Rear surround channel(s): Big difference? (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan_M]

Now that I've had time to tweak and enjoy my 5.1 setup, I was toying with the idea of adding another amp to my system to power a pair of rear surrounds for a complete THX or DTS-ES system. (I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-39TX that requires an external amp if you decide to use the rear surround channel).
My question is for those of you who have made a similar upgrade: Was it worth it? Or was it more like "Eh, that's not that big of a difference...".
I'm really interested in hearing from people that have had a 5.1 setup for a good while before making the upgrade to 6 or 7.1.
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"We're hosed. We lost the remote."

 

[Matt Wallace]

Good topic. BUMP!
Matt
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"And I say I'm dead, and I move"....

 

[Mike E W]

I waited about 2 weeks on my extra dipoles, does that qualify for time length? I thought it was worth the money. Gives a smoother flow of sound for effects traveling from side to side in back and sounds running front to back also become more seemless if that makes sense. In general it also makes for a more solid you are in the middle of the action feeling. I would rate it as a genuine improvement though not a must have. This is something that would be easy to check out at the local B&M.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Mike,
Thanks for the info! Yeah, I'm debating spending the cash for another amp as well as the rears. I still don't know what I'm going to do though.
Jonathan
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"We're hosed. We lost the remote."

 

[Jonathan_M]

Shameless BUMP

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"We're hosed. We lost the remote."

 

[Mike OConnell]

I have a Denon 5800 and have experimented with a few different configurations with my surround and rear speakers:
Favorite Setup:
Denon 5800 powering Paradigm Ref 60 V2 - fronts, Ref CC - centr, Ref ADP's - surrounds, Ref SA-10R - in-ceiling rears, and a Velo HGS-18 Sub.
I have configured the in-ceilings as surrounds, with no rears. The ADP's as surrounds, with no rears. And the full EX as above.
The EX setup is fantastic and was well worth the investment in the 5800 versus the 4800, or staying with my Yamaha 992.
The soundstage is fully enveloping AND directional using my ADP's as the surround and SA-10R's as the rears.
MUCH better than any other of the setups I have tried.
Photos for reference:http://www.hometheaterforum.com/bbs/...ent/28828.html
Go for it!
Mike
[Edited last by Mike O'Connell on July 26, 2001 at 08:48 PM]

 

[Jonathan_M]

Mike,
Thanks for your input. I took a look at your pictures. Very nice setup.
I'm leaning toward adding the back surrounds. My wallet is screaming now.

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"We're hosed. We lost the remote."

 

[Chris PC]

When you are talking about adding rear surrounds in addition to side surrounds, do the rear surrounds receive a different signal? Is there a true encode/decode with a separate rear and side surround channel? Or are both rear and side surrounds receiving the same signal? 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 are there actually channels with separate info there? I guess regardless, it would work really well with a rear center channel too.

 

[Rob Roth]

FWIW, here's my experience: My favorite HT application is watching concert DVDs. I rent many and own a few movies but my system was/is setup for concerts. Thus I used 5 identical Sonus Faber speakers in a 'side surround' configuration. This setup was fine for most applications but my B&K 307 offered 7.1 options AND I have a fairly large room (30' by 26'). Having the surrounds on the side (110 degrees) was not quite sufficient to fill the area behind the listening position, but I did not like the sound of surround rears- made everything sound like a cathedral.
I kept the side surrounds and added a rear pair as well. ALL material is much improved. Note that there still isn't much material that explicitly uses 6 or 7 full range channels, so make sure your processor/receiver can make good use of the additional pair. My B&K features a surround mode (EX) that matrixes the side surround info into the rears. The result is a very full rear soundstage. I have heard systems that provide discrete rear channels (ES) and spent quite a bit of time listening to the actual rear outputs on ES coded material. There wasn't much there- certainly not enough to justify all the expense.
So I am actually happier with my 'less advanced' rear matrixed setup; the side surrounds provide localization and the rears fill in the space while providing the diffusion that many seek in dipole surrounds. I now feel I have the best of both worlds.
Note that my HT tastes and yours may not coincide and that your space may be different than mine. IF I had a smaller room and mostly watched movies I doubt I would consider the added expense worthwhile.

 

[derek]

See my FAQ on adding Surround EX.
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Derek
Surround EX FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/P...urroundex.html