Setup 7.1 in prewired 5.1

[kgokal]

basically i have pre-wired for 5.1

left - center - right
surr.left ----- surr.right

can i do

surr.left(red) -- left(green) -- center -- right(green) -- surr.right(red)
rear.left -----------------------------rear.right

Diagram: Text

Or would it sound funky?

 

[erwos]

It would sound funky. I'm vaguely recalling that Yamaha's receivers have some sort of feature that would properly support what you're doing, but it would sound weird on anything else.

 

[kgokal]

I was thinking of using this setup with a HK AVR335, which has a 2nd Zone, wonder if it could be configure to be such?

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: kgokal
basically i have pre-wired for 5.1

left - center - right
surr.left ----- surr.right

can i do

surr.left(red) -- left(green) -- center -- right(green) -- surr.right(red)
rear.left -----------------------------rear.right

Diagram: Text

Or would it sound funky?

It's just plain wrong. Kind of like wiring your left speaker with the center channel out put then connecting your left rear channel for the front right.

7point1-surround-sound.png

 

[Googer]

If you have 5.1, then be happy. Most people don't even have 2.1 and the difference between 5 and 7 isn't much; it's more of a novelty.

 

[cheesehead]

I don't mean to thread crap, but a good 5.1 setup will own a mediocre 7.1 setup every time. Dipole/bipole surrounds may help improve the 360-degree image.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I don't mean to thread crap, but a good 5.1 setup will own a mediocre 7.1 setup every time. Dipole/bipole surrounds may help improve the 360-degree image.

I agree. Quality wins over quantity anytime.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Googer
If you have 5.1, then be happy. Most people don't even have 2.1 and the difference between 5 and 7 isn't much; it's more of a novelty.

Plus, many DVDs and blu-rays only have 5.1 sound anyway.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: Googer
If you have 5.1, then be happy. Most people don't even have 2.1 and the difference between 5 and 7 isn't much; it's more of a novelty.

Plus, many DVDs and blu-rays only have 5.1 sound anyway.

Yep.

At this point, 7.1 is mostly for video games and even at that, the advantage over 5.1 is minimal. I have a 7.1 channel receiver and most of the time the 2nd set of rear speakers do nothing or just copy/sync with what the 1st set of surrounds are doing; it's a bit of a waste.

 

[kgokal]

That would make sense, its not like most dvds would even store 7channels right?

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: kgokal
That would make sense, its not like most dvds would even store 7channels right?

IIRC, there are a very few DVDs that could do 6.1 using DD-EX or DTS-ES. It is slightly more common to see 6.1 or 7.1 on BR-Ds - the examples I can think of off the top of my head are Kingdom of Heaven, Stargate, and Hellboy II.

I agree with the crowd that a good 5.1 setup is better than an average 7.1 setup. However, you should be dumping most of the money into your front stage (FR, C, FL) and subwoofer anyways. If buying that second pair of surrounds breaks your bank, you're probably spending too much on them to begin with.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: kgokal
That would make sense, its not like most dvds would even store 7channels right?

7.1 is standard fare for Blu-Ray and newer video games for the PC or PS3.

When 5.1 sound is fed in to 7.1 receivers like my Integra DTR-7.6, it just copies the surround track to the second set of rear speakers so that they mirror each other for an extended 5.1 sound.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Googer

7.1 is standard fare for Blu-Ray and newer video games for the PC or PS3.

When 5.1 sound is fed in to 7.1 receivers like my Integra DTR-7.6, it just copies the surround track to the second set of rear speakers so that they mirror each other for an extended 5.1 sound.

Since reading this topic the other day I've been checking the BD discs I have bought and gotten from Netflix and so far they have all been 5.1. This is an entirely unscientific survey, obviously, but it includes some recent "effects" movies like Tropic Thunder. I have a pretty nice 7.1 receiver (Denon AVR-3808ci) and may actually set it up for 7.1 when I get my new speakers (I am getting a nice AV123 Onix Rockets setup), but haven't seen much in the way of 7.1 software so far.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: Googer

7.1 is standard fare for Blu-Ray and newer video games for the PC or PS3.

When 5.1 sound is fed in to 7.1 receivers like my Integra DTR-7.6, it just copies the surround track to the second set of rear speakers so that they mirror each other for an extended 5.1 sound.

Since reading this topic the other day I've been checking the BD discs I have bought and gotten from Netflix and so far they have all been 5.1. This is an entirely unscientific survey, obviously, but it includes some recent "effects" movies like Tropic Thunder. I have a pretty nice 7.1 receiver (Denon AVR-3808ci) and may actually set it up for 7.1 when I get my new speakers (I am getting a nice AV123 Onix Rockets setup), but haven't seen much in the way of 7.1 software so far.

From what I understand, studios are just

Games like Battlefield 2, and BF 2142 are in 7.1 and If my memory serves me correctly, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is a 7.1 game.

From what I understand, at this point studios are still only mixing mostly 5.1 audio to sell as mass marketDVD's and not remixing them for niche market BD.