605 in 5.1

[BluHavik]

Sorry if it's already been asked. But I got the Onkyo HT-SP908 7.1 recently. Most of the Blu's I have are 5.1. How do I get the 605 to use the back speakers instead of the L n R surrounds for 5.1? I looked in the book, been no help. Note I know the speakers are hooked up right, when I try that mic thing I get a solid tone from all the speakers.

To the smart ass I'm sure will quip. This is my first surround foray. So yes, I am a moron. In this regard at least.

[cembros]

why would you want to connect the surround speakers to the back speaker connection?

[cembros]

sorry i misread ur post, i dont think you can do what you are asking unless you actually change the speaker connections for the back speakers to the surround input

[BluHavik]

Ya it's ok. My backs are idle and what should be straight from the left/right are acting like backs. I've up'd the db on them and lowerd the db on the fronts and that works ok. But I don't really want to have to calibrate the speakers every time I switch up movies from 5.1 to 7.1. I would be so easy if the backs would just be the backs in 5.1.

[BluHavik]

Originally Posted by cembros

sorry i misread ur post, i dont think you can do what you are asking unless you actually change the speaker connections for the back speakers to the surround input

so the l/r sides are my backs in 5.1? If so that sucks

[BluHavik]

Again to anyone, I want to stress. I do the setup and all speakers are hooked up right, the yellow box and sound match up. I don't have them hooked up back asswards.

[cembros]

the one thing that the 605 lacks is the ability to matrix lossless sound so the 2 back speakers in a 7.1 system produce sound from a 5.1 source. This means that if you listen to a 5.1 lossless audio source on the 7.1 system the back two speakers are silent. If your not listening to a lossless track and the source is 5.1 dolby digital ex and other formats will create its own rear channel soundtrack and you will then hear sound from your rear speakers.
Just to make a note, no matter what source you are listening to 5.1 or 7.1 your surround l+r channel are always you surround l+r channels, the rear channel is a toatly seperate channel that is only present in a 7.1 source (unless a 5.1 source is mentioned)

[BluHavik]

Thanks, for real. I was about to go nuts on why what I thought I couldn't figure out was going on. But one thing, if it's 5.1 should I just chose the lowest surround possible? And not the uncompressed 5.1?

Sorry I'm a total noob at this stuff. I thought a few times I had it, lol I've never had an electronic device bend me over like this.

Edit: sorry for that reference, not the most professional thing I've ever said.

[mdm1699]

Originally Posted by BluHavik

so the l/r sides are my backs in 5.1? If so that sucks

There are no backs in a 5.1. L/R Fronts, Center, L/R Surrounds, and sub. 7.1 add L/R surround backs.

[BluHavik]

Originally Posted by mdm1699

There are no backs in a 5.1. L/R Fronts, Center, L/R Surrounds, and sub. 7.1 add L/R surround backs.

K thanks for the blunt. Hopefully most new blu's are 7.1 then. What I wanted to know.

Thanks to all who replied.