Proper surround sound

[Pocster]

I’ve been googling and chatgpt is my new best mate !

Again , some audio fans on here so appreciate the input .

 

Currently have Samsung q990c sound bar and speakers etc - it’s pretty good .

But I feel it’s not the real ‘cinema effect ‘

chatgpt after some dialogue has suggested 

 

 

🧩 FULL SYSTEM SPEC – £3,000 Budget Home Cinema (5.1.4 Dolby Atmos)

 

 

 

🔊

AV Receiver (Brain of the System)

 

 

🎯 Denon AVC-X3800H – 9.4 Channel AVR

 

• Supports 5.1.4 or 7.1.2 out of the box
• 4 independent height channels for Atmos
• Dirac Live (optional upgrade), Audyssey XT32 included
• Great power handling, HDMI 2.1 support
• ~£1,099

 

 

✅ Best-in-class for your budget. Can expand later.

 

 

 

 

🔊

Speaker Package – 5.1 Base Layer

 

 

🎯 Monitor Audio Bronze 200 AV 5.1 Package

Includes:

 

• 2 × Bronze 200 floorstanders (L/R)
• 1 × Bronze C150 center speaker
• 2 × Bronze FX surrounds (on-wall, bipole/dipole switchable)
• 1 × Bronze W10 subwoofer

 

 

~£999

 

✅ Great performance-to-price ratio, good build quality, tight cinematic sound.

 

 

 

 

🔊

Overhead Atmos Channels (x4)

 

 

🎯 4 × Monitor Audio C165 In-Ceiling Speakers

 

• 6.5” drivers, angled tweeters for better imaging
• Clean, unobtrusive install
• Ideal for Atmos height layers
• ~£400 (for 4 speakers)

 

 

Optional: Upgrade to C265-IDC (~£600–700 for 4) if you want angled mids & highs for sharper Atmos directionality.

 

I picked a ‘fair’ budget of 3k . No idea if that’s good enough .

As I have my nice to access ceiling - then in ceiling speakers are easy .

 

But will I notice the difference between this and my Samsung ? - will I be blown away ?

 

Any advice / suggestions appreciated !

[Thorfun]

Yes! A dedicated Atmos setup will blow a soundbar away. But I question the need for 4 Atmos speakers. A 7.1.2 setup if your room will accommodate the extra surround speakers would suffice? I’ve previously had a 5.1.2 system and that was darn good. 
I would suggest work out where the screen and sofa would go and then see what speakers you can fit in the space around it. 
I’m very excited for you. I can’t wait until I’m able to do the cinema but it’s years away sadly. But, then again, you have already been building for about 5 more years than me. 

[Thorfun]

I would suggest going to a local store to their demo room and try it all out. We have Sevenoaks Sound and vision down this way but I’m pretty sure Richer Sounds have demo rooms. You can sample an Atmos setup there. 

Edited Saturday at 15:30 by Thorfun

[Thorfun]

They have one in Bristol. https://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/sevenoaks-Bristol

[Pocster]

7 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

They have one in Bristol. https://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/sevenoaks-Bristol

I will . Already booked it in .

what are you doing audio wise for your cinema room ?

[Oz07]

I think richer sounds have insurance backed 7yr guarantees on all their products too? Did have something like that last time I used them

[Thorfun]

13 minutes ago, Pocster said:

I will . Already booked it in .

what are you doing audio wise for your cinema room ?

Great question!! Not really planned it out yet but I’m thinking 7.1.4 at least. Maybe 9.2.4 if I can stretch to it. 
But if I start thinking too much about it now I’ll not be able to stop and it’ll consume every waking hour!

[crispy_wafer]

Upgrade’ itis is strong with av use it to your advantage when looking at richer sounds/sevenoaks av.com, peter tyson etc they often have ex demo, trade in stuff at useful prices.

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, Thorfun said:

Great question!! Not really planned it out yet but I’m thinking 7.1.4 at least. Maybe 9.2.4 if I can stretch to it. 
But if I start thinking too much about it now I’ll not be able to stop and it’ll consume every waking hour!

I know the feeling . I think you should just get on with it . 😊 . Your SWMBO will be well (un)impressed 

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, crispy_wafer said:

Upgrade’ itis is strong

Absolutely. I try and better my awol 3500pro ust - but currently can’t ! . 

[crispy_wafer]

And… if you haven’t already have a browse of avforums.com the forum bit, and classifieds

Edited Saturday at 16:03 by crispy_wafer

[Kelvin]

It will with the caveat that it really depends on the source material. Only some of the streaming services do Atmos and even the ones that do the quality is mixed. The difference between an Ultra HD  disc with an Atmos mix compared to the same thing streamed is significant in my experience. I also noticed that some streamed content that claims to be Atmos doesn’t trigger Atmos in the amp. Therefore I’d look at the streaming services you use to see if they have much Atmos content and if it costs extra. Consequently I have started collecting Ultra HD Blu-Rays. It also makes birthdays and Xmas presents easy for everyone now as I just give them a list of films to buy me. There are also loads for sale second hand albeit many  Ultra HD discs are collectible so command dearer prices second hand.  
 

