Can the QS8 surrounds be hooked up in a mode that allows both 5.1 and 7.1 to be setup? Hooking the center and rear surround speakers wires to it so it provides that functionality? Like the Monitor Audio BXFX Surrounds states it does?

I don't think I understand how this wiring would be accomplished, or what it would do. But it is generally highly inadvisable to wire two different channels to the same speaker. There's nothing to stop the signal from going back INTO the amplifier through the inactive channel, eh?

As I read the Monitor Audio copy, all they mean is that you can switch the mode of the speaker to be used in the rear or side surround. I would guess that what they're doing is switching between dipole and bipolar sound (drivers in phase or out of phase). Since the QS# series are quadpolar, not bipolar or dipolar, there is no such switch. AFAIK, no one's mentioned any issues with using them as rear surrounds, and of course they are quite popular as side surrounds.

In addition to Ken's comments, the positioning of your "side" surrounds compared to "rear" surrounds is totally different, so not even sure why your considering this setup.

TD, you appear to have misinterpreted the info on the Monitor Audio surrounds, since as Ken points out it has nothing to do with what you're trying to suggest. Those surrounds are an example of designs which have a switch to either have the tweeters playing in phase with each other(bipole)or in opposite polarity(dipole)which results in differences in the dispersion characteristics. The Axiom QS drivers all operate in phase.

Any surrounds can be used in 5.1 setups if you have two or 7.1 if you have four.

Thanks, I thought I might be interpreting incorrectly. Seemed odd. Thanks for clarifying.