Why more rear speakers in 7.1?

[billnchristy]

Seems to me the "presence" speakers would have more of an effect for a movie expirience.

Adding more rear speakers just seems ridiculous, when something flys over my head i hear it behind me, when someone shoots behind me I hear it. On Disturbing Behavior or 12 monkeys when the voices go around the room, no problem...

Just seems like the last area that needs upgrades...

Rear sub, maybe, 2 more speakers...not convinced...I might even buy into a rear center.

Opinions?

 

[Totoro]

Most soundtracks are not encoded to 7.1 anyway, so for most it will make no difference. Also, the middle rear speakers are supposed to be placed behind you rather than to the side like 5.1. If you are like me, you have a wall behind the sofa, so there is really no place to put the extra speakers unless you install in-wall speakers. Seems to me that it is not worth it. In fact for music, some of the best material is still 2 channel stereo.

 

[billnchristy]

Actually I have about 12 feet behind the sofa, but its not really a setup question, more like a philosophy question.

To me, localization from the back is a bit harder because youre not facing it so why waste the resources back there.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Actually I have about 12 feet behind the sofa, but its not really a setup question, more like a philosophy question.

To me, localization from the back is a bit harder because youre not facing it so why waste the resources back there.

While localization to the back is not exactly the same as to the front, it is there, hence the expanded speaker to fill that huge 160 -180 degree rear sound field.

 

[Jack Hammer]

On the movies where it makes a difference, it is very noticeable and enjoyable. I have noticed quite a difference in movies like Pearl harbor and others of a similar nature, also in some video games on my PS2 (like SOCOMIII). On many other movies, there is little if any difference, especially on many older movies. I think it will sound better on more movies coming out in the near future. At this point it is not really neccessary to have the back channels for a good sound for most listening.

 

[Sheep]

I have a good comprimize. Its called, 6.1. I have a rear center, for the stuff directly behind my head, and side surrounds for stuff beside me.

Also, there is 6.1 encoded disks, so its not matrixed all the time.

SheepStar
/pwned

 

[johnnybon]

For me 7.1 made a big difference in my system. the sound really opened up and sounds more 3 dimensional.

 

[jcPanny]

Surround speakers

I think that the size of the room and the type of surround speakers also effect the potential benefit of going to 7.1. If you have dipole or bipole type speakers on the surround channels, they might provide a similar surround field to 7.1 with direct radiators.
If is also disappointing that HD-DVD and BluRay are out but first gen players don't support 7.1.

If you have a Yamaha receiver, demo a pair of bookshelf speaker in the presence and rear surround locations to see which sounds best in your room.

 

[sbowler]

I use a 6.1 sytem and only on around 5% of movies can you tell the center rear is there. I suppose if you have a room large enough you would benefit from 7.1 but for the average joe, I dont think so. IMHO

 

[GlocksRock]

I have a small room, but the 7.1 still makes a great difference, even if I'm not watching somethings thats DD EX, or DTS-ES, I can still turn on the EX/ES, or PL IIx decoder and create 7.1 so I prefer it, it also makes the transition of thigns moving from side to side behind you smoother since you can hear it as it passes directly behind you. It also makes a great deal of difference when playing video games with the EX/ES decoder on, like in HALO 2 I can more easily tell where the shots or grenades are coming from, or in movies I find that the rear surrounds get more use that the side surrounds in some cases. Besides, the presence speakers only work when using the Cinema DSP and I don't like those since they add too much reverb, I prefer to use just the standard Dolby Digital or DTS, and in some cases turn on THX processing for the re-eq feature if the movie is overly bright.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Most soundtracks are not encoded to 7.1 anyway, so for most it will make no difference. If you are like me, you have a wall behind the sofa, so there is really no place to put the extra speakers unless you install in-wall speakers. Seems to me that it is not worth it.

I respectfully & totally disagree.......

The 7.1 surround experience is a definite improvement over 5.1. It seems to me that because your couch is pushed against a wall(a definite acoustics no-no by the way), and because your room wont easily accomodate 7.1, is the only reason for your above opinion.

The multitude of 7.1 receivers selling today are specifically designed to matrix 5.1 content into 7.1 surround, so I have to question your motives. Based on your response, you cant do it because of room restraints anyway, so........

That was my take on your response. It sounds like bitter apples to me.

 

[billnchristy]

When I get my rockets I will plug in a set of X-LS and see if it adds to the experience. If it does I should just get an AV123 credit card and tell them to put it on my tab.