I am new to the home theatre world. I am setting up a new system. I got some Athena Audition series speakers (two Fs, one C and two Bs) plus the sub from my father-in-law who thought they were too powerful for his liking. I am also thinking about purchasing one of two Onyko recievers (the SR707 or the NR807). First which one do you recommend? Also, I am worried about how to setup the back two speakers, currently the back wall is setup with wires about 7 feet off the ground at the back of the room spread about 13 feet apart, my couch is against this same wall (between the ports). Since these are forward firing speakers, do I aim the speakers down and in (towards the listeners on the couch)?
The rear speakers should not be pointing down at the listener, if anything up to the ceiling. The rears are best set up for a diffused sound. Some rear speakers have duel drivers that are installed on the side walls that fire front and back. Front firing speakers can go on the back wall but if you could move your couch up off the wall you would get better surround sound and bass. Bass is muddy along the walls and more of a null in the center of the room. So if the couch is off the wall 12-24 inches you could possible get better bass and surround sound. As far as the receivers go if the money difference is not to much, step up to the bigger receiver (100 watts vs 135).
I went with the Onkyo NR807. I am thinking about getting two more speakers to upgrade to a 7.1 setup. What do you suggest? My original thought was to get two bipoles to use as surrounds and move the two bookshelfs to the front height position? Is this newer setup worth the hype? Also, can I keep the two bipoles where I stated the front firing speakers would be above? Or should they be moved more toward the side walls?
The bipoles would best placed to the sides of the listener above your head firing forward and back. I have no experience with the new height channels. If you are going to add new surrounds leave the speakers where they are and add the new ones to the side walls. Move the couch up and try 7.1 EX. You could always experiment with the front height speakers later and do a real comparison.