Newbie question about 7.1 setup on Onkyo receiver

[puffyrock2]

I am currently in the process of hooking up a 7.1 surround sound system. I am very new to all this and have not done any of it before. Everything went smoothly except for one issue. I have the Jamo A102 7.1 speaker system and the Onkyo TX-SR506 Receiver, which I purchased used in excellent condition.

The two front and the center work perfect. I am having an issue with the four rears. I hooked two speakers to the L and R hookups under the 'Surr Speakers' column and they play fine. There is one last column on the left which says 'Surr Back Speakers (Bi-Amp for Front speakers). The two speakers I hook up here do not play. What is this whole bi-amp thing about? The manual shows speakers hooked up here, but no sound. I unhooked the speakers from here and twisted them together with the 'Surr Speakers' to at least get sound from all 4 rears.

Now, I feel as though I am getting 5.1 sound only out of 7 speakers. When doing a 7.1 white noise test, two right speakers and two left speakers are highlighted on the screen playing noise, but noise comes out both at the same time in my room.

I am new to all this and I really hope this makes sense. It's not the easiest thing to explain I suppose. Many thanks to anyone who may know what I mean.

[BIslander]

It sounds like the rear terminals can be used as surround backs or to bi-amp the fronts. Bi-amping provides additional amplification for the front speakers instead of powering separate channels. You need to set the terminals as rear channels.

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[puffyrock2]

Originally Posted by BIslander

It sounds like the rear terminals can be used as surround backs or to bi-amp the fronts. Bi-amping provides additional amplification for the front speakers instead of powering separate channels. You need to set the terminals as rear channels.

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I just need to find out how to do so on the setup. I see all the usual options. Speaker config, Speaker distance. Any idea of where that option may be? Thanks.

[BIslander]

Take a look at pages 17 and 38 of the manual.

[Remo]

You also need a 7 channel source, or turn on a DSP such as Dolby PLIIx. After hooking the speakers back up to the correct terminals.