So first off...The Hobbit sounds great. Love native lossless 7.1 movies. Ok...so assuming and hoping Hollywood goes this direction, I'm curious as to this scenario as it relates to my basement.
I have an "almost" properly set up 7.1 in my great room. For my new basement theater though I'm thinking the way the room will get set up I don't think 7.1 will work due to the couch mushed up against the wall. I'm trying to tell myself that it'll be ok because:
- I have dipoles (ML Motion FX) for surrounds.
- I can re-use the Motion 4's for front height speakers or in my bedroom so they won't sit unused
My first question is this. I realize I'd keep the lossless quality in a 5.1 setup, but if Peter Jackson decided to put a dwarf sneeze solely the rear-right channel and I'm not using 7.1 am I just outa luck or will the sneeze get bumped over to my right surround?
Next question. Could/Should I angle some rears down from the ceiling (maybe 1-2' behind and 5' on either side - about 6 or 7 feet from my ears as the crow flies) and move my surrounds a bit forward and use my position presets to only turn on the 7.1 when there's only 1 or 2 people watching (otherwise other listeners would be way too close to the rears)?
Here's my room. Couch on the right side...I'm estimating 12-14' wide sectional, so it's big. Also of note, I plan to have a small soffit hanging from the ceiling on the right side of the couch, along the back wall, and across the sofa table on the left of the couch. The surrounds will get angled down from this. I'm using the soffit to add some ceiling accent lighting and to give the room the feel of it having 2 separate spaces.
Last question, more of just a curiosity. 9.1 is adding the front height speakers. If/When I sell my house, how would I advertise a wired theater with 5.1 AND front heights (but no rears)?