Staged build

I want a surround sound 7.2.4 system, but I don’t want to buy it all at once. I’ve come up with a plan to start with nothing and build it up gradually, speaker by speaker, until I have the full system. Look at my plan critically and decide if that speaker is actually the best choice at that stage, or if I should buy a different speaker instead to get the best improvement in audio quality. I should explain that there is a hard constraint to buy speakers one at a time. You can’t just say “lol no I’ll buy 2”. certainly it makes sense to organize the buying as buying in pairs, so that you spend as little time with an odd number of speakers as possible, but you can’t skip rows of the table. And if you have an odd number of speakers, I think the most logical place to put them center aligned, although the room layout might make that impractical. I should also clarify that this is not home theater-centric, I am more concerned with the acoustic quality of each individual stage of the journey. My real priority is stereo music playback, and then stereo video playback such as YouTube, and then to a much lesser extent Dolby Atmos music, and then Blu-Ray movies are a distant fourth.

I should also clarify, I will be using a custom receiver / DSP setup I built that supports all these configurations, and I will be retuning the whole setup every time I plug in a new speaker. It is based on using a computer as the source with custom software that decodes Dolby Atmos and renders it, controlling the signal for each speaker to achieve optimal playback for each stage based on personalized HRTF’s I measured myself. So don’t worry about mismatched volumes or anything like that, although of course even DSP has its limits.

The 7.2.4 Build Plan

Stage 1: 1.0 (Mono)

Speakers: 1 x Floorstanding or Bookshelf speaker.
Speaker Roles: The single speaker acts as the mono audio source.
Audio Quality: A solid starting point and the foundation for your system. Combining this with the DSP setup will allow for a surprisingly good mono listening experience, but it lacks the depth and immersion of high-quality stereo sound.

Stage 2: 2.0 (Stereo)

Speakers: 2 x Floorstanding or Bookshelf speakers (a matched pair).
Speaker Roles: This creates a classic stereo soundstage, with a “phantom center” for dialogue.
Audio Quality: The single most important upgrade. The sound becomes wide and immersive, which is essential for music. This is considered standard for a pure music listening experience, although true audiophiles know that stereo is not the pinnacle of sound reproduction.

Stage 3: 2.1 (The Music Upgrade)

Speakers: 2 x Front Speakers + 1 x Subwoofer.
Speaker Roles: The Subwoofer handles all the low-frequency effects and powerful bass.
Audio Quality: This is the best next step for stereo music. The subwoofer dramatically improves the dynamic range for all content, and it specifically provides the rich, deep bass that a high-fidelity music system requires. Your main L/R speakers will also perform better as they no longer have to reproduce the lowest frequencies.

Stage 4: 3.1 (The Home Theater Foundation)

Speakers: 2 x Front Speakers + 1 x Subwoofer + 1 x Center-design speaker.
Speaker Roles: The Center-design speaker handles all dialogue, freeing up the main speakers to focus on the stereo soundstage.
Audio Quality: This is the crucial step for a true home theater experience. Dialogue is now anchored perfectly to the screen, providing a significant improvement for movies and TV shows. Music playback also benefits, as vocals and lead instruments are clearer and more focused.

Stage 5: 4.1 (Partial Surround)

Speakers: 3 x Front Speakers + 1 x Subwoofer + 1 x Bookshelf or Wall-mount speaker.
Speaker Roles: This speaker adds a single surround channel, typically placed to the side of the listening position.
Audio Quality: This is an unbalanced stage. While you get a taste of surround effects, they are localized to one side of the room. This is the first unavoidable, awkward stage of building the system one speaker at a time. It’s possible that moving the speaker to the back center of the room could help create a more enveloping effect, but it will likely still feel unbalanced.

Stage 6: 5.1 (Full Surround)

Speakers: 3 x Front Speakers + 1 x Subwoofer + 2 x Bookshelf or Wall-mount speakers.
Speaker Roles: The second Bookshelf/Wall-mount speaker completes the surround field.
Audio Quality: This is the standard for home theater. The sound now feels like it’s coming from all around you, with effects able to move smoothly from front to back.

Stage 7: 5.1.1 (Height Begins)

Speakers: 5.1 Setup + 1 x Ceiling or Up-firing speaker.
Speaker Roles: This introduces a new dimension of sound from above, placed center above the listening position or slightly forward.
Audio Quality: You can now hear sounds from a new, elevated position. However, with only one speaker, effects are localized to that single point, although DSP can help create a more diffuse effect using the other speakers.

Stage 8: 5.1.2 (Front Height)

Speakers: 5.1 Setup + 2 x Ceiling or Up-firing speakers.
Speaker Roles: The two speakers create a left-to-right overhead soundstage.
Audio Quality: A massive improvement to the height layer. Sounds can now be steered left and right across the ceiling, creating a much more believable sense of overhead motion.

Stage 9: 5.2.2 (The Second Subwoofer)

Speakers: 5.1.2 Setup + 1 x Subwoofer.
Speaker Roles: The second Subwoofer provides more even bass distribution and more headroom.
Audio Quality: This is a crucial upgrade for any high-end system. The bass response will now be smooth and consistent across your listening area, eliminating “dead spots” and providing a more powerful low-end foundation for all content.

Stage 10: 5.2.3 (Partial Height Dome)

Speakers: 5.2.2 Setup + 1 x Ceiling or Up-firing speaker.
Speaker Roles: This adds the third height speaker to the back of the room. A suitable placement would be centered behind the listening position, creating a triangular overhead soundstage.
Audio Quality: This is still an unbalanced stage. The sound dome is incomplete, and overhead effects will feel slightly off in the rear. DSP can help mitigate this, but it’s not ideal.

Stage 11: 5.2.4 (Full Height Dome)

Speakers: 5.2.3 Setup + 1 x Ceiling or Up-firing speaker.
Speaker Roles: The fourth speaker completes the overhead sound dome. There is now a rectangular arrangement of height speakers, with two in the front and two in the back.
Audio Quality: With the height dome now complete, effects can be steered seamlessly anywhere above and around the listener, creating an incredibly realistic and enveloping 3D audio experience.

Stage 12: 6.2.4 (Rear Surround Begins)

Speakers: 5.2.4 Setup + 1 x Bookshelf or Wall-mount speaker.
Speaker Roles: The side surrounds can be moved slightly up to the left and right, and the new rear surround is centered behind the listening position.
Audio Quality: A subtle but noticeable upgrade. Effects that move from the sides to the rear will have a clearer sense of direction. Like the single side surround, this is an unbalanced stage.

Stage 13: 7.2.4 (The Finale)

Speakers: 6.2.4 Setup + 1 x Bookshelf or Wall-mount speaker.
Speaker Roles: The new speaker completes the 7.1 surround field. The surround speakers are now placed directly to the left and right, and the rear surrounds are now 135 degrees left and right behind the listening position.
Audio Quality: The sound field is now completely enveloping. The space behind you is filled with sound, allowing for incredibly precise placement and movement of effects. This is the ultimate home theater experience.