Yesterday, my M22ti's finally came in for my rear channels in my setup. Thankfully, the wait was only three business days, which was significantly better than the month I waited for my speakers last time (die US Customs). My setup:

2x M80's up front
1x VP150 center
2x QS8's on the side
2x M22ti's in the rear
1x EP350 sub
Denon AVR-4802
Denon DVD-3800

I haven't had a chance to really play with it, but I watched the opening scene of Gladiator last night after the Coyotes - Hurricanes game (met some funny French Canadians that had driven all the way down here to harass Savage among other things) and before bed.

In 6.1 discrete setup, the two rears mimic one another and simply spread the signal out a bit better, making a very appealing effect and filling the room much better. I have a room that is much longer than it is wide and the effect has always been a bit compressed with some lacking in the rear. This has fixed that entirely.

In 7.1 mode, the receiver takes the sixth channel and pulls additional data from the sides to create a positional effect behind. The arrows flying across the room and the horses riding from front to behind now make a more seamless move to the rear of the room. Definitely a cool effect.

I highly recommend trying it out. Grand total for the upgrade was $360 for the speakers, which isn't bad at all.

Congratulations! Great set up.

Thanks. However, I should also note for those interested in the future, so far the M22ti's seem overkill. A couple M2's would have sufficed I think.

Well I wish I was within driving distance, the sound must be amazing. Would you have considered a pair of QS8's or do the rears need to be direct firing?

If I had gone with a strictly 6.1 setup, I probably would have picked up another QS8. However, with the narrowness of the room, the two speakers cover the area very well and provide plenty of dispersion. In a wider room, this may not be the case, but it's perfect for my setup.

Additionally, DVD-A is encoded with direct speakers in mind. My receiver allows me to switch the surround channel to the back speakers which means I can toggle between the two for music and movies.

Semi On

that toggle feature is a dream of mine. If I were upgrading, I'd consider only receivers with this feature and have a 7.1 system just like yours.

Can you also play a 5.1 or 6.1 source in 7.1?

My original plans were to use two VP100 in the rears, with the QS8's on the sides..
I had a concern about allowing for the M22's ports, etc.. The VP series can be more flexable with placement, and the speaker locations in the back needed to be up high and against the walls.. Joe, at Axiom, uses VP150's for his two rears and is quite happy with the set up..
My final version was four Q's, but I wonder sometimes... If we oooonly had enought 'free' funds laying around, oh the possibilities..

I knew Semi would be the first one to reach a 10.1 system.

Only 3 speakers left to go Semi....

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Can you also play a 5.1 or 6.1 source in 7.1?

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The AVR-4802 has several DSP settings that can accomplish this.

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My final version was four Q's, but I wonder sometimes... If we oooonly had enought 'free' funds laying around, oh the possibilities..

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Isn't that the truth? I'd have loved to buy a couple VP150's, a couple M2's, a couple Q's, etc and tried them all. Sadly, I wasn't willing to pay for the return shipping. I'm happy with the results though!

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I knew Semi would be the first one to reach a 10.1 system.

Only 3 speakers left to go Semi....

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SHUT UP CHESS!!! Stop tempting me, please.

Thankfully, a 10.2 receiver is still non-existant and the systems I've seen have used a full computer for the processing. That will keep it out of my reach for some time.

Semi On,

I'll sell you my computer for 25 cents if you promise to use it for a 10.2 setup

Semi On,

I have a setup similar to yours with QS8's on the side and two speakers in the back. I want to use the back speakers as the only surrounds when listing to music, and for movies use the QS8's as the side surrounds and the back ones as the back surrounds.

I have a Denon 3803 receiver. I don't know of any toggle in my 3803 which allows me to switch a set of speakers between side and back surrounds. I solve this when I listen to music by switching the side to B (which I don't really have, so it turns them off) and setting the back to Non Matrix, so they get the same signal as the sides.

Is there a more straightforward way, or does yoour 48xx have something my 3803 doesn't?

There was an intriguing post a couple of months ago on either avsforum or hometheaterforum on deriving two top channels. It was from "Greg" (not me). The theory behind it was a bit obscure, but it seemed carefully tested. A left top signal was derived as the center channel of Dolby matrix decoded right front and left side surround, and a right top signal similarly, from left front and right side surround. Greg used two Smart Devices CS-3X jr. from smartdev.com. Sorry that I didn't save a link to the discussion thread.

So, if you really need 9.1 now, ...