Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

@mijostyn, Atmos overcomes limitations in 2 channel reproduction that are inherent in the format. Very poor ability to position sounds being the primary one. 2 channel could be considered a subset of Atmos. Atmos add the ability to capture and reproduce more of the complexity of the sound in a live venue, and adds addition creative elements to studio productions. The downside is using likely like 3D in movies, using it as a gimmick and not to enhance realism.

@mijostyn , you can’t build a CHANNEL based system with Atmos, 2,5,7, or whatever. Atmos is object based, different format. You don’t NEED an object based setup for music. It is just fun to have both available on your remote. I prefer channel based for acoustic jazz, folk, and strings. Object based for rock, hip hop. house, and EDM. Smooth jazz and go either way as it is both bass heavy and acoustic.

I also prefer active speakers for both formats but especially for Atmos and bass forward music.

@rudyb I have both the active and passive versions of Paradigms Reference 20 speaker. The passive version extends down to around 55hz, the passive to around 36hz, big difference. Active has the advantage here.

@kota1 , Atmos is also marketed for music. Glad to hear you do not use it for that.

@lonemountain

This is the confusion of speaker demos- you aren’t demoing speakers, you are demoing the room.

That summarizes it perfectly, and it ain’t just demos, its systems. I like going through the virtual systems area as much to see how members treat their rooms as for their equipment. My active speakers have contour knobs for bass and treble on the back along with a high pass filter. It comes in handy if I have a speaker closer to a room boundary than ideal or if I want to get better integration with my sub and in room bass response.