[featurefilm]


Hi,

 

I did a search for this and didn't find anything so I apologize if this has all ready been covered and I couldn't find it.

 

I cannot and do not want rear speakers for several reasons: wife doesn't want to see wires (nor do I) and hiding the wires is not possible without some serious work (apartment is a rental and the ceiling is concrete, floor and moulding are marble, rear wall has wallpaper (no mounting), the current rug is too small to hide the wires. So, I'm thinking about adding a center channel but I'm not sure what the 3 front speakers and sub would sound like without rear speakers when my receiver is set to 5.1.

 

TL;DR

Rear speakers not possible at rental apartment. Should I just stick with a 2.1 setup? Or should I buy a center channel and set my receiver to 5.1 even though I would have no rear speakers?

 

[sivadselim]

You (or the auto-calibration) would set the AVR up for 3.1 playback; not 5.1. The surround channel information would then be routed to the front L+R speakers. It will work just fine. No worries. AVR's are designed to do this.


Likewise, if you wish to skip the center speaker, as well, you (or the auto-calibration) would set the AVR up for 2.1 playback. The center channel info would be routed to the front L+R speakers, too. This will also work fine and you may want to consider it, depending upon how well the center channel speaker that you are contemplating might perform.