Stick with AFX or add in-ceiling?

[lakersfreak]

I currently have a 7.2.2 system
Front - Motion 40's w/ AFX toppers
Center - Motion 50XTI
Surround - Motion FX
Surround Rear - Helos 12

I'm thinking of selling the AFX's and adding two more Helos 12's as top-middle Atmos speakers. Assuming install will cost less than $500, what do you guys think? Is the cost worth it? I have 9 foot ceilings in a narrow rectangular shaped room. The AFX toppers sound ok to me, but I've never actually heard Atmos with speakers in the ceiling.

 

[Robert D]

I had some nice ML ceiling speakers installed. Labor for me was closer to about $800 plus speaker wire. It took many hours to run the wires. It really depends on your room and how hard it will be to run the wires. The basement under mine isn't finished, so he was able to run the cables along the basement ceiling. That helped. The hard part is going from the wall to the ceiling, that transition where there is a 90 degre angle. He was able to do it by putting medium sized holes in the ceiling there, and I think he had small holes in the wall there too, adjacent to the transition.

I'm glad I have it now. Sounds very good.

 

[lakersfreak]

I had some nice ML ceiling speakers installed. Labor for me was closer to about $800 plus speaker wire. It took many hours to run the wires. It really depends on your room and how hard it will be to run the wires. The basement under mine isn't finished, so he was able to run the cables along the basement ceiling. That helped. The hard part is going from the wall to the ceiling, that transition where there is a 90 degre angle. He was able to do it by putting medium sized holes in the ceiling there, and I think he had small holes in the wall there too, adjacent to the transition.

I'm glad I have it now. Sounds very good.

Installation issues aside, are the direct in ceilings worth the extra money, or am I wasting my money since I already have the AFX toppers?

 

[Robert D]

Installation issues aside, are the direct in ceilings worth the extra money, or am I wasting my money since I already have the AFX toppers?

I can't really rank it because I've never listened to AFX toppers. Logically, in ceilings should sound a lot better but I have no practical experience. I opted to just go with in ceiling without trying toppers. I have 4 in ceilings. So I now have 11 channels total.

 

[IEnjoyOLED]

I have AFX in front, Motion 2i on the ceiling for middle height, and Atlantic Technology System 2 for Rear Heights (previous owner installed). I have wondered if I’m getting the full benefit of the front height, but will wait until Anthem fixes a small bug before making up my mind about replacing; if I do replace, it will be with another pair 2i mounted close to the ceiling — for a small speaker they seem to punch above their weight class although I’m not a big effects-laden film watcher.

My fronts are identical to yours, so I’m interested in what you decide and why. How sellable are AFX?