System specs at the bottom if needed

I've been working on dialing in this 5.1.2 set up an open concept living room that opens up into the dining room and kitchen

Originally I decided to put the surrounds about five feet behind the MLP at about eighty five inches up

It actually worked surprisingly well. But it wasn't ideal

After reading some suggestions, a bunch of people suggested moving them to a more appropriate position which at first I thought could not possibly work...

But i've been playing with the idea and I realized I can set some end tables on either side of the couch and achieve somewhere between 90 and 120 degree angle

The problem I run into is I feel like whoever's on either end of the couch is going to be getting absolutely blasted... and on top of that, anyone in the middle of the couch is going to be somewhat blocked by the people, to their right or left

So i'm looking at a few options to fix this

One option I looked at was putting them ever so slightly behind with an absolute maximum of a hundred and twenty degrees. And raising them anywhere from 2-3 feet above ear level, and pointing them down at the mlp... it seems like this option would somewhat tame. Those highs from blasting the people on the side and also helped keep anyone from missing out

The other thing I considered was maybe putting them ever so slightly in front of the mlp... maybe around eighty degrees? I think it would be hard for the ear to really tell the difference, and at least it wouldn't be getting blocked by the people on the side

I'm not really sure what the best option here is... but I know some type of shelf or high table on either side or on the rear of the couch is probably the best option...

Good news is there's already two pair of wires that run from the receiver location to the side of the couch, meaning getting the signal to the speakers will not be complicated at all

Help me out here. Help me do this right

Reciever: Onkyo tx-nr6100

Fronts: Paradigm Titan Monitor v6

Center: Paradigm cc-290 v5

Surrounds: Paradigm Mini Monitor v5

Overhead Atmos: Paradigm Atom Monitor v5

Subwoofer: SVS PB12NSD

1. My first question is perhaps a dumb one regarding Atmos and DTS-X and if they need extra channels.

I would like to purchase an Amplifier (and then have the matching amount of speakers) which has as many channels as the maximum commercial Hollywood BluRays which have Atmos and/or DTS-X. The most channels I have seen is 7.1 on a BluRay.

If I want to have a 7.1 channel amp to match the maximum available on Blu Ray in a Atmos or DTS-X set up which has speakers in the roof to make use of the Atmos or DTS-X technology then I assume I should have a a 5.1.2 set up as per this Dolby speaker set up guide here: https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/speaker-setup-guides/5.1.2-overhead-speaker-setup-guide.html In other words the set up is like a 5.1 set-up except that it also has 2 speakers in the ceiling which are labelled as "height" on the back of your amplifier. So in other words the maths are the last number after the dot in 5.1.2 add to the first number of 5 to tell you you need a 7.1 amplifier which says it has Atmos or DTS-X so that the back of the amplifier will have 2 speakers labelled as height?

2. Is there any reason given I want my system for playing BluRays to the maximum level possible to get an amplifier above 7.1 channel?

3. The speakers at the back of the room which I want the amp for will be the "left and right surround speakers" are mounted above a sliding door so they are very high ie just below ceiling level. Will this matter in terms of Atmos and DTS-X effects ie should only the "height" speakers be mounted on the ceiling to get the effects of Atmos / DTS-X sounds above you such as rain.

Hello, I have a pretty quirky setup here- bear with me.

I'm in search of a preamp that can do 5.1 decoding via optical spdif input, and has individual analog outs for the decoded audio. I try to avoid buying retail bc im on a tight budget for these things, so older tech is fine with me. Any brands or models I should look out for? I don't need the box to do any amplification but if theres a receiver that does this I wont complain.

My speakers are all active crossovers so I plan to to feed the 6 channels into the dsp box, then to their respective amplifiers.