Convoluted Receiver Manual (Sony STRDH520)

[Falaskan]

As much as I'd like to think I'm a ht techi (and I am compared to those I know) the manual for the receiver I just bought has put me to shame. I am at my parents, going to move out soon, and I wanted a surround sound receiver that was HD capable, theirs was not. So I got a 7.1 HD receiver and hooked it up to their 5.1 setup.

At first I hooked up the rear speakers in the wrong spot. i put them where the high rear speakers (as the manual puts them) should go in a 7.1 setup. When I watched a movie in 5.1, I noticed no sound was coming out of the back speakers. According to this manual, with a 5.1 setup, the back speakers are called the side speakers. Anyway, I switched the wires, and indicated on the receiver that I was using a 5.1 setup.

Then I put in a movie to test the speakers. The movie was Narnia: Prince Caspian in DTS-HD 7.1. On my 5.1 setup it sounded fine. Then, using the receiver menu, I indicated that I was using a 7.1 system, even tho there were no extra speakers connected. My parents are not going to upgrade from their 5.1 setup. To my surprise tho, when I told the receiver I was using a 7.1 set up, the sound was louder (coming out of the center speaker anyway).

Should I leave the setting on 7.1 or 5.1? I thought it was interesting that things were louder when the setting was set to 7.1, but I wondered how much sound I was missing without any speakers actually connected in the far back.

Does more sound come out of the back speakers or side speakers? Obviously I don't want to keep switching wires back and forth. Also, am I loosing any sound if I tell it it's a 5.1 setup (since it actually is)?

Oh the player I actually got can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDH520-.../dp/B004NHCGJO

The manual can be found here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...=3#/manualsTab