lol, I actually hit this last night. I’ve encountered it a few times. Maybe ~12 times over the last 2 years of ownership. Very annoying and loud when it happens, but hasn’t been frequent enough to warrant any buyer remorse or desire to switch to a different speaker option. Hopefully Sonos is able to isolate and address with a software update.
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Ok, that’s good to know. That should not keep me from buying either a Beam 2 or Arc. I feel like I could go for a Beam 2, but later maybe regret it and wishing I’d had spent a bit extra for the Arc. Because Arc actually has upfiring speakers, right? The top is open while closed on the Beam 2.
Correct. While the second generation of the Beam has been updated to be able to support Atmos, it didn’t change the speaker layout to support height effects via upfiring speakers. The Arc was designed from the start to fully support Atmos, including height effects via upfiring speakers. It’s well worth the premium from the Beam to the Arc (IMO).
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Plus that some people on Ebay like sites sell them for 750 euros or so, new in the box. So if that comes with a receit too…that is a damn good deal.
Oh as for the Atmos pop. From what I am reading is that only the actual Atmos supported games have that pop. Dude on Neogaf said he was playing Halo and had that loud pop twice within an hour of playing. He disabled Atmos for fear of damaging the speaker otherwise. So it seems like the tons of non Atmos supported games are fine.
Yeah i just want some more low end in my pc set up
Nothing snazzy lol
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Has anyone heard anything about possibly some 2022 model year AVRs? Or are we pretty much stuck with what’s already available that is mostly 2021 products?
In what regards? Proper 120hz/VRR support? If so, the Denon 760H actually supports both and is a budget model. I picked one up a few months back, and while it’s got one less HDMI port than I needed and technically less wattage per channel than my old 2016 Onkyo (which is infamous for bloating power numbers), it’s been absolutely stellar for my 5.1 system.
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I was wondering if maybe Denon had a roadmap for 2022 models. I know the recommended Denon models are mostly the 2021 model years which is the 760H and 1700H. I’m not sure what they would even improve on newer models. I’m mainly looking at it from the aspect of having more consumer choices and maybe pushing prices down a little.
I’m rocking a Sonos Beam Gen 2 along with the Ikea bookshelf speakers in the back; waiting for that cheaper Sonos Subwoofer to come out to finish my setup. Quite surprised by the Sonos stuff, sounds good enough for me and while the Arc seemed nice, I don’t have a huge living room and didn’t think doubling the price would be worth it on the sound bar.
I rock a Audio-Technica vinyl player with a set of Edifiers R1280T speakers for when I’m in the mood for some lossless music in a more traditional form. I’ve started collecting gaming soundtracks not too long ago and really got hooked, spending a few thousand dollars already (some of those out of print albums don’t come for cheap) and no end in sight lol!
As for Headphones, I rock some Airpod Pros for the gym although they are starting to fail me and will probably get replaced by some Beats. I also have Beats Wireless for late night bed viewing on my phone, and for my PC and Xbox Series X when I need to keep it quiet at night, I use Steel Series 1X wireless headset. They sound decent enough and are super light and feel sturdy to me.
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I was planning to pickup an HDMI 2.1 AVR in September, but that plan is put on hold for a couple more months.
I’m trying not to have to many projects going on at once and my upgrade is now focusing on my networking gear. The surprise FIBER installation in my neighborhood has pushed me to begin upgrading to 10 GB. For less than the cost of what I pay monthly for DOCSIS I should be able to get 5 GB internet service. For half the cost I can get 2 GB Synchronous. Sorry for babbling on, but there hasn’t been competition in local internet providers in decades.
Maybe if timings work out, I’ll be able to pick up a decent Black Friday / Holiday Sales discount on an HDMI 2.1 AVR.
I still have some questions about Dolby Atmos. How does the Atmos Height Virtualization sound on existing 7.1 setups – is it worth it to enable it? Or any suggestions on altering a 7.1 into a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos?
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I really want a pair of Syng Cells (maybe even three for a full room eventually, but they’re expensive).
They seem like the best solution for both home theater AND music. I’ve never heard a home theater setup that does music very well.
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I grabbed an open box sale on Crutchfield for the Onkyo TX-RZ50. I am quite happy with it after figuring out how to get 4k/120 and VRR working!
I use a 7.1.2 set up for atmos so I can attest to enjoying the heights but cannot speak to the simulated height effectiveness. For the “atmos” soundbar I have in a bedroom, I don’t notice the effect at all.
I can understand this! I hear a lot more detail in my Sennheiser headphones than I do in the home theater (even accounting for an actual bass speaker). With the new Onkyo TX-RZ50, I noticed a wonderful increase in musical detail after I ran the auto calibration. Still not as good as high end head phones, but for cranking it up to shake the house during a cleaning party, it sounds damn good to me!
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Thank you for reminding me that I needed to get back to you. I actually heard back from my buddy a while ago and forgot to respond. Ultimately, it depends on what your goals are because the Sync Cells are very much just a larger, more powerful HomePod - which makes sense given that Chris Stringer (one of the lead designers of the HomePod) founded the company and engineered the Cell. I’m going to distill what I was told by my friend (who not only knows his stuff but we both share a similar attention to detail and preference of sound).
