Seeking wisdom: Creating a 5.1 system based on musical 2 ch listening


Hello all! I am in the process of researching a new home theatre / music build out for my living room and would love to tap into the collective wisdom here. I've read a bunch of posts like this and thought I would throw my hat in the ring. The level of detail that follows is informed from my scrolling through more threads than I can recall - thanks in advance for reading and offering your perspective. Here it goes...

  • My budget for speakers / power is $10k. I'd like to build a 5.1 system for 50% movies & video games / 50% music (though with a new set up I will likely listen to more music). Given the room set up, I'd rather not get into Atmos or anything beyond 5.1 at this point. 
  • The living room size is 5m x 5m, with a sloping ceiling height of (3.35m) at the rear of the room and  2.13m at the front of the room. The room has hardwood floors, and behind the main listening position an archway runs 3m wide 2.13m high that opens into the kitchen. There won't be any speakers placed in the kitchen, the openness of the living room flowing into the kitchen should ideally provide the right amount of musicality for the kitchen. 
  • I plan to keep and incorporate into the following into my next system: 
    • Sony Bravia 65 XA80J OLED 4K
    • Apple TV 4K 
    • PS5  (PS3 & PS4 are alive and in storage until I set up the rest of system)
  • I also have a 11+ year old Denon AVR 591 + Boston Acoustics MCS 95 that still functions (receiver had power supply replaced 7 or 8 years ago). I share this in case there is any piece of this system I could incorporate into future build. 
  • For music, the plan is to stream 100% of content from Qobuz / Tidal et al. I don't currently have a dedicated network streamer (presently it is Spotify from iPhone to apple tv output through Denon 591)
  • For movies / TV, would be streaming from apple 4k / PS5. PS5 has disc drive so can use that to play UHD discs if I decide to purchase physical copy vs streaming. 
  • My approach has been to demo 2ch floorstanders, find a pair I like best for music and then build out the 5.1 system based on that. To date, I have listened to the following worth mentioning: 
    • Focal Chora 826
    • B&W 602 S3; 702 S2, 703 S2
    • Paradigm Founder 80F 
    • Sonus Faber Lumina III, V, Sonetto III
    • Revel F208

Out of all these, I enjoy the sound of the Revel F208 most. I will be taking a demo pair home next weekend with a used NAD 777. I will report back here on how that goes. 

I did an in home demo for a weekend with the Paradigm 80F paired with a used NAD T778, ran Dirac and streamed Qobuz. It sounded great after tweaking the Dirac calibration however I felt like I needed 'more speaker' to fill the room as the off axis sound from this set up made me wanting. 

A few questions: 

1. If I were to go with the F208, and the matched Revel C208 with revel M106 rears - what subwoofer / amp / AVR/ network streamer would make the most sense given my 5.1 aspiration / general use plans and budget? ( I am very open to used gear)

2. I appreciate there are a lot of good speakers out there - what 2ch speaker set-ups are missing from the above list given all else I've described?

 

Glad to answer follow up questions on any of the above. Happy listening. 

- M

Ag insider logo xs@2xmatt_mccloat

Just ran into this thread and bumped it.

Lots of stuff to digest - but a few questions:

- How important is gaming to you (if you still have a PS3 & 4, I'd imagine you enjoy a little bit of gaming)?  If relatively important, and based on your display (noice choice, BTW), it may add the constraint (plus cost!) of an AVR that's HDMI 2.1a capable.  Moreover, if the case, I believe they would put the cost of any Pre/Pro out of reach (even used).  Possible to do an eARC feedback from your TV, however.

- Music adds a nuance to the equation.  Disregarding HDMI 2.1a for a moment, and assuming dedicated stereo only sessions - apart from an AVR, you could go down the "real nice" integrated with an outboard 5.1 processor.  The integrated would need a tape or processor loop, and you can switch sources on HDMI 2.1a via your TV (as previously stated), using eARC if necessary.

Wondering if you have an update - judging from the date of your original post, maybe you've already bought and set everything up?