I have a 7.1 setup. My rear channels are handled by 4 Energy Take5 satellites. The extra two rear channels make a difference but on only a very select few DVD's. If the DVD has a DTS-ES or Dolby Digital EX encoded track, then you can hear the difference. There are not many DVD's out like this. The only ones I can name off the top of my head are Star Wars 1-3, the LOTR trillogy, and Gladiator. In certain scenes the sound does seem to move more smoothly behind you, and it is an improvement. In non-ES/EX encoded stuff, I can force my receiver to continue to use the 7.1 surrounds, and I would say it does very little - if anything - to the surround sound experience.
If you have a receiver capable of doing it, and the extra speakers lying around, then there's no harm in a 7.1 setup. However, if you're talking about a receiver upgrade + speakers just to get 7.1, I don't know if I'd say it's worth it just for that.
I would say that a properly setup 5.1 system would be more 'enveloping' than a poorly setup 7.1 one.
That said, my receiver has different modes for the extra channels. Now set to 7.1, I can change that to sacrifice the rear two surrounds and instead bi-amp the front speakers. As soon as I break down and purchase M60's or M80's I'll be going that route.
Last edited by PeterChenoweth; 01/23/07 02:50 PM.
