5.1 or 7.1? Where to set speakers

[HerbalKiller]

I just bought a house and am tearing down the walls. I figured while I am doing this I might as well wire the speaker system so there is no wires on the floor. I currently have a 5 speaker setup without the subwoofer.
Here are my questions:
Where should I place a subwoofer? Next to the TV?
Can the Center channel be about 4 ft about the TV or should it be right above or below it.
This would be based on the viewers only being about 10ft from the TV.
for the rears... should I keep my 5.1 or go ahead and wire for 7.1?
Is 7.1 going to be the standard any time soon?
What size wiring should I use?
Is there a distance difference limitation for the speaker wires of the two rears?
in other words what if say the left channel is 20ft longer wiring than the right channel.
Will that affect the output?

I only have a 5.1 receiver.

 

[MrChad]

This may help: http://www.dolby.com/consumer/...inment/roomlayout.html

Can the Center channel be about 4 ft about the TV or should it be right above or below it.

Ideally your center speaker should be placed above or below the TV.

Is 7.1 going to be the standard any time soon?

There are a number of codecs that can leverage 7.1 setups, so if you're wiring I would go ahead and add the second set of surround speaker wires for a (possibly future) 7.1 setup.

Is there a distance difference limitation for the speaker wires of the two rears?

Most receivers allow you to adjust the delay on each channel based on the distance between the speaker and the "sweet spot" listener position.

 

[HerbalKiller]

Thanks. I will go ahead and wire for the 7.1 and try to find a spot closer to the TV for my center.