Probably the best comparison is Bladerunner 2049. It really shows off Atmos (or directional sound) and the difference between the disc and the streamed version is  huge. When I first set the system up and was just watching streamed stuff I was actually a bit disappointed with Atmos until I added the Blu-Ray player and bought a few discs. I have the 50th collectors edition of The Dark Side of the Moon which has an Atmos mix and it’s incredible. 
 

I went all in with the home cinema in terms of sound anyway and have a 9.1.4 system driven by a Denon XA8500H AVR and a Musical Fidelity MS6si to drive my front main speakers (well I had that anyway  for my Hi-Fi so just integrated it) 

 

In conclusion if I was only using streaming services I don’t think I’d bother and just stick with a good soundbar and sub. 

Edited Saturday at 16:28 by Kelvin

[Thorfun]

18 minutes ago, crispy_wafer said:

And… if you haven’t already have a browse of avforums.com the forum bit, and classifieds

Yeah. I’ve bought some good stuff (and sold!) through that forum. 

[Thorfun]

21 minutes ago, Pocster said:

I know the feeling . I think you should just get on with it . 😊 . Your SWMBO will be well (un)impressed 

I’ll get the landscaping done first and then can start thinking about the fun stuff

[MikeSharp01]

31 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

Not really planned it out yet but I’m thinking 7.1.4 at least. Maybe 9.2.4 if I can stretch to it. 
But if I start thinking too much about it now I’ll not be able to stop and it’ll consume every waking hour!

To late  if you want anything other the simple you need to get the wiring in for the speakers and a power point for each woofer, power points for all the speakers if you are hoping to go for wireless.

[Thorfun]

1 minute ago, MikeSharp01 said:

To late  if you want anything other the simple you need to get the wiring in for the speakers and a power point for each woofer, power points for all the speakers if you are hoping to go for wireless.

Nah! It’s in the basement and is just bare concrete walls at the moment so plenty of time to plan and run cables. 

[ProDave]

Personally I never see the need for an "AV Amp"  That will route all input sources through that and output sound to the speaker and video to the tv.  But more complicated to set up and my bugbear another remote control to juggle with.

 

Instead I let the tv do all AV input selecting.  Take Digital audio out from the tv to my very much simpler surround sound amp which is in fact just a DVD player with surround sound.  I use 2 of these one in each living room and as they are old tech, you can get them cheap as chips I paid £20 for one recently a Sony, when it's predecessor failed and beat my attempts at fixing it.

 

What is your budget and do you have to have new?

[Kelvin]

Modern AV amps are a breeze to setup. The Denon has a setup ‘Wizard’ you follow that once and it’s done. Setting the sound balance for the room acoustics is a bit more involved but worth doing. Mine has Audyssey MultEQ XT32  built in and comes with a microphone but the process is relatively straightforward. I have one remote to rule them all so that’s not a big deal either. 

[Kelvin]

The Ultra HD Blu-Ray player of choice is the Panasonic DP-UB820. Has all the performance of its much more expensive big brother but less than half the price. Costs £349 but is occasionally on sale. I got mine for £290. Second hand around £250. 
 

Peter Tyson is often very competitively priced for most stuff. It’s where I got my Denon Amp. 

Edited Saturday at 17:34 by Kelvin

[Pocster]

1 hour ago, MikeSharp01 said:

To late  if you want anything other the simple you need to get the wiring in for the speakers and a power point for each woofer, power points for all the speakers if you are hoping to go for wireless.

Not an issue for me with my special ceiling 💪💪💪😎

[Pocster]

36 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Modern AV amps are a breeze to setup. The Denon has a setup ‘Wizard’ you follow that once and it’s done. Setting the sound balance for the room acoustics is a bit more involved but worth doing. Mine has Audyssey MultEQ XT32  built in and comes with a microphone but the process is relatively straightforward. I have one remote to rule them all so that’s not a big deal either. 

Yeah I’ve been reading about Dirac …. This seems to make everything easy !

[Pocster]

1 hour ago, Thorfun said:

Nah! It’s in the basement and is just bare concrete walls at the moment so plenty of time to plan and run cables. 

Landscaping just fannying around with soil and gravel and thinking you’re a tit marsh . Do the (expletive deleted)ing cinema room 💪

[Thorfun]

20 minutes ago, Pocster said:

Not an issue for me with my special ceiling 💪💪💪😎

Special ceiling for a special boy

[Thorfun]

18 minutes ago, Pocster said:

Landscaping just fannying around with soil and gravel and thinking you’re a tit marsh . Do the (expletive deleted)ing cinema room 💪

It still costs money!

[Pocster]

17 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

It still costs money!

Bag of gravel , bag of dirt . Do the real stuff ffs 😊👍💪