Virtues of 7.1

[BleakShore]

Fellow audio enthusiasts,

How many of you actually have the 7.1 and feel that it makes a significant difference?

I finally got the 7.1 set up over the weekend. Any good DVD to test the effects?

A buddy of mine is coming over tonight to see how he might like 7.1.
He is also considering to upgrade his receiver to get the 7.1.

Any enlightments would be appreciated.

[Andrew Pratt]

I'm running 6.1 and love it. In my room adding the rear centre really helps to fill in the rear sound stage. Air force one and gladiator and two that jump to mind as some great demo material.

[lcajiga]

BleakShore, this is my list:

1. Lion King the Enhanced version - Awesome sound
2. Star Wars #1 and #2
3. Lord of the rings - Both Fellowship and Two Towers
4. Gladiator




Regards,
Luis

http://www.luiscajiga.com/HT.htm

"It is not what you see and hear...it is how!"

[Aussie Geoff]

BleakShore,

I moved to 7.1 early in 2002 and would never go back. The extra rear channels fill in the surround field in the same way as the centre does for the front. Even my wife (who clearly thought I was mad at the time) loved the extra sound dimension when I A/B compared it with her. We leave 7.1 on all the time except for pure stereo.

6.1 is enough in rooms that are narrower accross than they are deep, whle 7.1 is really worth it in wider rooms.

Other killer 6.1 sound tracks in 7.1 playback include:
Daredevil (DTS)
Blade II (DTS)
Lord of the Rings I or II Special Edition (DTS)
Resident Evil
Jurasic Park III (the bass to die for!)

Enjoy!


Some

[Azeke]

BleakShore,

I also recently went to the 7.1 configuration and enjoy how it fills in the rear space, especially in DTS-ES movies.

Here are some of my testing favorites:

1) Gladiator
2) Blade II (this will test your surrounds)
3) The Haunting (this will test your sub(s))
4) Star Wars
5) Jurrasic Park
6) Saving Private Ryan (Limited DTS version)
7) Bones
8) LOTR

Regards,

Azeke

[Dr C]

Still in 5.1 but considering to go to 6.1 or 7.1 but it would mean drilling a hole in the ceiling. Bummer ...

Still - in the quest for audio nirvana ;

1. Is there a difference to you folks between 6.1 and 7.1 ?
2. In a 7.1 setup, how far apart do you seperate the center rears ?
3. Is there a lot of material for the rear centers as opposed to the L/R rear surrounds ? Reason is I'm wondering if amp power is more critical for the rear surrounds or centers ?

Thks.

[Azeke]

Dr C,

Answers:

1) I have tried both a 6.1(Yamaha Rx-v3200) and 7.1 setup (my current setup with the RSP1-1098), if you go 7.1 (which is mono across both center back speakers) you must have the room dimensions to accomodate this setup or otherwise it's purpose is defeated, therefore in a small layout 6.1 is probably optimal.

2) I believe the separation is 6 ft. (I actually mounted by center backs on speaker stands, my wife informed me to stop putting holes in the drywall :lol.

3) Yes, DTS-ES utilizes 6 channels, if you have 7.1 it spreads a mono signal to the two center backs. If the option were mine I would amp the L/R surrounds since the signal is dispersed in stereo.

I am sure you are aware you must have a DTS encoder on your receiver/pre-pro.

Hope this helps,

Azeke

[Scarp]

My motto is: better a good 5.1 than a lesser quality 7.1 (or 6.1).
The investment of the extra two speakers I rather put in the other speakers. This raises the overall quality of your system.

Also, a 7.1 or 6.1 setup is wrong for multichannel audio. Multichannel audio only works properly on 5.1, since its designed that way. They way you put your speakers around in a 7.1 system they are in the wrong position.

I went back to 5.1 from 7.1, since I find I can improve the overall quality more with higher quality speakers (and rest of the equipment) than with the two extra speakers.

Also for a 6.1/7.1 you really need to space to accomodate that speakers. If its not good to position but a 5.1 system is good to position then stick with 5.1.

For 7.1 always power both rear speakers seperatly.

[Andrew Pratt]

1. Is there a difference to you folks between 6.1 and 7.1 ?

Yes but which you need is deptermined by your room. The wider the room is the higher the need for two rears vs one. My room is only 12 feet wide so a single rear works perfectly.

2. In a 7.1 setup, how far apart do you seperate the center rears ?

Depends THX says to place them pretty close together while DD says to put them further apart. There's diagrams on both their websites I believe on placement.

3. Is there a lot of material for the rear centers as opposed to the L/R rear surrounds ? Reason is I'm wondering if amp power is more critical for the rear surrounds or centers ?

No its spread evenly across all the surrounds. Remember that with the Rotels its XS processing is always running to make use of what ever speakers you have installed so even 5.1 movies will be processes to decode the 6th and 7th speakers when needed.

As for the comment on multi channel music one could argue that even 5.1 setups for movies are often done wrongly for music as a lot of us prefer dipole or bipole surrounds vs direct radiating models.

[BleakShore]

I just realized that this topic probably should have been posted in the general section. If it has been disturbing for this forum, my apologies. But, as it is already overcome by events, it is an interesting issue.