component, that is the most important advice. That is also how you learn to differentiate and appreciate gear.
 
If you go through similar threads on here, you will find many many recommendations. Consensus is to never go for Home Theatre in a box if possible and if budget is not tight. HiTB always come with pretty underwhelming soundstage and garbage subwoofers.

Also, don't try to buy everything at once. Because at this point you are entering a new hobby with very little understanding of what you want. If you buy everything at once, you will be tempted to upgrade once you know better options or better understanding of the limitations of your gear. The suggested build is to get 2.1 system with a good AVR and then gradually add other speakers. You could also start with LR and Center channel speakers, then add a subwoofer, then surrounds and last the ceiling/atmos speakers.

My ideal build for someone starting up and wanting Atmos is something like this -
Yamaha RX-V6A - 57K
5.0 set : Taga 606 V3 - 30k
Subwoofer: HTS12 or Bic America PL200-ii - 45K
Atmos - Micca or Polk - 8-10K

Yeah, this goes above the mentioned budget, but you can get a basic subwoofer from Yamaha or Taga for around 30k and that will bring the budget to some normality. But from my personal experience, a Sub is often the most important part of any HT build. A good sub will elevate your watching/listening experience to the next level. Also, if you build this in parts and ideally wait for a few months before purchasing each component, you can manage the budget better.

Lastly, do audition each component, that is the most important advice. That is also how you learn to differentiate and appreciate gear.
Noted your recommendations. I definetly have to audition. So far I have just been looking at price and specs. Let me see what best price I can get for these.

Also when you say Micca for Atmos, I am thinking of Micca MB42X and when you say Taga Subwoofer, I am thinking of Taga Harmony TSW-90. Are they okay?

While atmos speakers are not connnected on a 7.2 atmos reciever, can atmos still be experienced with 5.1 speaker configuration? Because atmos is channel independent and Dolby says one should start noticing difference starting 2.1 configuration. https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guides/2.1-virtual-speakers-setup-guide/

Obviously, I understand height related experiences will be missing but surround experience should be better with atmos compared to traditional channel based surround. Isn't it?
 
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No, Atmos is just matadata on the soundtrack, which tells the AVR/audio processor to process audio for specific speakers. If you play an atmos track/disc with a 5.1 speakers, you will experience what 5.1 can output. For atmos to work, you need to meet all necessary criteria on your whole system, that includes Atmos supported AVR and 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 or other higher iterations.


Obviously, I understand height related experiences will be missing but surround experience should be better with atmos compared to traditional channel based surround. Isn't it?

No, the only difference is newer movies with Atmos soundtrack obviously sound better than old movies with only 5.1 soundtrack. But your system will only output 5.1 audio, and that is not what Atmos is. It's like newer movies with 4K HDR look better than 1080p movies, but unless you get a 4K HDR capable screen, you will only see what your screen is capable of producing. Hope that makes sense.


Lastly, for atmos, you need ceiling speakers, like this: https://www.amazon.in/Polk-RC60i-2-Way-in-Ceiling-Speakers/dp/B00005T3BD/
OR https://www.amazon.in/Micca-M-8C-Ceiling-Speaker-Pivoting/dp/B002YPS6T6/

The ones you mentioned, MB42X, are bookshelf speakers. They would look really out of place on your ceiling.

For subwoofer, search through the forums for recommendations. There is a whole section on it. Taga Harmony TSW-90 is a very basic starter model. There are better model available in 30K range.
 
No, Atmos is just matadata on the soundtrack, which tells the AVR/audio processor to process audio for specific speakers. If you play an atmos track/disc with a 5.1 speakers, you will experience what 5.1 can output. For atmos to work, you need to meet all necessary criteria on your whole system, that includes Atmos supported AVR and 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 or other higher iterations.




No, the only difference is newer movies with Atmos soundtrack obviously sound better than old movies with only 5.1 soundtrack. But your system will only output 5.1 audio, and that is not what Atmos is. It's like newer movies with 4K HDR look better than 1080p movies, but unless you get a 4K HDR capable screen, you will only see what your screen is capable of producing. Hope that makes sense.


Lastly, for atmos, you need ceiling speakers, like this: https://www.amazon.in/Polk-RC60i-2-Way-in-Ceiling-Speakers/dp/B00005T3BD/
OR https://www.amazon.in/Micca-M-8C-Ceiling-Speaker-Pivoting/dp/B002YPS6T6/

The ones you mentioned, MB42X, are bookshelf speakers. They would look really out of place on your ceiling.

For subwoofer, search through the forums for recommendations. There is a whole section on it. Taga Harmony TSW-90 is a very basic starter model. There are better model available in 30K range.
I have concrete celling and also the budget constraint so I will skip atmos speakers for now. But because I already have experienced 5.1 surround, I do not want to miss that experience. How about if I go for a LCR and Sub and use existing Zebronics surround speakers with it? What LCR would you suggest?
 
On a tight budget and space constraints, a dedicated 5.1 is still better than any HiTB.

Your existing Zebronics must be active speakers. I am not sure they even make passive speakers. Google the difference between the two. Actives are a no go with AVR. The above mentioned Taga 606 V3 are a good combo to begin with. But if you only want LCR at present, I suggest Mission LX-2 and LX-C. Elac, Polk, JBL, Qaccoustics all have good offerings at slightly higher price range.

Also, since you are checking prices on the web, please note that if you go to a local dealer and negotiate with them, you will most certainly get a better price from them. Sometimes even 20-30% less than what you see on online sites. Again, search for the selected speakers in google maps, and you will find local dealers.
 
