Reason to buy a 7.2 receiver when you only have 5 speakers?

[HAMP]

I’ve always liked the just in-case excuse. Get the 7channel just in-case you decide to add more speakers later. It’s better to have and not use, then to what it and can’t use it.

Originally Posted by richieb1971

Does a 7.2 system offer more power than all 5.1's?

As far as power goes, an AVR is different than an amp. An amp has individual power supplies for each channel used, as with an AVR the power is distributed to the 5 or 7 channel. A 5 or 7channel AVR with the same power would put more power into each 5channel then it would with a 7channel.