Receiver upgrade to 5.2.4

marvinwright1

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Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of advice, I'm just building a new home cinema room which has 4 ceiling speakers for Atmos.
My fronts are Monitor Audio GS20's a bit old but I just love the look of them.
I have been running them with my current Denon AVR-2809, this allowed me to use zone 2 to bi-amp the front speakers.
I'm trying to decide what amplifier to get next, ones I'm considering are the Denon AVC-X3700H, Marantz SR6015, Denon AVC-X4700 and Marantz SR7015.
What I notice about these amplifiers though are that the surround speakers which I would not be using in a 5.2.4 setup are not re-assignable, only the height speakers, so none of these allow me to bi-amp my fronts (if I understand correctly). Should I care and just run the fronts off the 2 front channels off one of these amps or should I do something else?
Any advice is welcome.
Thank you.

Marvin.
 
Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of advice, I'm just building a new home cinema room which has 4 ceiling speakers for Atmos.
My fronts are Monitor Audio GS20's a bit old but I just love the look of them.
I have been running them with my current Denon AVR-2809, this allowed me to use zone 2 to bi-amp the front speakers.
I'm trying to decide what amplifier to get next, ones I'm considering are the Denon AVC-X3700H, Marantz SR6015, Denon AVC-X4700 and Marantz SR7015.
What I notice about these amplifiers though are that the surround speakers which I would not be using in a 5.2.4 setup are not re-assignable, only the height speakers, so none of these allow me to bi-amp my fronts (if I understand correctly). Should I care and just run the fronts off the 2 front channels off one of these amps or should I do something else?
Any advice is welcome.
Thank you.

Marvin.
Personally I'm not a fan of bi-amping and I'm not sure there are many options for that sort of set up.

My current 7.1.4 set up using a Yamaha RX-A3080 with and external amp for the rear Atmos speakers can be configured for 5.2.4 with bi-amped fronts. The current RX-A8A, I think, can be configured for bi-amping but at more that twice the price of the X4700 and SR7015 not really an option.
 
Sorry for maybe a dumb question, I was just looking at the output on the back of your Yamaha RX-A3080, how are you connecting to an external amp for the rear atmos and is that external amp just a stereo amp?

Thanks,

Marvin
 
The x6700 can bi-amp the fronts and do 5.x.4.

But, if you are looking for "more audio fidelity in the front channels" e.g. for music, then I'd say an x3700 running with fronts internal amps disconnected and an Audiolab 6000A (for example) connected to the front pre outs.

If you want to stream music, you'd need the "6000A Play" or a plug in streamer to connect to the Audiolab.

May be worth checking first that the 50w per channel is enough for your listening habits, room and speakers first but the other bonus is the separate dedicated power supply and 60,000µF of caps for your front channels (more capacitance on tap than there is in total in the Denon AVR).
 
I'm trying to decide what amplifier to get next, ones I'm considering are the Denon AVC-X3700H, Marantz SR6015, Denon AVC-X4700 and Marantz SR7015.
What I notice about these amplifiers though are that the surround speakers which I would not be using in a 5.2.4 setup are not re-assignable, only the height speakers, so none of these allow me to bi-amp my fronts (if I understand correctly). Should I care and just run the fronts off the 2 front channels off one of these amps or should I do something else?
I don't understand this comment but maybe missing something. All the AVRs you listed have 9 on-board amplifier channels so surely you would be using all of them in a 5.2.4 set-up wouldn't you?
 
I don't understand this comment but maybe missing something. All the AVRs you listed have 9 on-board amplifier channels so surely you would be using all of them in a 5.2.4 set-up wouldn't you?
Maybe its my understand, but don't they have 11 channels plus 2 sub pre-outs, there are no amps for the subs. So in a 5.2.4 I would only be using 9 channels and the 2 side surrounds would not be used. In the above amps I mentioned the 2 side surrounds are not assignable, so they are wasted.
That how I understand it but maybe I am also missing something 🤷‍♂️
 
Maybe its my understand, but don't they have 11 channels plus 2 sub pre-outs, there are no amps for the subs. So in a 5.2.4 I would only be using 9 channels and the 2 side surrounds would not be used. In the above amps I mentioned the 2 side surrounds are not assignable, so they are wasted.
That how I understand it but maybe I am also missing something 🤷‍♂️
I see. You’re mistaken, they have 11.1 channels of processing (and therefore pre-outs) but only 9 on-board power amplifiers. So to run 7.1.4 you would need to add 2 channels of external amplification.

To get 11 channels of amplification in the AVR you would have to move up to the X6700 or SR8015.
 
Last edited:
Ok understood, so I'll actually run 5.1.4, 1 sub pre out goes to an iNuke amplifier I have with 2 subs from there.
So maybe to start with I use the fronts with the AVR amp and at a later date if I feel I want more power for the fronts to add an external amp dedicated to the fronts.
 

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