I'll be auditioning Invisa's for a a second pair of ATMOS height speakers soon. The current set-up is Invisa 525's in the top middle. The current second pair of 525's is in the kitchen ceiling, on Zone 2, for music.

I'll be listening to my local dealer's set-up of 525's and HTR 7000's for ideas on what to place in top front.

Several questions: (Moderator Dude please feel free to chime in!): is it OK to mix 525's and 7000's (I'm not wanting to replace the 525's.. I love them!)? Would the sound effect be more consistant with all 525's (or 7000's)? And, Moderator Dude, is there anything coming up in the new product announcements come January or so that would make me rethink options?

What to do. I really like the height/ATMOS effect (I can hear it also when playing 2 channel stereo in DOLBY surround or DTS Neural, which both add height channels, vs. multi channel, which doesn't.

Any thoughts/responses welcome.

Rick

All the models are voiced to blend together, and all share similar characteristics thanks to design and use of same driver technologies. Mix and match for whatever works in your setup. No new products coming soon in the Invisa home theater products category.

Yes, Sandy is a big fan of two channel music playback using the new Dolby surround processing, he played with that during CEDIA demos this year and was very pleased with the results in our object-based surround setup.

Moderator wrote: All the models are voiced to blend together, and all share similar characteristics thanks to design and use of same driver technologies. Mix and match for whatever works in your setup. No new products coming soon in the Invisa home theater products category.

Yes, Sandy is a big fan of two channel music playback using the new Dolby surround processing, he played with that during CEDIA demos this year and was very pleased with the results in our object-based surround setup.

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Thanks, Moderator Dude!

I have complete confidence that the either the 525 or HTR7000 would blend in tonally perfectly. All GEt speakers do. That continues to amaze me. I guess what I was wondering about was whether the some different dispersion patterns of the 525 and HTR7000 would be noticeable if I mixed them for the same height channel duty as opposed to using HTR700's for say, surrounds, and 525's for heights. I have 9' ceilings.

Re the new Dolby surround and DTS Neural processing (I now have DTS:X, which includes DTS Neural and I can now experiment with the best way to "convert" 2 channel to surround including height). So far I like Dolby surround best. Unlike multi channel setting, which just replicates right channel sounds to all right speakers, etc., both Dolby surround and DTS Neural seem to "place" sounds more like one would experience at a live performance. Dolby surround is my new standard way to play/stream 2 channel music. I'm betting that adding a second pair of height channels will add to the effect.

Happy listening!

Rick

Different dispersion patterns just affect positioning (525's overhead, 7000's off to the side) in height channel applications.

I spent several hours today at my dealer, Audio Systems in Austin, auditioning/listening to the Invisa 525, and then the HTR7000, back and forth, same music. It's the first time I've heard the 7000. I need to decide which to add as my second height pair, to go with the current 525's.

I still love my 525's. But, the 7000 IS amazing sounding. I satisfied myself that I didn't need to worry about the 7000 being some hard to position to keep an even sound field in the PLP for heights visa vie the current 525's. I walked around, listening to each alternately, and had no problems hearing the even distribution from either. (I guess I got overthinking about the descriptions of how the 7000's as ceiling mounted fronts or surrounds sounded like they were mounted at ear level). I foresee no problem mixing the 7000's with the 525's.

SO, decision time. I'll need an external amp, as I've used the nine amped outs already on the Marantz. I'm leaning (heavily) toward the 7000's. I DON'T want to under amp them, they deserve better. The two amps I'm considering are the NAD C316BEE (40 watts per channel) and Peachtree sonaAmp (150 watts per channel, a nifty, small 2 channel amp that would fit in perfectly). Of course, the Peachtree is pricier than the lower powered NAD.

Opinions? I'll be making a decision early next week. I have some concerns about whether 40 watts per channel will keep me and my speakers happy. I don't have room for dimensionaly big amps.

Happy listening!

Rick

Hey Rick:

Back from NH and already spending mommas money...I guess there's "No rest for the Wicked "...Ha-Ha
Are you looking for an Integrated or power amp?
In terms if size (dimensions) what are you looking for?
Just a few questions to help you with suggestions.