How is the following combination? I got this from this youtube video.
Yamaha RX-V585 AVR + Taga Harmony TAV-606 V3 5.0 Speaker Package + Yamaha NS-SW200 SubWoofer
 
That's a really good combo. RX-V585 is a prev gen AVR, but very capable for your usage, so try not to overpay for it. But it might be hard to find it in stock.
 
Finally, we dialed-in onto something. Now I have to figure out good local retailers/dealers in Bengaluru who can give good competitive price. May be someone from Bangalore can help here. I stay in HBR Layout. How do I summon members from Bengaluru on this thread? :/

Retail prices from my reasearch seem to be around INR 1,02,165.
Yamaha RX-V585 - INR 47,000
Taga Harmony TAV-606 V.3 - INR 30,000
Yamaha NS-SW200 - INR 25,165

Hoping to get enough discount to have cabels and installation covered withing INR 1,00,000.
 
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Finally, we dialed-in onto something.

Hoping to get enough discount to have cabels and installation covered withing INR 1,00,000.

Sorry to spoil the party but try getting multiple configurations in your budget. The AVR and speaker combo you listed might not be available. Always good to have a backup plan.

Have atleast two or more AVRs and speaker combos narrowed down. Are you open to used item routes?
 
That is a good advice @amrutmhatre90 . I have noted down some of the recommendations. Highlighted in green are the components we finalized here. Orange ones are 5.2. No Dolby Atmos :( Hopefully, I will be able to squeeze Atmos in my budget and will not have to go that route, but for worst case I just noted them.

Any good equipment that might fit into my budget and you are surprized that and is not in the list? Or anything that is so bad that it must be immediately removed from the list. Please let me know.

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That is a good advice @amrutmhatre90 . I have noted down some of the recommendations. Highlighted in green are the components we finalized here. Orange ones are 5.2. No Dolby Atmos :( Hopefully, I will be able to squeeze Atmos in my budget and will not have to go that route, but for worst case I just noted them.

Any good equipment that might fit into my budget and you are surprized that and is not in the list? Or anything that is so bad that it must be immediately removed from the list. Please let me know.

Go for 7.2 or the upgrade itch bites in soon. A lot of content now on OTTs have Atmos, I was stunned how good Atmos sounded on the newly released season of Money Heist.

I would remove Yamaha subs other than SW300. Subs are heart of the hometheatre don't skimp on it.
AVR's I would list down:
Yamaha RX-V585
Yamaha V6A
Pioneer VSX 834 - I owned this.
Pioneer VSX 934
Denon x1600
Denon x2600
Denon x2700

Speakers:
Taga 506 v2
Taga 606 v3 - Owned these
Taga 607
Polk Audio Fusion T Series (comes with a subwoofer) if you want your own sub you can ask the dealer.

Subwoofers:
Taga TSW 90
Yamaha SW 300
Taga TSW 212 SE - Owned this
Polk HTS 10
BIC PL200II

Don't rely on the prices listed you can get a good discount. Are you open to bookshelves speakers or you want front floor standing speakers only?
 
Go for 7.2 or the upgrade itch bites in soon. A lot of content now on OTTs have Atmos, I was stunned how good Atmos sounded on the newly released season of Money Heist.

I would remove Yamaha subs other than SW300. Subs are heart of the hometheatre don't skimp on it.
AVR's I would list down:
Yamaha RX-V585
Yamaha V6A
Pioneer VSX 834 - I owned this.
Pioneer VSX 934
Denon x1600
Denon x2600
Denon x2700

Speakers:
Taga 506 v2
Taga 606 v3 - Owned these
Taga 607
Polk Audio Fusion T Series (comes with a subwoofer) if you want your own sub you can ask the dealer.

Subwoofers:
Taga TSW 90
Yamaha SW 300
Taga TSW 212 SE - Owned this
Polk HTS 10
BIC PL200II

Don't rely on the prices listed you can get a good discount. Are you open to bookshelves speakers or you want front floor standing speakers only?
I am totally fine with bookshelf speakers. I will be setting these up in the living room. I am actually a bit concerned that it should not look too overwhelming. Smaller the footprint better.
 
I am totally fine with bookshelf speakers. I will be setting these up in the living room. I am actually a bit concerned that it should not look too overwhelming. Smaller the footprint better.

Add Q Acoustics 3020 for FR, 3010 for Surrounds & 3090 for center then. (Own 3010 & 3090)
This will be a costly affair compared to the above speaker packages, but it will be worth while.

Get quotes for all above from dealers, as main problem is availability. I am still waiting for new my sub :(
 
Add Q Acoustics 3020 for FR, 3010 for Surrounds & 3090 for center then. (Own 3010 & 3090)
This will be a costly affair compared to the above speaker packages, but it will be worth while.

Get quotes for all above from dealers, as main problem is availability. I am still waiting for new my sub :(
Is the sub bundled with Polk Audio Fusion T Series good?
Is Q-Acoustics 3010/3020/3090C same as Q-Acoustics 3010i/3020i/3090Ci?
 
Is the sub bundled with Polk Audio Fusion T Series good?

It is mostly Polk Audio PSW-10 sub, it is decent sub many people have been using on our forum too. But if you want something better you can always switch and add instead of this.

Is Q-Acoustics 3010/3020/3090C same as Q-Acoustics 3010i/3020i/3090Ci?
Yes I meant the latest i series.
 
Hi,

Sorry for reviving an older thread but I am building a similar build. Can someone please check and let me know if there can be any improvements.

Avr - Denon x1700h
Speakers - taga 606 v3
Sub - Polk HtS12
Height speaker - TAGA TAV 807S

REGARDS
 
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Walnut finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.
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