Trying to find some information here about this, I've searched a few ways and haven't come up with anything. Basically I have a 15 X 25 room, I currently have 6.1 setup, and I do like it. I originally chose 6.1 over 7.1 for the following reasons:

1. Room is not very wide at all, only 15 foot wide. Thought the rear surrounds would sound too localized on each side.

2. There are no true 7.1 discrete tracks, they are either derived from 5.1 or 6.1 sources. So the 6.1 rear won't be missing anything over 7.1.

Are my assumptions correct here? I'm basically looking for some validation on what I've done, but I know things change over time. I set this up about 6 months ago.

Trying to find some information here about this, I've searched a few ways and haven't come up with anything.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=863805

I believe 6.1 is fine vs 7.1 and actually more symetric from front to rear center. In the THX spec the rear surrounds are close or 'together' essentially making it a 6.1 configuration. Suggest you check out THX.com for interesting speaker placement recommendations

Having had both, I prefer 7.1 simply from the point that when you shift off the centre axis, the back surround effect can tend to "pull" over your shoulder instead of being heard from directly behind.

The THX system is a little strange, but they use decorellation (alters the phase/time relationship) to separate the 2 back signals.

Lastly, what about future proofing? Whilst I don't think that any of the HD formats have released a 7.1 soundtrack to date, the systems are supposed to offer them soon...

Mark