The good:
- If bass is your thing, you’re going to love these apparently and I was told to clarify that it’s not just a lot of bass, but clear, punchy bass (no muddy Sony speaker sound here - his exact words).
- Its multi-mic room correction is fantastic.
- Build quality seems solid (important given its an integrated solution - ie internal amp).
- Positioning isn’t an issue due to its room correction and down-firing sub.
The bad:
- Soundstage is not great if you’re listening to music that highlights wider soundstaging or movies that have accurate channel mixes.
- It’s not going to be as resolving and detailed across the spectrum compared to a decent pair of towers (for music) or a decent tower+center+bookshelf mix for home theater.
- It is not particularly accurate.
- Its sweetspot is narrow and almost requires near-field listening; supposedly if pairing that sweetspot issue is mitigated.
Overall, it’s a good solution if you don’t want to deal with pairing a proper amp/receiver with a good set of speakers. If accuracy, resolution, and soundstage are important however I wouldn’t recommend it; I feel like your point about home theater setups not doing music justice has more to do with the pairing of amp and speakers than anything else. I’ve had Polk, DefTech, Bowers and Wilkins, Fluance, KEF, and Yamaha speakers paired with a variety of electronics, and while I did spend hundreds of hours researching and testing options before picking each, all of them excelled at music, movies, and games. All that was required was choosing the right speakers, amp/avr, and positioning properly (I don’t have much room treatment other than curtains, furniture, and a single scatter panel).
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Sorry I missed this man, and yeah I can’t believe I didn’t realize that I had the 760H as long as I have (COVID has borked my sense of time). Did you see the 2022 lineup from Denon now that it’s out? My experience with Denon’s HDMI 2.1 support has faired far better than my previous Onkyo (which was advertised to have the support but never actually did).
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I had not, so thank you for letting me know they got something new. Now I have something to look at while watching the Cleveland Browns find a new way to Not Win tonight!
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After having upgraded all my setups over the last 12 months, I didn’t think I’d get excited over anything new that wasn’t already on my wishlist down the road (LS60, a Focal or Paradigm here and there). At least I didn’t think I would until B&W announced the S3 line of their 700 series speakers. Tons of trickle down tech from their 800 Diamond series, some great-looking new baffles, and some pretty competitive pricing have me thinking some of them are the next target to save for.
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I had a look at the new Denon AVR 2022 lineup. Looks nice, but they’re really missing the ideal product for me, a S770H 2022. They have the 970H 2022, but of course that’s several hundred more and twice the price of a Refurbished 760H 2021. At least there are a few more options to consider now.
I’ve got the upgrade itch but haven’t decided exact order to do it in – AVR, TV, PC, SERVER. I probably won’t know until after I hit [ORDER] on the shopping cart.
If only I could find a winning lottery ticket, then I could upgrade everything all at once. 
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I hear you man. Aside from fully functional HDMI 2.1, what are your other requirements? What is your watt per channel or channel count reqs, for example?
Outside of the need for HDMI 2.1 goodness for gaming to an eventual 4K 120HZ VRR TV, no real strong requirements. It would be nice to minimize possible headaches with 120Hz VRR gaming and EARC. That was the main driver for waiting to see what 2022 models may bring. I figured I’m bound to hit one or both of those issues depending on connection being Console → TV → AVR or Console → AVR → TV.
My current setup is a refurbished Denon X3000. It has entirely more watts per channel then I really ever use and possibly more than the speakers actually support. I know the S760H would be plenty and then some from a watts per channel standpoint.
The speakers are nothing amazing and the same ones been using for a decade plus now. They were part of an Onkyo 750X setup. Looking at the specs I can find says MAX 110W.
It’s a 7.1 setup so would be nice to keep that layout but could see maybe switching it up for a 5.1.2. I don’t think I’m sold on a 7.1.2 setup yet. I think that 7.1.2 pushes the setup up to the higher tier products.
I have no strong ties for or against any particular brands, other than to say over the years I suffered at the hands of Onkyo receivers blowing out their HDMI boards on 4 different AVRs and replacement cost being obscene – my setups, parents, and sisters. The refurbished Denon replacements are still going strong.
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Man, I feel the Onkyo apprehension to a T (had two boards go out between 2014 and 2020, and one AVR that I got rid of because it never supported its marketed features), though I still have a TX NR656 going strong… but mainly because I only use it as a 2 channel amp (which will soon be replaced by the Denon PMA 600NE on its way). I don’t have any strong ties to any brand necessarily either; I tend to have brands I avoid more so, though to be fair to Denon I’ve had nothing but stellar experiences thus far (along with most Sound United brands).
Another thing I’ll say about Onkyo is that after having tested, and seen others, they tend to exaggerate their wattage and THD by some amount, so I wouldn’t those figures as gospel. If you know you’re within a few feet of each speaker and they have a decent sensitivity rating, you’re likely not using anywhere near as much as power as you think you might need (or at least, I know that was the case for me when I started diving into the calculations in 2020).
I haven’t looked too much into the new lineup but as luck would have it, Audioholics just put a massive overview today 
Edit: well holy shit, the new A series has four sub outs… talk about overkill…
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