Help anyone:
I want to buy a new 7.1 receiver to take advantage of HDMI cables which aren't available with 5.1 receivers--at least I can't find any.
Does a 7.1 receiver in todays market give you the ability to tell the receiver during set-up that you have a 5.1 speaker config?

Yes, most should. I know Onkyo's does, and I can't imagine most others not having this.

In the audio setup menu, you just go to the surround back speakers and set them to "off" or "no" or whatever setting switches them off. The receiver will then know to use 5.1.