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Building from scratch... why not go 6.1 or 7.1?

As I know most of people are still settling with 5.1 set up for reasons such as lack of softwares etc.

However, with all the recent processors being 7.1, isn't it kind of waste just settling with 5.1, not trying 6.1/7.1? unless you have real small room.

Only extra is getting 7 channel amp instead of 5 channel and adding a couple of rear speakers. I can always add the rear speakers later but getting 7 channel instead of 5 channel should be decided in the beginning.

I know that 7.1 is not realy 7 discrete signals but matrixed and there are not much software and stuff... but if you especially build a system from scratch and getting those 7.1 processors with EX ES etc, isn't it worth getting it in the beginning - 7channel amp and a couple of rear speakrs?

The processors I'm considering are Anthem AVM-20, Bryston sp7.1, Aragon Stage One.

My room is about 16X17 and I'm thinkig about 6.1 set up with 7 channel amp and rotating the extra channel once in a while.

Is this good thinking?
eandylee
nighthawk
259 posts
 
It's not likely you'll notice much difference in a room that size. I only have 4.1 (no center), with the surrounds in the rear corners on 30" stands, and surround effects are quite impressive. Seats are 3' from the rear wall and the room is about 14'x18.5'. If I had a larger room, I can see adding the surround back channels but in this room one pair of surrounds works fine.

BTW, for great surround effects, try Master and Commander. When scenes are shot below deck you can hear people walking on the deck above you. Also boat creaking noises from all directions. It's pretty cool.
lej1447
117 posts
 
Nighthawk is correct. The Master & Commander is considered a reference DVD by Sound&Vision magazine. With the proper surround setting, viewers can hear crew walking above them. In that movie, the director wanted to add less music and more sound so the viewers could feel as if they were on the ship. The canon sounds were from real recording, not digital affect. Sorry for the little sidetrack.
bruceomega
118 posts
 
I have a relatively small room, about 14' x 19' x 9.5'. When I expanded from a 5.1 to a 7.1 system, there was a significant improvement in surround envelopment. Personally, I would never go back to a 5.1 system.

I've also read that a 6.1 speaker array is not a good choice because a single rear speaker causes cancellations. Even if you are only outputting a 6.1 signal, you should use two rear speakers rather than one.

AFAIK there are no 7.1 sources, so one factor to consider is how well the PrePro can generate 7.1 outputs from various sources. Personally, I listen to everything in 7.1, independent of source.

I suggest you go to AVS Forum and search for posts by Sanjay under Processors. He has some very articulate technical explanations of the limitations of 5.1 and 6.1 versus 7.1. There are also a lot discussions on surround processing versus multi-channel preamp/standard DD/DTS decoding.

Cheers
Bruce
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