Moving AV system from den to basement: converting from 5.1 to a better 3.1 set up?

[Odontonator]

Lately, I have been using a 55" LG OLED TV, Sony STR-DN1080 AVR, Monitor Audio Silver left, right, and center speakers, an REL T2 sub, and Polk Audio bookshelf speakers on stands as surrounds in a 5.1 setup in my den. We just finished out our basement and I have moved my system down there in a large open floor plan room. I probably should have considered going for some ceiling or wall mount speakers during the construction if I wanted to get an immersive ATMOS experience, but didn't know how I would use the room and, honestly, didn't want to add the expense. May not be an ideal home theatre room, anyways, with traffic, many reflective surfaces, and somewhat low ceilings. My thinking now is to just double down on my current 3.1 speakers, ditch the the Polk surrounds, and consider an upgrade of AVR or other source (integrated amp?) that could work well with my 3.1 speakers. Would like something like Dirac or Audyssey to match the room. For listening to pure music, I now almost exclusively use my nice headphones (HD800S and HiFiMan Arya Organics) with a headphone amp in the den, so the basement system will be almost 100% for AV. What do you all think I should consider?

 

[DVDdoug]

We just finished out our basement

Seems like a good opportunity to wire for surround speakers. And yeah, maybe in-wall and/or in ceiling speakers, especially if you want to save space.

Personally I enjoy surround and I wouldn't want to give it up! Even with regular stereo I use a "hall" or "theater" in an attempt to simulate a larger room. My setup is only 5.1 and I don't really have any desire for more channels, but I was building a dedicated home theater I'd probably add more channels and I might build the "extra" speakers into the walls & ceiling.

My rear speakers are "extras" that somebody gave me. They are large and intended to be floorstanding but they are hanging behind the couch near the ceiling and out of the way.

 

[kyuu]

Do you have any issues with your current AVR? If not, I'd just reuse it. Even for just 3.1, an AVR is still the easiest path. And you may decide you want to add some surround speakers at some point. Should at least have had some wires run during the remodel, even if you weren't sure you'd use them. Minor expense, but saves a lot of time, effort, and money later if you do decide to use them.