What is the latest surround sound setup? 5.1, 6., 7.1

541 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by NightHawk, Jan 27, 2004

hokey_days

Discussion Starter · Jan 26, 2004

I am putting together a new home theater, and I have not kept up with the latest home theater sound.

I am gonna have the builder wire for surround sound, and would like to know how I should have it wired?

The usual front left/right/center/subwoofer I know. But what about surrounds? I was thinking side left/right and rear left/right?

so would this be 7.1?

or is 6.1 better, with just a surround speaker in the rear middle?

help????????

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emoxley

· #2 · Jan 26, 2004

Most people building new homes, and pre-wiring for their HT, are wiring for 7.1.

The most that any movie actually has right now is 6.1 (Gladiator, LOTR E.E.). The 7th channel is matrixed in from 6.1, if you choose the 7.1 setup. Movies will be in 7.1 sooner or later, but don't know when. You can even get 9.1 receivers..............

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kgoetz97

· #3 · Jan 26, 2004

I'm in the same boat as you....building a new house and wiring it up. I'm going with 7.1 for the simple reason that I do believe that it is the "next" thing. Besides, the extra price of wiring 2 more speakers is little now compared to what it would be after the house is done.

Having said that, I do think that you need to consider what your room is going to look like. Is it big enough for 7.1? Is the setup such that 7.1 will work for you? If so, go for it!!!

Good luck

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AnthonyP

· #4 · Jan 26, 2004

there is also 7.2

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Kpt_Krunch

· #5 · Jan 26, 2004

I'm sure I read on a thread somewhere on here 10.2 is on the horizon. If I were building a home theatre today - and I had the room of course - I would go with something like that in mind. In fact, if/when we do build a new house, I will do something along this line for my HT room:

4 channels for the front (you may one day want/need two centers)

4 channels for the rear (with the intent of mirroring the front)

4 surround channels (two on either side)

4 channels for the sub - one in each corner (I would do this since sub placement is so critical, you would be all set no matter where you had to plug in the sub(s).

This may be a bit of overkill, but as kgoetz97 said, it's a lot cheaper and easier to do it originally then to have to rewire in the future. Even if you never use all the channels, it gives you a lot more flexibility in speaker placement.

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AnthonyP

· #6 · Jan 26, 2004

wow a 12.4

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AnthonyP

· #7 · Jan 26, 2004

PS if you are thinking of adding extra cables for the future (like Kpt_Krunch said) then it is also a good idea to add some for bass shakers going under the seats. under the floor cables tend to be the hardest to pass

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hometheaterguy

· #8 · Jan 27, 2004

Wat up Anthony, eh? Yes, Tomlinson Holman, the THX guru that joined forces with Lucas had a 10.2 demo at CES. He us a height channel, multiple subs, etc. No discrete processing available for 10.2, 7,2, or 7.1, however some pre/pros like my Lexicon can throw sound effects to my sides and rears with independent panning. As Russ Hershellman said:"It's hard to be surrounded by sound with only two speakers". My vote is for an 8-channel design.

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NightHawk

· #9 · Jan 27, 2004

The more the better I would agree but has anyone noticed that the selection of titles encoded in anything other than 5.1 DD is shrinking, not growing. I afraid that the more exotic formats like DTS-ES and DDEX are not catching on with movie makers. Even 5.1 DTS is becoming less common.

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