7.1 Receiver with 5.1 Speakers (1 Viewer)

[bcapsley]

I have wired my home theater for a 5.1 surround setup. Now that I am shopping for a receiver, I am having a hard time finding a 5.1 receiver with HDMI inputs and outputs.

So, if I purchase a 7.1 receiver and connect it to my 5.1 speaker setup, will I be missing some of the audio during playback?

 

[JohnRice]

You won't be taking full advantage of your receiver's capabilities, but you won't exactly be missing anything either. You will configure the receiver to run as 5.1. Just find a receiver that fits your needs and don't sweat it.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

The primary things 7.1 offers:

1. Better coverage for a large room.
2. With two speakers behind, you get smoother left to right rear pans.

If the first isn’t a concern, then don’t worry about using all channels. The second, rear left to right panning is fairly rare, so I wouldn’t lose any sleep over that either.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[bcapsley]

Thanks for the input.

Will the receiver know that only five speakers are connected to it and adjust accordingly?

 

[Robert_J]

Most will have a setup of some type. My Pioneer VSX-1014 has both and automated setup that detects the speakers that are connected as well as an on-screen menu that allows you to select speakers manually.

-Robert

 

[Peco]

When I first got my reciever it was for 7.1 but I only had 5 speakers and it sounded ok. Now that I got my other 2 speakers I can tell it sound alittle better.