I agree that you won’t gain much by going to 7.1. But heck it's worth a try.
If you want to try 7.1 I think your idea of putting them about 4’ apart is good. If you have the time and can find some stands, preferably ladders or something closer to your planned placement height do some experimenting to find the best location. If you try 7.1 you might want to move your surround speakers a little farther forward.
I’m glad I experimented because I found that placing my 5.1 surrounds farther back than the current Dolby recommendations I got much better sound. (I’ve seen Dolby recommendations to put 5.1 surrounds further back to make up for not having “rears” but can’t find the link). With my 5.1 setup I ended up with my speakers in the corners where yours are in the pictures. Generally people say not to put speakers in the corners because it can result in boomy bass and color their tone, but I found that this wasn’t an issue for me.
The thing that might improve your surround sound the most would be to move the couch off the wall and center it between the speakers. That’s assuming you can based on other considerations.
Cheers,
Dean
yep, worth a try. i have never heard it before. i have it, and extra speakers. and there really seems to be a hole in the back sound stage. so, what the hey, i'm going to try it.
yeah, the surrounds are not staying there. i just have yet to move em forward.
the couch, well, at least MY seat on the couch, is dead center. in the sweat spot. wife sits on the end. she doesn't mind, or doesn't say she minds. she is much less critical than i am. but that couch is going to be replaced by 2 recliners.
