Not from what I’ve read. According to Audyssey both are better than rear channels with the wides being most important followed by the heights. However, I haven’t checked to see if anyone else corroborates their research. My experimenting indicates that for me both the height and wide channels add much more to the surround experience than the rear channels noting that I am using QS8 surrounds.
I surmise that the Onkyo 000x line was cobbled together from an existing 7.1 design by throwing in the hardware for one more channel I’m guessing both to get something with height or wide capability to market quickly (AFAIK they beat everyone else) and so that next year they can release a fully capable model so everyone will be tempted to upgrade. Just my cynical way of thinking.
