Lordoftherings - I love your movies by the way......Great info on the Denon AVR-4810ci, sounds very interesting. Any thoughts on 11.2 vs. the 9.3 with the room size I have. Is sticking with 7.1 more logical?
Hi,
I think that 11.2 is for the true hard core devotees.
Even 9.3 is pushing it, but I'm in. Got to at least experiment, right?
* But honestly, in a average room size of let's say 16' by 12', I'll say 5.1 is sufficient. In a room of about 22' by 16', a 7.2 system would do nicely.
Any more speakers than that would require a larger room.
That's about how I see it.
Mine is a hybrid system (from 7.2 to 11.3), for experimentation purpose.
But I usually run it at 7.2 in a room of 23' by 13.5'.
*** For your room's size, 7.2 is also all you really need. And because of your ceiling of 8 feet (like mine), the height speakers are not really beneficial. But I'm waiting with great impatience about the two new front wide channels from Audyssey DSX (Dynamic Surround Expansion). ~ Also, because of your room width, may I suggest that you position your two rear surrounds separated from about two to four feet. I admit here that it's a tough one to determine. But one thing is for sure, you don't want those two rear surrounds separated by more than four feet, for your particular room. With a room that is wider, six feet would be the very max (from the speaker's outside edges).
My room is just over 10 feet wide in the rear, and my two rear surrounds are ony two feet apart, and 9 feet from my listening position.
>>> It's all about EXPERIMENTATION, to see what you prefer best. There is no true standard, because every film mixer is different, and some mix in a nearfield, and others with a larger distance from their speakers. Remember, in a studio recording room for film mixes, the speakers are only 5 to 7 feet from the mixer, average six. If you really want to hear the original film mix, put all your 5.1 or 7.1 speakers at about six feet from your listening position. <<<
My main experimentation is based on the position of the surrounds, six of them from side to rear. Also, from two to four extra front speakers, two for the presence or height, and two for the wide mains.
I experimented a lot with multiple subs, and in my room two subs are excellent, much better than just one, and three works too, but it's harder to balance. I believe four would be best; two in front, and two in the rear, and perhaps an additional 18" one for the LFE only (center rear, away from the wall).
So, five subs total, I dig it.
Four sealed one from the main four speakers, and one big vented one for the LFE only. And all phase corrected.
But right now, on my main system, I only use two, on each front corners; and I can assure you that it is much better than just one.
My setup is always ready when I switch receivers; Denon with their two sets of surrounds, Yamaha with their two front presence, and soon Onkyo and Denon with Dolby Digital Pro Logic IIz (which I don't have big hopes), and Audyssey DSX (which I have big hopes).
You can really go overboard if you want to, with tactile transducers (Butt Kicker) on all seatings, and way way more surround speakers. But you need a true Cinema Theater for that extravaganza.
One thing to remember though; when the film mixers do their final mix, they work from only 5.1 discrete audio stems. Any more than that, are simply derived from these. So, 7.1 is not fully discrete. It's only a remix, based on the original 5.1 mix.
Cheers,
Bob
