different setup for surround music vs. movies?

[johndoe]

I'm confused. I have a 7.2 setup, my speakers are fixed to the walls. A pdf diagram of the room is attached, it's about 12W'x18'Lx7'H. Obviously, the sweet spot for 7 channels is between the side surrounds, and that's where my Archie Bunker chair is.
Since most movies and surround music SACDs and DVD-A have 5.1 information, I'm concerned that the surround information (especially with music) might be going to the side surrounds and not the rear surrounds. I have an Oppo player hooked up to an Onkyo receiver via HDMI and analog cables. I have assigned the HDMI for DVDs, but when listening to SACDs and DVD-a I use the multichannel input through the analogs. Should I do something different to improve my surround music listening experience?
I'm not so concerned about DVDs because I think the processing sends matrixed information to the rear surrounds. Is this correct?
Thanks!

 

[j_garcia]

The setup for each should be identical IMO. Since there is no surround back information for the rears, it should sound correct whether you are listening to movies or music. There may be slight differences (levels, positioning, etc...) that work better for movies vs music, so you have to set it up based on your preference. I setup my system for musical performance and movies sound fine. Also, if you are listening to movies via HDMI and SACD/DVD-A via analog, the settings for each are different anyway. Via HDMI, the receiver handles the speaker settings and via analog, the player does so you can configure each to your liking.

 

[westcott]

I would be far more concerned with proper speaker placement up front and proper seating distance. Your drawing shows the front speakers against the walls. They need to be further into the room. The seating position shows the middle of the room. This is a null area usually and is not recommended. I would move the couch back so it is 2/3rds the distance from the display wall. Lastly, I think anything over 5.1 in such a small room is not worth the added expense vs. return on investment. Just not a lot of material with more than 5.1 support. If you insist, rear speaker placement is more dependent on speaker design (bipole, dipole, or direct).

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm confused. I have a 7.2 setup, my speakers are fixed to the walls. A pdf diagram of the room is attached, it's about 12W'x18'Lx7'H. Obviously, the sweet spot for 7 channels is between the side surrounds, and that's where my Archie Bunker chair is.
Since most movies and surround music SACDs and DVD-A have 5.1 information, I'm concerned that the surround information (especially with music) might be going to the side surrounds and not the rear surrounds. I have an Oppo player hooked up to an Onkyo receiver via HDMI and analog cables. I have assigned the HDMI for DVDs, but when listening to SACDs and DVD-a I use the multichannel input through the analogs. Should I do something different to improve my surround music listening experience?
I'm not so concerned about DVDs because I think the processing sends matrixed information to the rear surrounds. Is this correct?
Thanks!

We have visited this often. You are basically correct. If you send SACD via HDMI, the surround information will go to the wrong speakers if mixed to European SACD convention, but not US.

Since all my SACDs are mixed to the European standard, I can not send SACD over HDMI and have to use the analog outs form the DSD decoder to the analog ins.

If I don't it makes absolute nonsense of the production. The problem is I then have to do speaker balancing and bass management in the analog domain. That requires DIY skills. I play in pure direct, so the pre/pro is only providing volume control.

For quite a few SACDs I own the rear surrounds need to be full range highly capable speakers comparable to the left and right fronts.

We recently had a long thread about this.