Has anyone built themselves an Atmos theater setup?

[JuniorJBL]

I am wondering who here has gone the Dolby Atmos direction?

I am wanting to begin the transformation into Atmos as well.

I am wondering what processors people are using as well as projectors and UHD players. I am hoping OPPO comes out with a UHD player because I really enjoy the 103 Darbee edition I currently use. My favorite part is the wifi control with my iPhone/pad and my equipment is not located in the theater. I am hoping for that type of control with my pre pro as well.

I have yet to buy any of the above (except the OPPO) but I have been looking into some of the pre pro's and they seem kind of lacking on the high end.
The Marantz 8802a seems to be the leader but the new Anthem 60 looks promising as does the new Emotiva for their respective price range. I was less impressed with the Classe and the NAD for being TOTL and not yet including HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 (but thinking about it) let alone any Atmos processing happening yet.

The projectors I have been looking at mainly come down to the Sony's or a bit less expensive are the Epson's. The Epson's get rave reviews for the price but the new Sony's are from what I can tell (from an Internet perspective) are the cat's meow especially the newer entry level 4K machines, price wise anyways.

The sound will be typical JBL (thats why i'm here right)! I am currently using L C R 2446's w/Be diaphragms and dual 2226's but I have components to build L C R M2's with dual 2216's. I am using 6 8340a's as surrounds and I will install 4 Control 321C's for the ceiling speakers. Subwoofers are 2 2242's and 4 W15GTI's (2 front with the 2242's and 2 rear).

Power is 2 Crown DCi 8|600N's and one 2|1250N (for the GTI's). The L C R is all Bi-amped 4 of the 8340a's are rears (2 channels of the DCi's) 2 are sides so 4 channels used on the DCi's total surrounds. 4 channels for ceiling and the last 2 channels are the 2242's. I could add another HD5000 for the 2242's if needed. (No I am not trying to level my house but I was able to get these at a really good price if I bought what I did!) BTW my theater is in the basement and pretty well insulated from the outside. I do like dynamic range though!!

Does anyone have any experience with this gear? I know Widget has a vast knowledge of this gear and hope he as well as others can respond with helpful information for my movie viewing journey!

Thanks all!!

[RedCoat23]

Hey Junior,
I'm not there yet, but will be soon. I have 7 performance series PT800+PS1400 (LCR, plus sides and rears). Have a JBL 4642a for sub duties.

I just completed my amp setup, running 7x Emotiva XPA-1 for the individual channels, plus a Crown DSI4000 bridged on the sub. Using Onkyo PR-SC5030 preamp for processing - currently supports Atmos. Planning on adding 4x JBL SCS8's for the atmos speakers.

I'm going to Seymour AV for the Screen. A 160" acoustically transparent is about $3.3k. I have a fully working a beautiful picture CRT projector - Sony G70 that does 1080i for the short term. I'll probably move to one of the JVC's as my next projector. Currently using Panasonic Plasma VT-65; last release before they stopped making them.

Like you I'm not trying to level the house, putting 1kw into each speaker (400w sub amp + 600w from Emotiva's), but I really do appreciate clean dynamic power. Crown's putting out 3kw into the big sub. It's a thing of beauty for sure

[Titanium Dome]

I am wondering who here has gone the Dolby Atmos direction?

The Marantz 8802a seems to be the leader but the new Anthem 60 looks promising as does the new Emotiva for their respective price range. I was less impressed with the Classe and the NAD for being TOTL and not yet including HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 (but thinking about it) let alone any Atmos processing happening yet.

The Marantz 8802A is a viable contender. It offers more at a significantly reduced price point than any of the JBL Synthesis stuff. To replace my SDEC and SDP will cost around $30k to upgrade to JBL's electronics set up (including calibration, not including amps, which I don't need); that's not going to happen. The downside to the 8802A is the Audessey "Platinum" MultiEQ® XT32, which is a loser compared to ARCOS.

Plus in my case that would mean getting passive crossovers for the SAM1/SAM2 connection. Still, at 10% of the cost, the Marantz is a comparable steal, and it gets me into Atmos, DTS:X (free firmware upgrade), and Auro-3D ($199 upgrade).

