I don't think I can add much to what Tom said. If you have QS8s at the sides you could probably be quite happy with 5.1... with direct speakers (like M2s) at the sides then going for 7.1 will probably make more of a difference. The center channel carries a fair amount of signal with most movies so a bigger center is probably a good idea (ie think about VP150)...

... yeah, can't think of much else wink


M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8