At this year's CEDIA Expo in Denver, over a dozen different audio companies were showing off the latest craze in surround sound: Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos adds a new dimension to surround sound (literally, it adds height channels) and this seems to be getting consumers excited about audio again. Receiver maker Onkyo and its sister brand Integra were no exception. Both offred full-blown Dolby Atmos demos in their booths.
In the Integra booth, they were showing the DHC-80.6 Network A/V Controller ($3,200) in a full 7.2.4 configuration (7 surrounds, 2 subwoofers and 4 height speakers) using Cabasse in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for a discreet (yet discrete!) implementation. Power amplification was handled by the company's 7-channel DTA-70.1 ($1,800) and 2-channel ADM-20.4 ($400) amplifiers.
The Cabasse speaker complement included three of the Altura MC-LCR ($5,500/ea), four of the Minorca In-wall for surround side and rear channels ($1,500/pair), and four of the Archipel 17 ICD for in-ceiling height channels ($800/pair). Low end was handled by two of the the Santorin 30 subwoofers ($5,000/ea - not yet available in the US). So that's about $30K worth of speakers driven by a little over $5K in electronics.
Since Dolby Atmos content is hard to come by, Integra used the standard Dolby Atmos test disc that everyone else was using at the show. The "Leaf" trailer offered a nicely immersive wide and tall soundfield with seamless integration between the numerous speakers. After that, spears flew dangerously close above our heads in the "Star Trek Into Darkness" clip. I think a couple of us actually ducked. In other words, it sounded like it was supposed to sound with excellent representation of the three dimensional soundfield. The fact that these speakers disappear into the wall and ceiling gets bonus points, particularly at a custom installation show like CEDIA Expo.
The Onkyo folks went for a slightly more modest 5.1.4 system (five surrounds, one subwoofer and four overhead speakers) driven by their upcoming flagship receiver. Speakers were provided by Definitive Technology. Specifically we heard the Mythos ST-L for left and right ($2,499/each), Mythos Ten ($899) as a center channel speaker, a pair of SR8080BP bipolar speakers in the rear ($349/each), four of the Di8R in-ceiling speakers ($329/each) for height channels and a single Supercube 6000 ($999) to supplement the low end.
Driving it all was Onkyo's new flagship TX-NR3030 receiver ($2,399.99). This demo was in a more open environment so there were some distractions from noises on the show floor. But this system also appeared to be doing what it should with a nice soundfield that stretched out the full width and height of the demo area. Bass response was solid and dynamic range was clean and extended.
Onkyo's Marketing and Product Planning Manager Paul Wasek told us that the Dolby Atmos firmware update will be available to owners of compatible Onkyo and Integra receivers and preamp/processors (2014 model year only) later this month. Owners will have a choice of applying the firmware update via ethernet (requires a live internet connection) or by downloading the update to a USB stick, plugging that stick into the USB port on the receiver or preamp/processor and following the on-screen instructions.
Now let's hope the studios bring on some good Dolby Atmos content!
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