Is 7.1 really worth it?

[raw nerve]

I got bit by the bug to upgrade and redo my little HT room in the basement. I wanted to know is it worth going 7.1? I know there a few blu"s out there thats 7.1 but why has it not caught on yet? I want to do it right and get it out of the way. My AVR is denon 2309, Speakers are SVS SCS 5.1 sub SVS PB/+2. I sit about 4 to 5 feet from the back wall. thanks guys

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by raw nerve

I got bit by the bug to upgrade and redo my little HT room in the basement. I wanted to know is it worth going 7.1? I know there a few blu"s out there thats 7.1 but why has it not caught on yet? I want to do it right and get it out of the way. My AVR is denon 2309, Speakers are SVS SCS 5.1 sub SVS PB/+2. I sit about 4 to 5 feet from the back wall. thanks guys

It is for me . I matrix all my 5.1 Blu's to 7.3

[gosawx]

I would say it depends on the room, as even tho there are few 7.1 discs, receivers can "extract" a rear-surround channel and do a good job of sumilating a good effect from a 5.1 source.

If your room is still set up as it is in your gallery, I'd say swap the rears out for a set of bipolars, and place them properly to the left and right f your seating position for a better effect....my 2 cents

[raw nerve]

when you martix it does that mean the left 2 rears play the same and the right 2 rears play the same? All new 2 me. thanks

[gosawx]

Originally Posted by raw nerve

when you martix it does that mean the left 2 rears play the same and the right 2 rears play the same? All new 2 me. thanks

It does some processing so that the "rear surrounds" are different thant the "surrounds"...pretty effective....

[raw nerve]

Originally Posted by gosawx

I would say it depends on the room, as even tho there are few 7.1 discs, receivers can "extract" a rear-surround channel and do a good job of sumilating a good effect from a 5.1 source.

If your room is still set up as it is in your gallery, I'd say swap the rears out for a set of bipolars, and place them properly to the left and right f your seating position for a better effect....my 2 cents

i built a little room 16x10 for my ht in the basement i only have a pic of the back wall.

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[gosawx]

if the pic is from somewhere near the seating pisition, then some nice in-wall ( on in ceiling) speakers on either side of that door would be sweet, and unobtrusive...

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by gosawx

if the pic is from somewhere near the seating pisition, then some nice in-wall ( on in ceiling) speakers on either side of that door would be sweet, and unobtrusive...

I agree . Your room is not that much smaller than Mine . Adding the rear speakers would work well .

[raw nerve]

I have about 4 feet to the sofa. i was thinking about mounting them on the left and right of the doors and not having them open full swing. I also moving the sub to the back of the room right of the door so i can have the 3 front speakers on stands. Right now there mounted up faceing down.

[GAWD]

My room is 18x10 and 7.1 does make a difference. Those rear channels add.

[Buddy Christ]

Yes worth it. IMO if you go as far as being in this forum than more than likely "the experience" is what you are into.

Some times nothing funnier than you and your dog snap your heads around because of a realistic sound coming from behind you

[STARSCREAM]

YES. Even 6.1 is alot better to me than 5.1 .

[Vorlx]

I love 7.1 over a standard 5.1 setup. I guess it just depends on your layout.

[DIY_HD]

Unfortunately, only 6% of BDs have a 7.1-channel sound track. However, for those that do, most of them are amazing. My AVR is a pre-HDMI model, so I can't matrix the rear channels unless I switch to the optical interface (low bandwidth). In my case, going lossless means losing the two back speakers for all 5.1 BDs. But I definitely will be upgrading my AVR.

If you do add the back surrounds, make sure you buy lots of 7.1-channel BDs. The more people buy, the more the studios will produce.

Forgot to mention, you can find out which BDs have 7.1 by using the audio filter on

http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php

[ivanhouston]

What about Dolby pro logic 2z?
Is it a better layout than the original 7.1 layout?

[HAMP]

Depends on the size of the room and proper placement is key!!

I knew I was moving, but have know idea what my new place would be like and I still bought me a new 7.1 surround. I love 7.1 that much. It does make a difference and yet I have heard that a well placed 5.1 is much much better then a bad placed 7.1.

I hope with your new room you get the best placement of speakers possible.


Looking at your old gallery, your gonna hear a big difference with the new compared to the old.

[gosawx]

Originally Posted by ivanhouston

What about Dolby pro logic 2z?
Is it a better layout than the original 7.1 layout?

This looks neat, it's another way to extract more sound from a 5.1 source (just like Prologic IIx "makes" 7.1 from 5.1)

I know Dolby has always had an affection for a "Voice of God" channel, or a speaker directly above the listener...this looks like a neat home implementation of this...

[browninggold]

7.1 is awesome if you have the right size room

[JLant19]

Originally Posted by browninggold

7.1 is awesome if you have the right size room

Exactly. You don't need 7.1 or even 6.1 if your room is small. But I enjoy 6.1 just fine.

[Fors*]

It is worth it if you can properly place the rear channels. If not, a properly placed 6 channel or even 5 channel set-up will sound better than a 7 channel one where the rear channels cannot be placed properly.