Dolby Atmos Noob... need guidance.

[Captainhawk1]

I have a Onkyo TX-NR646 7.2 receiver that I got as a replacement from Onkyo for a receiver that had a recall on it.

I had a straight-up configuration of in-wall front channels and my center channel with in-ceiling surround and rears.

We just bought a new house and I wanted to take advantage of the Atmos feature of the receiver but I’m not quite sure how this works.

In the new house, the fronts will not be in the ceiling. They will either be sitting on the towers of the wall unit or mounted directly above them.

I was looking at these Pioneer SP-BS22A-LR Andrew Jones designed Dolby Atmos Bookshelf Speakers on Amazon and I even called Pioneer for some guidance on this and they said that these speakers would act as my front and my rear (height) speakers.

That would be very convenient as it means I would only have to do one run of speaker cable for the surrounds on the first floor of a two-story house, but I’m confused as I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the notion that the Atmos speakers in the front of my home theater would take the place of my rear speakers.

Any insight you can provide and any recommendations for Atmos speakers that would serve my needs would be greatly appreciated.

I’m trying to keep the speakers at around $300 or less for the pair but I’m not opposed to spending more.

Thanks in advance.

- Shawn