Indeed a good, well-matching centre channel speaker is highly recommended for movie watching. I find with surround music though that it often is better to have a saved setup that splits the centre channel between the front left and rights. This is because the large soundstage presence that one knows from high-quality stereo listening can be destroyed when there is a very short Jim Morrison or John Lennon singing from the horizontal centre channel speaker. Smart ATMOS mixers keep the vocals in the left right channels. Examples of doing it right include Prince Purple Rain and Pink Floyd Animals.
Suggestions for audiophile grade receiver for Home theater setup
Hi folks,
I am in the process of setting up my media room. I am very happy with its music performance. The home theater (HT) experience is lacking the surround effects (basically HDMI from TV converted to PCM stereo on Optical out).
Objective is to make HT experience as engaging as 2.1 channel music with amazing sound quality.
Background
Meida room - 85" TV, 9 ft viewing distance, 14 x 20 ft room. Audio gear includes pair of Focal Sopra 2, HSU MK15 sub, NAD M32 stereo amp. Basically a 2.1 setup. See pic
Content: Mainly streaming from Youtube, Netflix. Genres include Podcasts, Sports, News, Travel/Nature videos, Some music during weekends from Youtube and Spotify, few movies a month. I know these sources don't have the highest resolutions. But they have great access and convenience.
Options I tried
Recently I tested with a Denon AVR 2800H - wired it to the Focals and sub, along with Kef Meta Q1 for surrounds. A 4.1 setup. While this provided the surround effects. It led to a huge loss of sound quality in the fronts and sub. The sound lacked detail, power, it felt very thin.
Then I also tried a 2.1 setup - Denon, Focals, sub - this was a huge dip in sound quality, in comparison to NAD amp
What are the options going forward to make cinema sound as high quality and engaging as the current Focal/NAD setup for music?
- ...
- 25 posts total
- 25 posts total

