Pioneer 7.1 upgrade help

[rcallii71]

I have a Pioneer 5.1 reciever and I love it, I LOVE the power and ease of operation. It's a. Vsx-d509s yes it's older but I have not upgraded cuz I don't want to loose the power I have or it's ease of use. I am really considering go in into a 7.1 system it want the things I have now without breaking the bank. Also I was wondering if I can mount my 4 rear surrounds at the ceiling pointed down and inwards to the main seating area and still get great sound.

 

[americanaudiophile]

A 7.1 system would have side and rear surround speakers. Usually only two would be behind you. You can use in ceiling speakers if that allows you to position them better. It does look nice. They don't usually need to be aimed but there are specific speakers that are angled to let you do this enough to make a difference.
https/www.paradigm.com/products-current/type=inceiling/model=ci-home-h65-a/page=overview
or they have speakers that will distribute the sound over a wider area like these
https/www.paradigm.com/products-current/type=inceiling/model=ci-home-h65-sm/page=overview
Which you use depends on the room layout. There are rooms where the side speakers don't do much.
Newer receivers offer Dolby Atmos which adds height channels for an immersive effect. That does require ceiling speakers and might be an option depending on how your room is arranged. You can't use in ceiling surrounds with Atmos speakers together. All the other speakers have to be at about ear level.
If you upgraded to a Marantz SR5012 I think you would not only have more channels but better quality of sound all around. Same power too.

 

[rcallii71]

I am very partial to Pioneer and my entire system in Pioneer. My reciever, all my speakers and sub (2 towers, center, 2 rear surrounds and 1 sub but working on getting a 2nd I have the Andrew Jones
SW-8MK2 100W which will be the 2nd and I have 2 extra surrounds in the S-FCR200-K series but want to switch at some point the the Andrew Jones that is the same family as my sub) my 2 PD-F1007 301 disc cd changers, 2 DV-F727 301 DISC DVD changer and my blue ray are all Pioneer. So as you can imagine I kinda want to stay with my new reciever being Piooneer as well. So any help you can give in that direction would be awesome. I do listen to input and do the research on any other product suggestions given though I just have just had very good luck with Pioneer been using them for years and it's hard to switch! Thank you for your time