You can go the other way around then. Get a couple of bookshelf speakers which can be moved to being surround channels later on.
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Yes, that was the plan I meant 
Just need to see what fits and how much it would cost…
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Personally I think you are putting the cart before the horse. Step back take your time and start modest till you develop a better frame of reference. My two cents.
If this is a tiny room, Atmos / DTS:X headphones might be the solution?
I already have proper headphones, that’s not really an issue. also IMO the atmos thing on headphones is just a marketing gimmick, a real headphone (i.e. not Gamer Bling Bling) already have a wide soundtage, just needs the right source.
Yeah that’s always sort of my issue… I kinda wanna do it “right” from the start, and buy once instead of every few years 
The thing is … you will change,what you want will change, and the gear will most certainly change. It is great to have a plan but until you have a better baseline and experience ( with not just the gear but with tuning your enviroment for speakers ect…) You can throw stupid money away.
A solid receiver with all the possible techs you have interest in is not a bad investment per say but you are going to find at least part of that tech unused for some such reason.
If you have never used or tuned 5.1 skipping over the learning experience straight to atmos systems might not be the best way to start.
It is kind of like giving me a server to manage seeing how I have spent all my time on desktop and workstations. Its not recommended to skip the building steps
So a good receiver that will do everything you want is solid investment but slow grow your speaker layout . Train your ears, learn to tune your system to your space, and find speakers that you enjoy. In the end… Its gonna change
Things like changes in the tech play important roles. For instance…
BT 5.0 standard
I personally like to use BT for ease of use and handsfree listening. No cords, cables, and even better if the headset and receiver will allow some level of basic functions. Volume up /down, track movement , and playlist searching ect…
I prefer XLR (or TRS), one per channel 
Flame war ! 
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Zeos to the rescue once again boom.
It is an easy reference and guide… without so much of the audiophile nonsense. There are others.
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100% Agree. I was running 7.2 at one point combining speakers and stuff. Those Setups get complicated quickly with you routing tons of cables through the room and spending the rest of your days balancing speaker levels and EQ Curves.
I still have my Onkyo SR701 i got from my uncle years back. And i’m now back to stereo plus sub. If you have any interest in Music, surround is a downgrade over spending your money on good stereo Speakers. I still have a set of JBL Speakers lying around to extend my setup to 5.1, but i just don’t bother really. Having to make stands and pull cables through the room… With most films, a good stereo Setup is well enough for me.
Any surround setup lives and dies with it’s setup in the room. You need some space behind your seating postition for the surround speakers. You need some space left and right to move the surrounds out. You need space directly below the TV for the Center Speaker etc. I never was able to set it up so i get a coherent sound all around. Sounds in the surround speakers always took me out of the film because of them being not quite right.
So, i’d say, go for a nice stereo Setup. If it’s bookshelft speakers, get an additional sub. Get a used Reciever that can do as many HDMI Inputs as you need an supports 5.1
IF you ever feel like 5.1 isn’t enough, upgrading your Reciever then should be easy. Selling the reciever you bought used should mean very little financial loss. I wouldn’t worry over Atmos and such yet. Very few sources actually support it and unless you plan on putting 9 or more speakers all around you, you won’t be able to use these features anyways.