Moving to good 5.2/7.2 surround

[VoodooRufus]

Over the years I've been through all different kinds of computer audio. Onboard vs. dedicated sound card. Headphones, stereo, computer surround sounds. Now I've built a new rig with seemingly really good onboard audio (GB Aorus Master. ESS Sabre and nice gold plated connectors). I'm running a DIY stereo system off a hi-fi amp. I'm wanting to get back to a 5 channel surround set without taking up all my desk space (6'x3' with a 34" ultrawide monitor) with big DIY speakers. Computer speakers don't really appeal anymore as I've been spoiled by Real Speakers, and no one outside of Edifier makes high end computer speakers it seems. With the noisiest thing in my home office my NAS (relocating that soon), I want to take advantage of the rig's audio subsystem.

Current setup:
Exodus Kit61 speakers left and right - 7" midbass, 1" tweeter, 30Hz capable
Dual Emotiva Ultra-12 subwoofers - no shortage of bass here!
Outlaw RR2150 amp
Sennheiser HD6XX and PC360 headphones, with a Monoprice desktop headphone amp



Inventory of speakers:
Logitech Z5500 - selling these when possible, but good for what they are. Decent satellites, boomy sub. Good for gaming or budget HT use. Not so great for music.
Klipsch ProMedia 5.1Ultra - have repaired these twice. Satellites are relative junk, but the sub is decent. Considering a satellite swap to Klipsch Quintet III or IV.
GR Research AV-1 - 5.25" MT style bookshelf speakers. Good but not as good as the Kit61s currently in service.
CSS FR125 bookshelf speakers - 4.5" full range speakers. Great on axis, very limited bass. Would make good surround speakers

In progress:
Exodus KitLCR - 3-way large LCR-style speakers. Great for front/center/right, but BIG

Receiver available - Outlaw 1070. Full 7.1 analog inputs and decent amp stage.



As you can see, I have lots of options, but not sure on the direction I might take. Open to suggestions!

 

[DoubleTap]

Interesting receiver.

Most HDMI receivers that have analog 7.1 inputs run in "direct" mode with no DSP features available so yours might be particularly well suited for PC surround.

I found that the 7.1 analog connections from my motherboard were surprisingly clean, but I also found that the Xonar U7 Mkii (USB with 7.1 outputs) gave me some more flexibility and control.

Ultimately, I went back to HDMI because it offered bass management that the sound card direct connections were not able to do.

 

[VoodooRufus]

Yeah it's old, but I liked the gold connections and proper binding posts compared to general HT receivers. It might have been the only receiver with DVI on it because HDMI wasn't mature yet.

 

[DoubleTap]

Yeah it's old, but I liked the gold connections and proper binding posts compared to general HT receivers. It might have been the only receiver with DVI on it because HDMI wasn't mature yet.

I noticed that.

I wonder if we'll ever see a receiver with DisplayPort....