Should I go with 5.1 "expanded" or 7.1?

[brettallica]

I am looking to get a set of tower speakers for the front left and right for my home theater. The current slimline Sony speakers I have are nice, but like so many of us on this forum, I've got a severe case of upgraditis.

My current setup is as follows:

5.1
Two Fronts
One Center (front)
Two surrounds
One Sub

To get an idea what my current setup looks like, click here.

So I've got a question as to how I should wire my new speakers. My receiver has the ability to have four speakers for the front (two for A and two for B), but it also has the ability to go full 7.1. Since I will be getting two new speakers, I will now have seven total satellite speakers. The question is: should I wire them in 5.1 and have four speakers in the front channel, or go with the full 7.1 setup? What do some of you audio experts think?

The 7.1 setup would look like this:

7.1
Two Fronts
One Center (front)
Two surrounds
Two surround back
One Sub

The optional 5.1 would look like this:

5.1
Four Fronts
One Center (front)
Two surrounds
One Sub

Yet another optional method for 5.1 wiring (not really considered in my original paragraph above) would be something like this:

5.1
Four Fronts
One Center (front)
Two surround rear
One Sub

I'm assuming this configuration would not be a good way to go, but I included it anyway, as it is an option after all.

Here's an animated image in case my wording isn't clear:

I'm leaning toward 7.1, but I want what's best. My room is about 18' x 18' or so. The rear speakers are behind/next to my sofa, where I do most of my HDTV watching.

[Big Daddy]

Four speakers for the front is a very bad idea. You will have major phase cancellation problem as the two right front speakers receive the same signal and the two left front speakers also receive the same signal. Buy a 7.1 system or buy a pair of good speakers for your front and upgrade your current system to 7.1 by moving your current front speakers to the rear.

Check this site from Dolby:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_e...ide/index.html

[Rob J in WNY]

Love that animated GIF for demonstration!

I'd go with a 7.1 setup. Might as well, because then you can take advantage of BDs containing 6.1 and 7.1 channel audio. Your room is certainly large enough.

You can always run 5.1 audio as Pro Logic IIx as well for some usage of the surround-back speakers as well.

Go for 7.1!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Love that animated GIF for demonstration!

LOL! At first I thought my monitor was playing tricks on me. WTF!

John

[AJ98]

I have a Sony STR-DG800.
It is configured for 7.1, and works quite well.

I beleive your 920 has the same internal configuration, just with extra HD inputs.

Points by other posters not withstanding, if you drive the amp too hard, the amp may display PROTECTOR on the LED.
Step 1: turn off speaker B and run with just A.
step 2: unplug for 1-2 hours to allow overload circuit to discharge/reset.
step 3: verify speaker wires have solid connections

Of course, steps 1 and 2 defeat the purpose of 4 fronts.

I'd go with straight 7.1 first. Worry about 4 fronts later.

[DonRSD]

great animated GIF!!!

how did you do that?

[Fors*]

I can't see it! The little IT fairies here at work are blocking this on me....

[Steve]

If you decide to go with 5.1, go with the very first configuration you listed in your post. As Big Daddy suggests, I would stay away from 4 main speakers. Also remember that when you add surround channels, you use surrounds first for 5.1 and add surround backs for 7.1. In the very last configuration you listed, you show two surround rears with no surrounds. This is an improper setup. Surrounds come before surround rears.

[brettallica]

Thanks, all, for the replies. This is exactly the kind of help I needed.

My original thoughts are with you experts, which is reassuring for me, since I'm somewhere between novice and "knows-a-enough-to-be-dangerous" when it comes to audio configuration.

I really had no intention initially to have four front channel speakers, but I wanted to hear some opinions/facts on the matter, because I didn't know the actual reason why I shouldn't hook them up that way. Also, the last 5.1 method — two surround rears with no surrounds — I definitely wasn't leaning toward this at all; I just wanted to lay it all out on the table so that nothing was forgotten and overlooked.

To further the discussion, let's say I pick up four new speakers. Would it then be officially "OK" to have four front speakers? Meaning four fronts, one center, two surround, two surround rear. I probably will not do this, but it would be good information to know. I'm assuming if I had an actual theater in my house, this would be an acceptable configuration.

As far as the animated .gif, I'm glad you all liked it! I thought that would help illustrate. I created it with a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop, and Image Ready — all Adobe products.

