I’m NOT a HT guy. That being said. Atmos is a great way to get great surround AND pretty good MUSIC sound out of pretty cheaply made speakers... I’ve heard the newer Macs.. I love um.. BUT I wouldn’t buy it.
I use Mac MX120, 121, Krell OLD 5.1 Excellent stereo, 3 speaker, SUB control and an OLD DAC that works GREAT...Class A pre amp.. Krell, just killer tech for its day and even NOW, when it comes to SQ,
3 speakers up front is a push for me...BUT done right.. in analog.. Actually is one of my favorite setups for music, MIXED for that type of speaker set up..Trinaural analog processor (SS too).. I like Macs over ALL the others. SSTs, or Marantz, there are a few more. Fisher and Bogden had tube analog units..VERY nice.. 60s (YUP).
Atmos.. BIG bang for the sound BUCK... If you choose better speakers, you don’t need the Atmos speakers. BUT there is a place, for close to the wall dipoles.
The only time a surround system REALLY impressed me.. 7.4.2 VMPS PRE Atmos setup with Mac Tube power amps for the mains and SS Mcintosh for the BASS and the rest of the surround duty.. VMPS used passive Subs...and love ALL the power you could throw at them. It was actually tuned by a Mcintosh (rep) and Brian C. of VMPS speakers. Weird speakers to begin with, BUT sure do sound good.. BIG BOOM, BOOM, for the time and could match the swarm idea!! 2010 or 11.
He upgraded just the processor to a MX151 or 160 (?) in 2014-15 for Atmos... I listened to that ALL friggin evening... 4 hours... 6 years ago..
50 year this summer, Me and Mcintosh. It’s been longer than my wife, met her 4 years after that...:-)
Regards