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discarding the two rears on a 5.1 setup (1 Viewer)

Daniel Theodore

Auditioning
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Aug 5, 2002
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i currently have a competent 5.1 sound setup (yamaha rxv-795 + polk rm6600 speaker), and was wondering what the effect would be of removing the rear speakers. i'm moving for just one year (school) and wiring rear speakers may not be an option (roommate who owns the house to be shared may object).

if i remove the rears, will all the rear speaker information be lost or will it be rechannelled somehow to the fronts? if that's the case, do i need to change anything on the receiver (like change the rear speaker setting to "none", which i can i believe).

what will this sound like? i would hope that three speakers is still waaayyy better than the tv's speaker alone, right? i ask because another option is simply not bring the receiver and speakers, period (a lot less to pack), and depend on the tv for sound, and my computer's decent sound for music. thoughts? thanks in advance.
 

Brian Fellmeth

Supporting Actor
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Jul 30, 2000
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Why don't you try it out. Just go to your receiver's setup and tell it you don't have rears. Don't even need to unplug anything. Rear channel info is not thrown away, it is rerouted to the front.
 

Michael Reuben

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Another option would be to connect the DVD player's analog L+R stereo outputs to the receiver. That way the player will do the downmixing, and the receiver can play it back in stereo (or a 3-speaker front mode, if the receiver offers such an option).
M.
 

Ted Lee

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May 8, 2001
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you should be able to tell the receiver to go into 3-channel mode. that will redirect the surround info to the front.
btw - why in the world would you move in with a roomate who objects to a ht setup? :D
in any case, this will still sound worlds better then using the tv speakers. whether that is "good enough" for you is something only you can answer.
personally, i'll never be able to use the tv speakers. i just bought a new sony 32" a few months ago...i literally do NOT know what the internal speakers sound like. hmmm...just thought about that... :b
 

James Brown

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Jul 18, 2002
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Im currently running only 3. I havent had time to install the rears yet. I still watch in DTS and Dolby 5.1. I think it still sounds really good. Im actually not even in a rush to get the rears hooked up. I know they will make a world of difference but I think you should go for 3.1 over nothing at all. You'll miss it.
 

John Garcia

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I have the same setup in my bedroom system, because I have doors on either side of my setup and I just don't feel like running wires across the room. I am actually happy with it the way it is, since it's just the bedroom, it sounds fine that way. YES, you will be missing the rears completely, but in a smaller room, it probably won't be too bad. My bedroom is about 14 x 12.
 
Joined
Nov 9, 1999
Messages
16
A makeshift way of creating a surround effect from the front is to place the rear speakers on stands behind the front L+R aimed upward towards the corner (where the walls and ceiling meet). Not a perfect solution but generally you are creating a diffuse sound from them and "ricocheting" the surround channel from the front corner. Not perfect but you don't have to cut open walls and run wires.

Oh, this method provides a better surround field for Dolby Surround material rather then Dolby Digital material. But, you can still use it for the dicrete Dolby Digital material.

Good Luck with it and enjoy

Dave
 

Daniel Theodore

Auditioning
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Aug 5, 2002
Messages
6
thanks for the all the replies! the more i think about it, i'm positive my receiver has settings for all speakers such that i can set rear speakers to "none" -- it seems likely that a fairly robust receiver (if not a bit dated) like my yamaha would be smart enough to rechannel that info to the fronts. i would test it out, but my equipment is all in storage right now. but thanks for the advice, including the tip on using the rears face up on top of the fronts -- that's a possibility!
 

Dave Pobuda

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 25, 1999
Messages
82
I think if you do a demo for your new roomate to be......he will be more than happy to allow you to hook up the rear speakers. Perhaps if you used some of the flat speaker wire available and secured it to the basetrim or something along that lines it would make everybody happy:D Best of luck !
 

Daniel Theodore

Auditioning
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Aug 5, 2002
Messages
6
it's a she, and i haven't seen the living room yet. from personal experience i know some living rooms are just not rear-speaker-wire friendly. i'm bringing the rears along with me anyway (they're barely bigger than my fist) but won't know if i can use them.
 

Bill Slack

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 16, 1999
Messages
837
My first comment was going to be: "It better be a girl."
Excellent roomate choice. Now, in most rooms (especially with us young folk) there is enough stuff spread around the rooms to run the wires along the while. If there is a thick rug, you can also run the wire through there without too much trouble.
You can always run in 3-channel mode, but it's nowhere near as fun. My wires run along one wall and aren't really noticable. I'm a bit picky (aka anal) about keeping things relatively neat looking too. :)
 

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