5.1 to 7.1 or not.... - Axiom Message Boards

Hi All,

Need some help.

I currently have a 5.1 setup now for serveral years and I have been thinking about moving to 6.1 or 7.1 but I'm not sure it would be good in my room. Also, I have been blessed for the last 3 years with my M60's and the VP150, they still wow me.

Anyway, my room is 2250 sq feet, and the couch is up against the back wall. My surrounds are sidewall mounted and are dipole. To setup the back surrounds they will be right behind me. When I look at all of the diagrams for 7.1 setup the BS's are a few feet back, which is not possible for me.

Should I try this or should I just forget it and leave it as 5.1.

John

surely you mean 2250 CF and not 2250 SF?

I don't know from personal experience, but many people say that if your couch is against the back wall, then you should stick with 5.1

You would be better off upgrading to Axiom Qs4 or Qs8 quadpolar surrounds to replace your dipoles. If you mount them to the sides, they will reflect off the back wall and give you a 7.1 simulation.

I's suggest that if your couch can't be moved out from the back wall, then you won't get a lot of improvement from going 7.1. Placement is also a big challenge. I tried it as an experiment with just a few feet to spare and I ended up going back to just 5.1.

You are not missing a lot as so little is even recorded in a true 7.1 soundtrack. It will get more common with Hi Def but I wouldn't worry about it.

The move from 5.1 to 7.1 was by far the less impactful of all my upgrades. If you have a near-limitess budget, than go for it, it does not hurt. But changing your current dipoles for QS8 in 5.1 will already improve things more (I my option, of course! $\:\)$ ).

Thanks for your replies.

As I figured and you guys have reinforced it, stick to 5.1.

Thanks again.

John

and replace your dipoles with quadpolar Qs8's. $\:\)$

I agree with what everyone above said. I had a 7.1 set up with a couch against the back wall for a couple of years. I pointed the speakers (which sat on shelves) straight up into the ceiling and allowed them to reflect down into the listening area. Not an optimal set-up to say the least.

Could you detect when the "6 & 7" in the 7.1 were active? Yes. Did it help round out the back soundtage? Maybe. Now that I've moved and gotten rid of the back 2 speakers, can I tell the difference? No.

I think I mostly did the 7.1 just to say I had it. Sonic improvements were minimally, if at all, detectable.

I concur with the suggestion to upgrade to the quad-pole and ditch your di-poles. Never been a big fan of the di-pole speakers.

I have a smaller room with the couch only about 5 feet from back wall. It seems to work well with a 6.1 setup with a single speaker in the back. I use M80's for the front LR and a M22ti for the center. Looking for some used QS4 or 8's for my surrounds. Will have to wait a while if I buy new. (Currently using cambridge 50's).