Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater 5 to 7 Channels

I am looking for opinions regarding the relative improvement of 7 channel over 5. I currently have QS4s for my surround channels and am contemplating another pair for the rear. I have about four feet behind my main seating area to the rear wall, while the side wall is about 3.5 feet from the nearest seat. Another factor is that I have a window behind me which will require that all four speakers be used with their custom stands rather than mounted up six feet on the wall. Anyone have experience/opinions regarding the issues raised in this post?

I have posted a few times on this subject but here are my thoughts again in a nutshell. I went 7.1, then 9.1 and the difference with 95% of the material out there was marginal at best and I went back to 5.1 and have not looked back. Most DVD's are 5.1 anyway! EX and other surround formats are not that common to say the least and even when you get lucky and get a true EX disc, the information coming out of those channels is minimal.

If you ask me this is not much more then a marketing tool to convince the buying public that they need yet more speakers, amps etc.

Likewise...I went from 5.1 to 7.1. I added a pair of M2i behind me, bought a second amp to power them, and was completely underwhelmed. The QS8's at the sides are enveloping enought. I went ahead and sold the additional amp, and moved my M2i's upstairs on to my computer. I've enjoyed them there much more.

I enjoy my Denon 2805 in Pro Logic IIx mode that transforms any 2 channel or 5.1 channel into discrete convincing 7.1 sound. Even Dolby EX and DTS ES stuff sound great.

just my 2 cents

It is all a matter of personal opinion. I had a 5.1 system to begin with and then I switched to 6.1. I wasn't too impressed with this setup as the rear speaker was too distracting. I then bought a Denon 3805 and moved to 7.1. I would never go back. While I do agree that the QS8's do a great job, I found the rear sound field was much more natural sounding with the QS4's added to the rear. I do believe a lot of it depends on setup. My listening position is about 4 ft from the back wall and I don't feel the QS8's have enough room behind to really open up. If I had 10' behind me it might be a different story. So before you take anyones opinion as gospel, take a look at your setup to see what will work the best for your individual situation.

Anyone else have 4 QSxes? I'm curious... we always talk about direct radiators for the rear 2 (like Craig had), but often they don't seem to work well. Are the rear quadpolar speaker users happier?

I have tried both and here is what I have generally found. If you have significant room behind the listening position a direct radiating speaker is the way to go as it has enough space to disperse the sound. When you are sitting close to the wall I believe the QS series will be a better way to go as they will provide a more disperse soundstage in a shorter distance and it won't feel like you have a megaphone directly behind your head. JMTC

I have heard that people using SACD and DVD-A's like direct radiating for the most part, and HT based systems enjoy the quad's better. But it is just hearsay.. From my screen to my back wall it is 30', however my rear qs8's are about 20' back from the screen...and I luvem I found with direct radiating if your not in the sweet spot you lose a little of the experience, it is still good, but not as good as enveloping surround sound.

my 2 cents....

"Let me tell ya what Melba Toast is packen....."

I have always heard the same thing. I happen to listen to a lot of hi res music and the QS series suits me fine. I however don't consider myself an audiophile by any means, my wallet might however .

I appreciate the responses. I listen to a lot of music on my system including SACD/DVD-A, and I have been happy with the sound of the QS 4s with music. The sound is a little more diffuse than direct radiators but they still have sufficient specificity for my taste with good timbral accuracy. Has anyone used these surrounds with their dedicated stands? I have my pair on the side walls now but if I go with four surrounds I will need to use the stands due to room issues. They are a little short IMO, so I am curious what other users think about how these stands affect the performance of the speakers for music and movies.