Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater One more time... 6.1 or 7.1?

Okay, last time I'll ask for advice on this subject, I promise...

I'm still debating to go with either a 6.1 or 7.1 set-up and which rear speakers to go with. My HT room is 13.5 feet wide and 19.5 deep with 8 foot ceilings. Currently I have two M60's, two QS8's, a VP150 and a mighty EP500. There's about 4 feet of space behind the listening position. In a few months I'll be buying a Denon AVR-3808CI and want to add one or two rear speakers. I'm leaning toward getting a single QS8 for a 6.1 set-up, but I keep reading that 7.1 will sound better. Personally I think two QS8's would be over kill, but today I read in an old post that two M2's would be a great set of rears. Because of the room layout, one rear will be wall mounted and one will be ceiling mounted, but being no more than 3 feet apart, will I hear a huge difference in a 7.1 set-up?

I've also read that one reason to go with two rears is that a single speaker can actually make the sound appear to be coming from in front of the listener. Wouldn't a single QS8 overcome this?

Bayne,

You may be doing this, but you should check out the Sounds Around yearly liquidation sale (I think in October or November). That is where I bought my RX-V659 last year (I went to the NW Sounds around), I got it for $499 (List price at the time was $699). They will for sure have all the flagship models of all the major electronics. When I went they had the RX-V2600 for $980 CAD...which was about how much it was on Ebay at the time from the states. Just letting you know, Mabey look at some Yamaha's because Sounds around will for sure have the RX-V2700 on clearance again I think.

I should let you know that I camped in front of the store for 2 hours before it opened, the line was already pretty big when I got there too...

-Hutz

My room is 13' wide by 18' long with 7' ceilings. I have the exact same setup that you do except that I am already using 7.1 with two side and two rear QS8's. The sound will not appear to come from in front of you...that is hog-wash! The rear surround channel is mono so the benefit of having two rear surrounds is that the sound is spread out from one side to the other. I only have about 2' of space behind my couch where the QS8's hang and I think it sounds great. I think if you limit the rears to one QS8 you will be able to localize that rear diffuse mono channel too much.

Well, I think I've at least settled one of my issues: I'll either go with one QS8 or two M2's. The price of each is relatively close, it really comes down to deciding on which configuration works best. The deciding factor may very well be whether or not I can successfully mount an M2 on the ceiling. My wife, the engineer, and I will have to do some measurements tonight.

If you’re only four feet from the back wall, I’d go with Q’s over direct radiating. My M3’s are only four feet behind me and I am wishing I would have gone with Q’s. I had to angle them in quite a bit towards the center of rear couch and down to sound right, which looks sorta funny. Definitely go with 7.1, which ever you do.

But honestly, don’t fret over which speaker you put up in back – just do it and go with two. Make sure they are four to six feet apart in your room.

You might even think about going with the QS4's as your rear surrounds. I'm debating right now if I want to replace my direct rear speakers with the QS4's.

Why do many of you guys go with direct radiating speakers for 7.1? Is it just cost? If you take cost out of the equation, what is the sound difference from using QS8's or M2's as your 7.1 speakers?

I have a 5.1 system in my office which is 15'x17'x10'.
I have a 7.2 system in my HT. Anyway the 5.1 uses the fabulous Sony TAE9000ES processor. I have a pair of M60 like michaura M665s up front, a modded Merak center with twin Axiom 6.5" drivers and a tweeter and x-over (modded) from the Reference 3a de Capo mm speaker, a pair of Mission DS77 surround speakers ahead of at ear level. My chair is against the back wall opposite the front and center speakers. The TAE9000ES has the 2.50 firmware upgrade. There's a 15" Dahlquist sub in here also.

Anyway, I leave the proceesor set at Virtual Matrix 6.1. Today, I was listening to cable news and a bell went off somewhere ... right behind my head!! Clear as a ... well, a bell. Now, some speakers do well at reproducing the sonorous ringing of a bell, but there it was ... perfectly real sounding, right behind my head ...

All this to say, here's an alternative to 6.1 or 7.1 and all the cables and speakers and expense ... a superb 5.1 with a Virtual Matrix 6.1 ... the illusion is perfect.

I'll recommend the Sony TAE9000ES processor to any music HT lover. I believe that different amps impart different sound quality to the music and sound reproduction, and I recommend a nice Anthem PVA5 amp to go with the Sony. (or a Sony TAN9000ES. gotta go, will continue later