[mca]

I would like to hear from some of you that have upgraded from a 5.1 system to a 6/7.1 system. Did you feel the upgrade was worth it? I was curious if it would work best in a larger sized room? My room measures 14' wide by 18' deep. My listening position is about 12' feet back and my dipole surrounds are mounted on the side walls even with the couch.
If I go this route, can I get away with a small amp to power the new rears? My other option is using my Rotel RMB1095 to power the center/surround/rears and getting a new amp for the mains. I thought maybe this way I could step up the quality of the main amp (Odyssey or AVA?) for 2 channel listening. Any thoughts or advice?

[bubba966]

Well, there's very few of us around here that run 7.1 setups, so you probably won't be getting much feedback on this...

In my experience, going to 7.1 was not all that worthwhile. It cost me a good deal to setp up to 7.1. It was $1,700 for a new receiver, $375 for a amp for the rear center channels (receiver only has 5 channels of power), $300 for rear center speakers, $150 or so for cabling, and then tax on top of all of that.

While I am glad that I got the new (and much nicer) receiver, I can't say that the $ spent on the amp, speakers, & cable was entirely worth it.

The problem is this. Very, very few movies are mixed to decode in EX/ES. And of those that do, very few of them actually do it right (or do anything at all with the rear center channel).

But a movie doesn't have to be mixed for EX or ES to be decoding in either format. Any 5.1 channel signal can be decoded in 7.1.

As I paid for the gear, I run everything in 7.1 if possible. I used to only run EX & ES encoded software in 7.1 mode. But as I've not found any downside to decoding things in 7.1 I have been doing it all of the time for the last 2 years.

Most of the time nothing really goes on back there. But occasionally you get surprised. Dog Soldiers is a perfect example. It's only mixed in 5.1, but decodes in 7.1 better than the majority of EX/ES encoded titles.

Another good example is Xbox games that have in game 5.1. They almost always decode very well in 7.1. In fact, they're the only thing that seems to be worth running in 7.1.

Is the added expense worth it to you? That, I don't know.

But I will say that you don't need much power back there, as nothing ever really goes on back there.

And I'll also say that 6.1 is not worth bothering with at all. A single rear center channel directly behind your head is very, very hard to hear. If you want to go for more than 5.1, skip 6 channel and head straight to 7 channel.

[mca]

Hey Bubba, thanks for the reply. I was kinda glad to hear that I am not missing much. Maybe now I can stop thinking about going that route and work on tweaking and upgrading what I've got  
Can't wait until the BPT shows up to see what it does for the system.
I contacted Wayne about putting a Bybee on my digital cable, he informed me he is out of stock for awhile until Jack gets him another batch  

[ehider]

I've heard quite a few 7.1 set-ups. Unfortunately they never sound better than having the same amount of money spread across a higher quality 5.1 set up in comparison.

If all things are equal in a 5.1 versus a 7.1 system, the 7.1 can sound more fluid and complete in terms of special effects and soundfield energy. That being said, room interaction can be a bigger headache than with a 7.1 system (you'd think it would be less due to the increased flexibility, but that has not been my experience).

In the long run I think 7.1 setups will NEVER become the standard which everyone aspires toward. It's hard to justify a 7.1 price wise. Athsetically it can be a larger eyesore. And mpst importantly it does not sound better than a higher quality 5.1 system (where the 7.1 total system cost was spread into a 5.1 system instead).

[boxhead]

I bought the pre/pro before I had the 7 speakers and used it for 5.1. I then just got another center speak for the rear which made up the 6th channel. Later on finally found the same speaks for the rear that matched the sides to complete the 7.1 On the movies encoded for it, it sounds great. On the other hand the movies I tried to do a forced 7.1 sounded pretty weird. Lots of dropouts and phasing. My opinion is that if you have an existing 5.1 go the slow route to 7.1 and add a sixth speaker first then go to a true 7.1 with the same speaks as your surrounds. As you add you will notice that the sound field will expand as you add speakers. Try a center channel that matches your front center and keep it at the same height. This provided my system with a fairly good match in timbre. Once I found the matching surrounds I mounted them on brackets such as my existing surrounds. I would imagine there are differing ideas on how to do this but that was my experience.Cheers.

[jqp]

I bought the pre/pro before I had the 7 speakers and used it for 5.1. I then just got another center speak for the rear which made up the 6th channel. Later on finally found the same speaks for the rear that matched the sides to complete the 7.1 On the movies encoded for it, it sounds great. On the other hand the movies I tried to do a forced 7.1 sounded pretty weird. Lots of dropouts and phasing. My opinion is that if you have an existing 5.1 go the slow route to 7.1 and add a sixth speaker first then go t ...

Which pre/pro is that? I am currently setting up my Outlaw 950. I will hopefully pick up my center channel amp Monday...

[boxhead]

JQP, It is an Integra 7.1.  A lot of people diss Onkyo/Integra but this one offers enough flexibility for my purpose and it did not break the bank. I use an ancient Grommes tube stereo amp for 2 channel. The main amps now for the HT is a Phase Linear 400 and a Parasound for the center, sides and rears. Though the Parasound is only 85 WPC it provides enough oomph for the center and surrounds. I tried listening at THX reference but it was loud for these ears.  You can get some good deals on older equipment, aka the Parasound for 450$ The Heresy's were bought new in 78 and I just purchased the Cornwalls last year at an estate sale for cheap. Living in east Texas has some unique bargains in the country.

[byteme]

I think it was.  However, in the context of the fact that we were building an addition to our house and the "family" room was going to house the stereo/home theater.  We went from a HTB to a 7.1 system using a Denon 3802 as a pre/pro.  Initially we used it to power all the channels as well.  For me, the price difference was the rear surrounds (Polk RTi25's) which I got on clearance locally for 50% off other than that it was cabling, OK another $100 or so, everything is run in wall prior to having the room finished.  It never occured to me to do 5.1.  To me it was well worth it and sounds great.  It allowed me to go with dipoles (Polk f/x 500i) for side surrounds rather than direct radiators.  True, there aren't many software titles but the ones that are there, damn they sound good!  Later we added a separate 5 channel amp and really improved things.

Realistically, you could add rear surrounds for just a couple hundred bucks - is it worth that?  I think so.  It's not like you need $1000 speakers, they're rear surrounds for craps sake!  If you're looking at a new receiver anyway the savings aren't that much if you go 5 vs 7 powered channels so the real cost is cabling and speakers.  I'd for sure do it again.

[satfrat]

I'm with Bubba on this one as I have a 6.1 and I haven't even used the rear center yet. But that could all change once Dolby PL2x takes hold. This will convert all stero signals to 6.1 and make my system MORE than worth the added expense. The thing with 6.1/7.1 is that you can move your rear speakers more to the sides and still have the back filled in. Very desireable indeed! Regards, Robin