The Past, Present & Future of Home Cinema.

[CSchmidlapp]

How do most here chose to listen to there audio?

I have a mid level 5.1 setup (Pioneer LX56 AV amp with Kef IQ Speakers) and pipe all my audio through that from my PC.
The pioneers abillity to upmix 2 channel is really good but I often just leave alone, with just my L and R speakers actiive on Stereo mixes. Im also having my PC decode the audio lately so it's a PCM stream.

I can see where the advantage of having Height Speakers, if it is encoded in the original mix.
For many years I just had a 2.1 system and my PC downmixed / upmixed which to be fair was pretty dam good! Especally if you are at a central listening position.

[Colek]

I'm just using my 2.0 setup with audiophile level speakers that I primarly bought for my vinyls collection, but ended up connecting to TV as well (through Marantz amplifier). I don't feel the need for going more than stereo.

[CSchmidlapp]

I'm just using my 2.0 setup with audiophile level speakers that I primarly bought for my vinyls collection, but ended up connecting to TV as well (through Marantz amplifier). I don't feel the need for going more than stereo.

Are you using a PC for playback ?

[zoidberg]

I used to have 6.1 but now it's 5.1 (although I would love an extra sub). All my processing is done by the AV receiver. Generally I decode dolby surround to prologic 2 movie mode but if I'm feeling traditional I use standard prologic. Still can't beat a full dynamic range 2.0/5.1 track

[Beber]

I'm using a new ('cause my previous Denon died a few months back) Pioneer receiver/amplifier that decodes Atmos and dts-X, although I'm using it in 5.0 (my Denon was 7 years old and only decoded TrueHD, dts HDMA at the time). I convey the bass towards the front stereo column speakers that both have a nice woofer, so no subwoofer and I'm sure my neighbours are glad about that. My 5.0 set of speakers are from the Jamo brand.
For playback, I'm using a Zapitti One 4K HDR player (only used in 1080p on a 55 inches OLED LG. I dont' have a UHD TV) since that very same period I changed my receiver/amplifier. Before that, I had (and still have) a Dune HD Max.

[Colek]

I'm just using my 2.0 setup with audiophile level speakers that I primarly bought for my vinyls collection, but ended up connecting to TV as well (through Marantz amplifier). I don't feel the need for going more than stereo.

Are you using a PC for playback ?

Mostly, yes. I keep most Blurays burned on discs for archiving purposes (got BD drive in PC), but also got region free BD player.

I'm using PotPlayer with MadVR video renderer (for 4K upscaling on my TV) and some audio upsampling in PotPlayer for 32-bit 192khz playback.

[captainsolo]

Onkyo TX-nr626 7.1, Klipsch towers for the mains, kv-1 center, kg.5 bookshelfs for surrounds, swv sub for LFE. I use my PS3 for DVDs and BD matched to my Sony XBR960 HDCRT, LX-900 for LD using the Sony's magnificent comb filtering and image processing.

I leave all audio untouched and have to disable my rear surrounds to force 5.1 on all modern 5.1 DTSHD tracks as they stupidly told manufacturers to force a faux 7.1 upmix. The only thing I do is to still set my crossover at a normal level as if I still had bookshelves as my mains to make it easier on my receiver for power processing.

Despite this being a hodgepodge of mainly outdated equipment I remain quite pleased with it. After much tinkering it sounds pretty damn good. Of course I don't really have the best environment for a HT and am so ridiculously dedicated I crammed it all into my only available space-my bedroom. No plans for Atmos/X anytime soon as I don't have the space and outside of new films mixed for it think it will be a gimmick applied to catalog releases.