Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Audyssey 7.1,9.1,11.1 setup with axiom speakers

I believe the first DSX capable receivers were cobbled together using existing 7.1 models by just adding an additional amp/dac for the selectable height/wide output. My Onkyo is hard wired with both those channels together even for the analogue pre-outs.

As far as sharing information both channels are very different. The wide is much more directional in some cases exactly mirroring what’s coming out of the corresponding main. OTOH the height channel is as far as I can tell purely ambient. The effect is as you suspect that the wide channel helps wrap the sound around you better than just mains + surrounds while the height channel fills the room with ambient sound in a way surrounds and rears just can’t manage alone.