[Steve]

With regard to 4 front speakers, there is the new Dolby Pro Logic IIz (not IIx), which incorporates 4 speakers in the front. You have a regular left and right, but also height channels on the left and right. Cnet has reviewed it twice now, and so far have not been impressed. Also keep in mind that no movies are released in this format. This is processing done exclusively in PL IIz receivers. You can read about it here.

[Rob J in WNY]

Brettallica,

As a graphic designer (in the daytime), I was wondering if you had 'Shop skillz going on that one.

Indeed, four front speakers, unless identical, can dilute the imaging a bit (and even identical speaker-compliments to your primary L & R front speakers can create image breakdown in the sound). Second only to your center channel speaker in overal usage, the front L & R speakers fix and/or pan the location of audio across the viewing width of the screen. Imaging accuracy is a critical aspect of a finely set up home theater.

Larger theater environs will generally be concerned more about the careful placement of mulitple surround speakers so that a large group of patrons get the correct surround effects imaging.

The A/B speaker choice is reminiscent of the 2-channel days where some enthusiasts hooked up an extra pair of speakers in the same room (like surround speakers, except that they just played the front 2-channel signal), or possibly ran them into another room, like a second "zone." It was an earmark of "high end" receivers and stereo amplifiers back in those years.

There is little use for the A/B in a pure home theater listening scenario, but manufacturers, I would speculate, would prefer not to leave the option out. After all, except in a few instances, there's nothing more to it than just switching (or combining) two stereo speaker output jacks.

Dolby Pro Logic IIz decoding (matrixing) is available on the new Onkyo 607 receiver. Although there are no encodes for it yet, the format is official. It does not work on the A/B principle, but rather are two discreet channels of amplificiation whose purpose it to provide vertical imaging above the main L & R front speakers (as Fireman325 has pointed out).

[brettallica]

Man, I have learned a lot in this thread! Thanks for your input! I am definitely going to go with the 7.1 setup as suggested by the audio experts. What a great forum.

Rob J in WNY, I'm not sure if you've seen my gallery, but I also created a pretty sweet little diagram/schematic using Photoshop and Illustrator. Check it out here. It's been downsampled greatly so it could be uploaded to my gallery, but the original .ai file has so much detail it's insane.

[brettallica]

With some help from the guys in this thread, as well as some great spotters over in the Hot Deals section of the Blu-ray.com forum, I am in the process of seriously upgrading my audio.

I just picked up two Polk Monitor 60 for the left and right front, and the Polk CS1 for the center. I will now physically move my left and right front speakers I'm using now from their current position and they will become my surround left and right speakers. The current left and right surround speakers will become the rear. I will remove the current center channel from the equation.

7.1 here I come!

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by brettallica

With some help from the guys in this thread, as well as some great spotters over in the Hot Deals section of the Blu-ray.com forum, I am in the process of seriously upgrading my audio.

I just picked up two Polk Monitor 60 for the left and right front, and the Polk CS1 for the center. I will now physically move my left and right front speakers I'm using now from their current position and they will become my surround left and right speakers. The current left and right surround speakers will become the rear. I will remove the current center channel from the equation.

7.1 here I come!

I like you choices brett. You'll find the CS1 and 60's have the same size drivers, so they will help to form a nice, seemless sound from your front soundstage, and of course, they are excellent performers. 7.1 is also a nice addition...and would be even better if there were more blu's with 7.1. By the way, good idea to move the current fronts to your surrounds....I think you are really going to like what you hear.....

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

I like you choices brett. You'll find the CS1 and 60's have the same size drivers, so they will help to form a nice, seemless sound from your front soundstage, and of course, they are excellent performers. 7.1 is also a nice addition...and would be even better if there were more blu's with 7.1. By the way, good idea to move the current fronts to your surrounds....I think you are really going to like what you hear.....

Thanks. That is definitely the idea = liking what I hear. The speakers just arrived about 30 minutes ago here at work (not even two days since I ordered them), and I am going to have to appoint a co-worker to take these pups to my house in his truck since they won't fit in my sedan.

My surround channels aren't going to be in "the absolute ideal" position according to the official Dolby suggestion, but I'm pretty confident that with a little adjustment using my A/V's GUI, I'll get the sound to fill the room properly. I will post a diagram/schematic of the layout once it is complete. I know you're all really excited for that.

I don't know how much richer I'd be if I'd never heard of Blu-ray.com, but I can guarantee I'd have far fewer home theater toys and would be far less knowledgeable on the subject. Man, my living room has really changed over the past year.