I wonder how it would be with 5.1 channel SACD's and such? Wouldn't the wide channels not come into play? I've never thought the extra two rears have made that much of an improvement, so nothing to lose in this endeavor
You can set your receiver to use the wide channels or not so yes you can try them out with 5.1 SACD’s. I generally don’t use them for most music except for live concert DVD/SACDs, but that’s just my personal preference. I find they work best for movies and TV especially in scenes were there is a lot going on around the whole scenes like on crowded streets, in rooms with lots of people. The wides come into play more than the height speakers do, and usually more than the rear speakers. It can seem a little subtle at first but then if you turn them off their absence is very noticeable when you loose that enveloping sound they give.
I generally agree that the rear speakers are overrated especially if using QS8 surrounds. However, I’ve found it’s very room/setup dependent. There are situations where rear speakers make a big difference in filling a gap in the rear soundstage depending on how the side surrounds are setup.
Unfortuanatly it’s hard to generalize to much about what works best since very few setups are the same. In a perfect room with optimal placement I would say that wide speakers win every time and that heights just slightly edge out the rears but it’s almost a tossup especially as more 7.1 tracks are coming out. However, when there are ambient sounds like rain, wind and echos the height speakers are much better than the rears.
