Originally Posted by Gianni
If the speculative 861v9 is to support Atmos, etc., it would have to support more than eight channels. And it would have to start being very friendly towards mixed analogue and digital speaker set-ups as high-wall ceiling mounted DSPs would be a very specific niche. The current back panel layout looks like a limiting factor here.

Height speakers seem like the sort of thing a SOTA processor should support so there may be drivers outside Atmos, etc.
The 861v9 would require at least one extra 4 channel analogue output card for users such as myself with analogue active speakers, in order to support 1 or 2 pairs of height channels.

Plus the HD621 would of course have to support passing this through to the 861.
(I Wish they would add a 2nd HDMI output to the HD621, as I use a TV and a projector. Also a headphone output on the 861v9 please smile )

There are also directional speakers available now which sit on top of the front L/R speakers to fire the height audio up to the ceiling. I had the opportunity to demo this implementation, using Dolby Atmos Demo material, and it was virtually as good as using 2 front ceiling speakers, for Dolby Atmos. If the 861v9 does support Atmos/DTS:X then I want to avoid having to fit ceiling speakers in my living room ceiling if possible wink

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