I toyed with the idea of using the SDEC-4000 with the Marantz, but apparently the DACS calibration is no longer possible, due to all the DACS units having crapped out. Unless grumpy can figure out how to hack the SDEC-4000 with some BSS software, it's just recyclable electronics at this point.

Of course, using a non-Synthesis unit will invalidate Synthesis certification, but I can do without another freaking certificate or wall plaque.

[Don C]

Sorry to go off topic, but have you tried flashing the SDEC with the BSS firmware? It would be risky, but if it's not useful now, might as well try.

[baldrick]

We have very similar setup

I use 2216 with 2447BE/M2 LCR, 4x2258/2242 and soon some 2256/W15GTI, surrounds are 4x8340 and I also use 4x8340 in the ceiling for mye Atmos setup, Crown CTS amp and Marantz 8802 (not 8802a so I don't have DTS-X, very dissapointed about that)

I had an early Emotiva XMC1 and didn't like it at allt... it probably much better now after some FW updates but I guess still lack Atmos/DTS-X?

Atmos is lots of fun and I wouldn't miss it... have litle experince with DTS-X yet.

Is UHD realy worth it when there is no 4K material? My thought is not... at least that's not where I would spend my money, way to early.

[JuniorJBL]

Hey Junior,
I'm not there yet, but will be soon. I have 7 performance series PT800+PS1400 (LCR, plus sides and rears). Have a JBL 4642a for sub duties.

I just completed my amp setup, running 7x Emotiva XPA-1 for the individual channels, plus a Crown DSI4000 bridged on the sub. Using Onkyo PR-SC5030 preamp for processing - currently supports Atmos. Planning on adding 4x JBL SCS8's for the atmos speakers.

I'm going to Seymour AV for the Screen. A 160" acoustically transparent is about $3.3k. I have a fully working a beautiful picture CRT projector - Sony G70 that does 1080i for the short term. I'll probably move to one of the JVC's as my next projector. Currently using Panasonic Plasma VT-65; last release before they stopped making them.

Like you I'm not trying to level the house, putting 1kw into each speaker (400w sub amp + 600w from Emotiva's), but I really do appreciate clean dynamic power. Crown's putting out 3kw into the big sub. It's a thing of beauty for sure

Hey Red,

I bought my fabric from Seymour AV and built a 158" 2.4:1 AT screen and I love it. I currently use an Epson 5030 projector and I am only utilizing 110" diag right now.

My room is 100% light controlled so I pretty much can use any projector I would like.

[JuniorJBL]

The Marantz 8802A is a viable contender. It offers more at a significantly reduced price point than any of the JBL Synthesis stuff. To replace my SDEC and SDP will cost around $30k to upgrade to JBL's electronics set up (including calibration, not including amps, which I don't need); that's not going to happen. The downside to the 8802A is the Audessey "Platinum" MultiEQ® XT32, which is a loser compared to ARCOS.

Plus in my case that would mean getting passive crossovers for the SAM1/SAM2 connection. Still, at 10% of the cost, the Marantz is a comparable steal, and it gets me into Atmos, DTS:X (free firmware upgrade), and Auro-3D ($199 upgrade).

I toyed with the idea of using the SDEC-4000 with the Marantz, but apparently the DACS calibration is no longer possible, due to all the DACS units having crapped out. Unless grumpy can figure out how to hack the SDEC-4000 with some BSS software, it's just recyclable electronics at this point.

Of course, using a non-Synthesis unit will invalidate Synthesis certification, but I can do without another freaking certificate or wall plaque.

Hey TD!!

I would skip the certs as well! Not worth the headache IMO when in the end we just want to sit down and enjoy a movie without standing in line at the local theater (definitely not better than a theater in your home) just to have our feet stick to the floor and people who need to get up and walk in front of a good part.... and then there is PAUSE!!

I have an extra BLU80 that would take care of your L C R if need be, heck even your current BSS processors would do that for you. Then you could just go with whatever PrePro you want. Much simpler that way!

Like was said above, it may not be totally worth it just yet to move to 4K but, I sure liked what the new Sony's could do with the upconvert!

