First off take all my answers with the proverbial grain of salt. Having said that I'll go ahead and try and answer your questions.
You Asked:
Is there any great advantage in a 15 x 12 room to having two rear speakers if I’m already using two QS8s as LH/RH surrounds?My experience says "no" for movies as there isn't a lot of info in the back channels and in a small room the QS8s do a stellar job of filling in the sides and back of the room. Possibly for music you might make a case but I feel that you need a large room before you really "need" a 7.1 setup. I'd wait until you get a house with a larger room before going to 7.1
You said"
EP350, EP500 or EP600. Ultimately, I would like to have the EP600. Considering that for now I’ll have to run all these speakers at fairly low levels most of the time is there any advantage to getting the EP600 now, or get a smaller sub and add the EP600 later?I think I'd get 1 EP500 now, and another EP500 or EP600 when you move on to a larger room. Just my opinion.
You asked:
HDDVD:
Is it really worth getting one? My gut tells me to wait for more models and titles to come out and for HDMI to get it’s act together meaning my money is better spent elsewhere for now.I have to say wait for a while, I'm sure I'll be alone on this one.
Sounds like a great system, good luck putting it all together.
BTW think Monoprice.
Wayne
