I listened to the Mass system (with dolby), and I listened to the Sonos arc. The mass was better, but not by much. As a result, I'm tempted by soundbar systems that offer "dolby", since they involve less faff (running cables up walls etc), and they look neater and tidier (one bar instead of three front speakers).
The downside is that I can't upgrade to "real" dolby.
Sorry, Joe. I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean that I could use a soundbar for the front, centre and right speakers, then put two satellite speakers behind me, and maybe two above me for dolby? I've thought about this approach, but I've been told that soundbars (like the Sonos arc etc) don't do "true" dolby as they use upfiring speakers.
If you like the 'Soundbar' format you can use a passive 'Speakerbar' with any AVR which would then allow you to add Surround and Immersive (Overhead or up-firing) speakers plus a Sub for the rest of the system.
This sounds promising. This approach (soundbar for front three, two satelites at the back) is exactly what I'm looking for, as long as the passive speakerbar will allow for a true dolby upgrade (not upfiring) at some point.
In basic, idiot's guide terms, what is the difference between a passive soundbar and something like a Sonos Arc?
SONOS ARC (or any Soundbar) - is an all-in-one solution, the manufacturer includes the source inputs, audio processing, multi-channel amplification, streaming and speakers all in a single chassis.
Atlantic Technology Speaker Bar - physically looks like a Soundbar but only includes the three loudspeaker drivers and a passive cross over, essentially you have a single chassis with the Front Left, Centre and Right speaker drivers mounted into the Speaker bar, and like a conventional system you connect the Speaker Bar via three loudspeaker cables to an AVR (which includes the processing and amplification).
You could start with an Atmos enabled AVR and add the Atlantic Technology LCR Speakerbar plus LR Surrounds and (if required) LR Rears plus a Sub and then add up-firing or in-ceiling Atmos speakers at a later date.