Anyways, I hope everything is going well for the two of you!!

[JuniorJBL]

We have very similar setup

I use 2216 with 2447BE/M2 LCR, 4x2258/2242 and soon some 2256/W15GTI, surrounds are 4x8340 and I also use 4x8340 in the ceiling for mye Atmos setup, Crown CTS amp and Marantz 8802 (not 8802a so I don't have DTS-X, very dissapointed about that)

I had an early Emotiva XMC1 and didn't like it at allt... it probably much better now after some FW updates but I guess still lack Atmos/DTS-X?

Atmos is lots of fun and I wouldn't miss it... have litle experince with DTS-X yet.

Is UHD realy worth it when there is no 4K material? My thought is not... at least that's not where I would spend my money, way to early.

Atmos really seems to be the fun factor here for sure! That is the part I am really wanting to get to first.

The new Sony's that upconvert everything to 4K and 2.4:1 are really cool IMO. I really dig scope!!

[Mr. Widget]

I'm not convinced Atmos is worth the trouble, but if it is the goal then the Marantz is likely a good "Affordable" option.

On projectors I've sold and installed a few of Sony's TOTL (consumer) 4K projectors and their next model down. They look very nice with 1080p or 4K content... I'm not terribly pleased with their image when upscaling lower rez content.


Widget

[baldrick]

I bought my fabric from Seymour AV and built a 158" 2.4:1 AT screen and I love it. I currently use an Epson 5030 projector and I am only utilizing 110" diag right now.

I have a 130" 2.4:1 Falcons screen and are not too pleased, what kind of Seymour do you use? DIY frame??

I'm not convinced Atmos is worth the trouble, but if it is the goal then the Marantz is likely a good "Affordable" option.

I really love the Atmos sound and also like what the processor does with DSU upmixing so at least I'm convinced

[JuniorJBL]

I'm not convinced Atmos is worth the trouble, but if it is the goal then the Marantz is likely a good "Affordable" option.

On projectors I've sold and installed a few of Sony's TOTL (consumer) 4K projectors and their next model down. They look very nice with 1080p or 4K content... I'm not terribly pleased with their image when upscaling lower rez content.


Widget

I did not spend much time with the low>high rez function but more on the 1080>2.4:1. That was cool to me but maybe you could shed more light on this subject? I liked that it did not need another lens to do this but I do understand there could be resolution problems doing it this way.

I am all ears to your knowledge Mr. Widget as I know you have installed plenty of this gear.

Thanks for the input so far all!

[JuniorJBL]

I have a 130" 2.4:1 Falcons screen and are not too pleased, what kind of Seymour do you use? DIY frame??

Yes DIY frame and the Center Stage UF material. It has worked well for me but as I mentioned earlier, my room is 100% light controlled and I do prefer the brighter screen material to the high contrast grays. Personal preference.

[JuniorJBL]

I did not spend much time with the low>high rez function but more on the 1080>2.4:1. That was cool to me but maybe you could shed more light on this subject? I liked that it did not need another lens to do this but I do understand there could be resolution problems doing it this way.

I am all ears to your knowledge Mr. Widget as I know you have installed plenty of this gear.

Thanks for the input so far all!

Sorry this should have been 16:9>2.4:1 not 1080.

[Mr. Widget]

Sorry this should have been 16:9>2.4:1 not 1080.

Because these projectors have a very wide zoom range, as long as you plan your room appropriately you can use the memory zoom feature to change aspect ratios to good effect. We've used it with 2.40:1 screens and it works well.

What I was talking about in my earlier post is that when you watch a poorly authored DVD or even Blue-ray disc with significant compression, these projectors don't manage the image and scaling as well as some of the better 3 chip 1080p DLP projectors. Meaning the rendered picture isn't as smooth and artifact free as the better "lower" resolution DLP projectors.


Widget

[JuniorJBL]

Thank you for your input Mr. Widget!

I guess I have always chalked up the poorly authored flicks to "Well that sucked" but I do understand some of those 3-chip projectors are very capable in almost every way.

A little more patience will be necessary before moving forward.