simple 6.1, 7.1 surround question (1 Viewer)

[KyleCT]

The thought of more channels for my HT sounds pretty sweet but i have a few questions.

Is 6.1 three front channels (L,R,C) and three rear channels (L,R,C)? I have a 5.1 setup right now. Do you need a center speaker for the rear center or will any good ole speaker work?

Where are the 7 channels for 7.1 located? Is it three front, 2 rear, and 2 on the sides?

 

[STLMIKE]

6.1 gives you a rear center. 7.1 gives you 2 back surrounds and 2 side surrounds.

My understanding is that it's generally preferred to not use a center channel speaker for the center surround.

I bought 3 pairs of Infinity bookshelves as my mains, and my l/r/c surrounds. I have the matching center as my front center. The other bookshelf speaker is then available if I ever decide to go 7.1.

Mike

 

[Jon_Liu]

I am not sure why they would say that putting a center channel speaker in the back is bad. I did it this way for a long while. I still am doing it this way. Of course, come Wednesday or Thursday I will have a 7.1 set up so I won't be doing it anymore!

I have Polk R40s for mains, Center is a CSi30, Surrounds are FXi30s and Surround back center is another CSi30.

The Surround Back center will be replaced for two more FXi30s.

 

[Venkat_r]

Are there any DVD's that are 7.1 encoded or is the receiver/pre-pro converting 5.1 to 7.1

I currently have a 5.1 setup but my HT room is wired for 7.1 and I planning to buy/hook 2 additional speakers. Can someone share their experiences with 7.1. Is 7.1 more enjoyable/dramatic that 5.1

Thanks

venkat

 

[Michael Reuben]

No. There is no such format for home theater, and there isn't likely to be one anytime soon.

And before someone feels the need to leap in and comment: Yes, I know there's DD EX and DTS-ES (discrete and matrix), but none of these is a "7.1" format, which would have seven discrete channels, plus LFE.

M.

 

[Venkat_r]

Thanks Mike

Since I am upgrading from a receiver to pre/pro set up, I was looking at 7 ch amps and they seem to be more expensive and fewer than 5 channel amps. I would rather spend less money and buy a good 5 channel amp (vs a 7 ch. amp) since 7.1 is not in the near future and 6.1 has not taken off either.


any suggestions.

Thanks

venkat

 

[John S]

DTS ES - Is real 6.1 format...

DTS Matrix makes good use of 6.1 from DTS 5.1 sources.

DD 5.1 EX makes good 6.1 and 7.1 use of DD 5.1 sources, particularly those with EX flags.


Fairly big improvement in 6.1 over 5.1, not as much improvement in 7.1 over 6.1 though.

 

[BrentG]

I think many are confused here. Their is NO 7.1 encoding at all. Their is 6.1 encoding, the EX and ES extensions.

In a 7.1 speaker set up the 2 rear effects speaks are mono and recieve the same signal from the EX or ES extension. Also most of the newer recievers have some type of setting in them to turn a 5.1 DD signal into 6.1, work better on some DVD then others.

So when you are talking 7.1 all you are refering to is speaker set-up, the most signals you will have is 6.1.

So it real doesn't mater if you run 1 or 2 rear effect speakers, but if the room is wide 2 will give you a more filling sound.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Again, that depends on the processor.

M.

 

[Jon_Liu]

I always wondered about the surround back channels. Whether or not it was truly mono or whether there were slight variances in the processing.

Any word on how you could tell what your receiver does with the signal? On Wednesday my Onkyo TX-NR901 will arrive so I am interested to know what this receiver will do with the surround back two channels!