Marantz SR7013 very good for beginner. Audyssey auto sound calibration is easy to use.

Increase your budget get marantz SR5014 or denon 2600 . This is 2020 year latest model. But this is entry level only. Don't expect too much.

This post has been edited by kkthen: Jun 20 2020, 03:48 PM

you need to find at least 5.1.2 AVR for atmos . second one Denon AVR-X250BT only 5.1. first one Denon-AVR-S750H can play atmos .

since you like SVS front speaker , why don't you using all speaker in same model & same brand. you can get consistent sound & same characteristic from every channel. Imagine one racer car come from left to right. Car engine sound will change from left to center , & change again form center to right , because your front & center channel is different brand speaker.

Normally, We recommend Front & center channel same series . Surround & ceiling channel can be same series different models from front channel, but better same brand as front channel. To achieve consistent sound. We also try to use same series speaker cable for front & center channel . Off course , surround speaker cable can be cheaper but also need same series for all surround channel.

Normally Marantz sound more quiet & warmer than denon. . Denon got more exciting sound got cooler sound.

Both marantz & denon are good at movie & music. Their different characteristic aim for different taste of people. Nothing wrong for exciting sound or Warmer sound when playback Celion Dion concert.

sub3010 is more powerful than s10.2, So get the one more powerful.

Front & surround is good combination. Do you use ceiling speaker Or upfiring speaker for atmos surround? A42 only good for upfiring. If you want to install ceiling speaker, you should consider another pairs of 5.2

Yes upfiring is waste of money, unless you room cannot install ceiling speaker . You better get better 5.1.2 Speaker first . If you amp not enough power, you cannot get benefit from 5.1.4. Maybe even worst, more channel need more powerful amp to drive. Some more now imax dts become more title from Sony movies. You need powerful ceiling speaker to handle the bass.


This post has been edited by kkthen: Jul 2 2020, 02:26 PM

you can go to manual setup > levels > run test tone , using SPL meter with weight C, Slow to check each channel speaker include Sub-woofer 75db . But be careful, some SPL meter is not be calibrated properly, may got +- 1.5db error. My SPL meter got this issue, after I compare with my friend SPL meter, find out my meter got +1.5db error. So i always adjust my speaker to 73.5db, but the sound setting is correct.

your situation, Better leave default level after calibration. Do not use Phone app, too much error. Normally Audyssey auto level quit accurate, If you measure multi point mic position. Even got error, only 0.5db error.

This post has been edited by kkthen: May 15 2021, 01:22 PM

2 sub will better one sub. With front & back opposite corner placement. For Small room no need powerful subwoofer, unless you got very good room treatment to handle. For example, My velodyne subwoofer with 1250 watt RMS at living room of small apartment . The room EQ　only allow my subwoofer open sound volume until 5 only. BUT My sub max volume is 99. If I increase volume to 6. My other channel will start become blur.

Yes. Dual sub good for movie & Music. This will improve sound quality of all channel.

This post has been edited by kkthen: Sep 24 2021, 01:32 PM

This mean your ears are upgrade to another level. You need to start invest some 5.1 or 5.1.2 av system to enjoy better sound quality.

This post has been edited by kkthen: Sep 30 2021, 10:51 AM

I think this depend the sound quality of the Movie or TV drama. Some movie I also hard to hear surround sound even I am using 5.1 system.
I like to test surround sound of UHD movie 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) . I can feel monster run at top of my head, even using 5.1 non atmos system.



This post has been edited by kkthen: Sep 30 2021, 11:43 AM

I also stereo kaki long time ago. Now I am enjoy arcam receiver with xtz bookshelf speaker. Mostly I am using stereo mode to enjoy my tv drama, because most of the sources are pcm 2.0 only.Although I try to up-mix 2.0 source to 5.1 with dobly surround mode. But I prefer more natural stereo mode. Although dolby surround mode is louder.

So after that, I give up any upmix surround mode. IF source is dts hd, I play dts HD. source is dolby truhd, i play dolby truhd. If source is Atmos or DTS-x, I play Atmos or DTS-x. IF soure is stereo, I only use left & Right Channel to play.

Yes Bro. This is definitely one kind of surround mode. Actually dolby atmos sound mode make my phone sound terrible. I quickly turn this setting off after test few Music Video song on youtube.

I turn off any sound effect of my mi phone. Non EQ is best. IF you really want to adjust your sound EQ. Better adjust your color temperature of display setting. This will affect your sound quality, but you need very good hearing to distinguish the difference.

This post has been edited by kkthen: Oct 6 2021, 01:14 PM

Not legndary story. Nobody to tell us this information only. Because normally nobody adjust the phone color setting & playing the music at the same time. You can do some simple test. playing a song on Spotify , Toggle ON & OFF the Eyecare mode on your phone quick setting. You should hear Eyecare mode on, your song will become warmer than eyecare mode off. This is fastest way to change your display color temperature in your phone. Eyecare mode are warmer color than normal mode.

Off course, you also can try to change the picture preset. vivid, SRGB or P3 or custom. more red, sound warmer . more blue, sound brighter. Color control actually is EQ. Best sound quality is close to D65 standard, but need calibration equipment. Because all the content like movie, music video , drama. They are using d65 standard to produce. So when our display close to d65 standard. You got better Picture & Sound quality.

This theory also can apply to tv , monitor , projector. User who calibrate their display always can get better sound quality than uncalibrated display sound system, Especially In AV home theater system. Display calibration not only can affect Picture quality , Sound quality also improve which seldom people will notice.

Do you notice, When you change new TV. Your home theater sound system tone will change. Because every TV preset color is difference.

This post has been edited by kkthen: Oct 6 2021, 05:05 PM