Well that didn't take long. Found my local shop had a couple of KH120a in as well as some Gravity stands and so splashed out for some retail therapy given another school lockdown.
The layout in the photo is a temporary arrangement, I wasn't sure where to wall mount the speakers and so just wanted stands to try out different heights and spacings. I'll experiment a while before I mount them.
I also know the speakers aren't in the correct orientation, I did this as they are more stable like this and more likely to survive wife/child attacks... but also because it matches my KH310 aesthetically ;-)
You can just about see one of my Mission77ds on the far left. Those two as you can see are much higher and further spaced out than I wanted to try with the KH120a.
For tonight I didn't do anything with REW of the PEQ (everything set to 0 correction), I set the volume adjustment to 0 and the distances I measured manually. Bass correction on the speaker of -7.5db, I went for a db output which sounded roughly right for the test tone on the Yamaha 3070.
I tried them out for 30mins or so with Blade Runner (opening to the first interview) played 3 times (once all speakers, then twice with just the KH120a), then I listed to some Fleetwood Mac in 2 channel front, 2 channel rear (9 channel mode and turning off the fronts) and 9channel mode.
No question the KH120a whip the 77ds for the music and I personally love music in 9 channel mode which sounds cohesive again (with the KH310 + Mission 77ds in 9 channel mode things sounded dire).
For Blade Runner I was amazed how I didn't feel I was missing anything compared to the 77ds. Vangelis sounded just as spacious, the room felt alive. Rear sounds felt like they had more impact down below somehow and the panning of the craft flying by felt very smooth.
I've heard that first few minutes of Blade Runner a great many times on my (and other set ups) so any equipment of mine has to sound great with that!
So I was amazed how good they sounded basically out of the box and probably not even at the right height, spacing or angle!
I should try plugging in the 77ds for 7.1 for the hell of it, but clearly the speakers aren't in the right positions for this, with the KH120 being better currently placed for back speakers from what I can tell.
One thing which is clear to me is that their placing is going to give a small "sound bubble" but it's no worse than the 77ds to be honest.
So assuming I don't bother with using the 77ds anymore that leaves me with purely active speakers and in the market for a decent processor if one will beat my Yamaha 3070 to my ears.