6.1 or 7.1?

[UFObuster]

I've got a peculiar long room in an 80 yr old house. I don't want to drill any more holes than necessary. The room is 18' wide and 32' long.

1) My HT setup is in about a 18 x 20 portion of this with surrounds around 5' behind and to the side; not optimum but you have to be there to know why. Any other speaker(s) would have to go all the way to the end of the room...another 12' or about 17' behind the listening position. Is this layout too funky for a 6.1 or 7.1 hook-up? I don't want holes in the floor if this is going to suck.

2) I have 2 free channels of amplification in my Rotel 1075. I have a left over Klipsch RC-35 (other speakers are all Klipsch). Since back channels are mono sound anyway, wouldn't the single RC-35 work OK instead of making two holes and buying a pair of speakers? IE, is the 7 channel content really good enough to justify this or is the single back channel going to do as well?

Opinions much appreciated.

thanks, Roger

BTW...just found the 2004 thread that has some opinions on this (6.1 v 7.1) but would enjoy comments on other's experience anyway.

[Cal Blacksmith]

Have you thought of mounting to the ceiling? You could mount a pair of bookshelf speakers up high and get good sound to the theater that way. I have a 7.1 setup but in truth, there is darn little 7.1 content out there, the vast majority is 5.1 but that will likely change when HDDVD and BlueRay start to make up the mainstream movies.

[schwock5]

I currently use my old RC-35 as my single surround back for my 6.1 setup. All one needs ot do is put in Gladiator's 6.1 DTS ES Descrete sountrack and you will thank yourself afterwards.

In your situation though, it seems like if you put the back speaker on the back wall, the DB compensation for it's distance might be too great. I agree with the last post, having it angled down from the cieling behind you would be your best bet.

[j-malotky]

UFO, do the 7.1 instead of 6.1. It is a fact that people have a hard time hearing source material that is directly behind there head. That is why most poeple who do native 6.1 still use two rear speakers separated evenly along the back wall.

Don't worry about source material being native 5.1 or 6.1. If you don't skimp on a processor, it will convert any source material into a nice sounding 7.1.

JM

[MatrixDweller]

If you were going to run wires or conduit through the wall or floor I'd future proof and go 7.1. If you're just tucking them under the baseboard or running them over the carpet don't bother and stick with 6.1 and put the money you save on the second rear speaker into a better sub, dvd player, etc.

From what I could saw on the THX site about 7.1 speaker placement the second rear surround is almost pointless. They have them pretty close together ont he back wall which leads me to beleive your ears wouldn't be able to tell if there was one or two speakers there anyway. I think if you had a fairly wide back wall and spaced them out more it might be worth it.

[MatrixDweller]

sorry for the double post

[schwock5]

The THX specs place the rear back surrounds on a 7.1 close together, but the Dolby specs actually have them further apart. Since it's a mono signal being split, it really wouldn't make a difference, except if you had 5.1 being split to your extra 7.1 backs, in which case you'd get more separation placing them further apart like the Dolby setup.

[j-malotky]

I agree, forget THX. Use what Dolby Digital and DTS recommend.

Here is the DTS ES/Dolby Digital EX/Dolby Pro Logic IIx/7.1 channels

Mount your speakers over your head.

Leave your center speaker at 0 gain and adjust your mains, sides and surrounds for db balance.

Also get a good processor that will convert your signal to 7.1 You will love it.

JM

[UFObuster]

Thanks, guys, some good ideas.
Overhead speakers are the solution, but the room is too "old Southern" to get away with it....very poor WAF. I've pushed it to the limit with the amplifier stack....which passed because I found a nice old piece of furniture to place them on and they're off to one side. The RF-7s and 5s passed because of the cherry finish. You should see the 'chippendale' style polished mahogany table with black legs required to let the processor/tuner/DVD stack stay in sight. It actually looks real nice! [8-|]

No, it will have to be on the opposite wall from the front speakers....about 15-17 feet behind the seating area.....I worried that I should just can it and stay with 5.1. Do you think this eratice placement of a RC-35 will sound bad...or just not optimal? (a quick review: fronts about 11 feet in front, surrounds about 4-5 feet behind the seating "plane" and on the sides. No chance to move.....the proposed rear....back wall in a slightly elevated dining area. Bad idea?) Guess I'll try it before I drill the hole with a wire dropped on the floor from the amps but I don't have a proper sounding set-up to compare it to so won't really know.

BTW: I'm not that critical of my movie watching...like it but don't live for it....my system is really for music...2 channel and 5 channel....CD, DVD-A, DTS and DD Concert films, etc.

thanks again.