Rear center... big difference in HT?!

[33klfan]

I was just wondering if a rear center, 6.1 makes a noticeable difference over 5.1? I kind of assume it will add more fill, but i just wanted to see if it was worth it to add. Any thoughts?

[Kynergy]

Yes, it does. I have 6.1 with mediocre surround speakers and I do feel things behind me and it's more real. It may need some distance between the listeners and the rear surrounds. If you are choosing a new receiver I recommend you get one with 7.1 capability even you won't set up the rear surround speaker for now. The extended Lord of the Ring has DTS 6.1 already. For 5.1 movies the receiver will make the rear channel (kind of fake) from the side surrounds.

[IndyKlipschFan]

Yes...

Do this...in the THX trailor...where the blue sphere blows up it crashes in front of you....as it explodes beside you...and feels as though it passes through you...to the rears...as the thunder claps. If you have never experienced that... So front, to the sides through you,...to the rears as it fades...as the back you hear lightning cracks..feeling... ..... You never heard it set up correctly....and when you do you, you will be in awe!

Just think of a plane flying overhead above you... you want that sound to trickle off behind you.. Your side surrounds can't do that. it is a depth issue.. you need the rear(s) to occomplish that!♠

[TheSoundBroker]

My experience is that it depends on the room. I'll use a 6.1 array with a wide room that can't go to a 7.1 THX ASA setup (which is very similar to a 6.1 array with more energy in the back and a bit wider coverage). The number and placement of surrounds is first and foremost about even coverage to the seats and you often end up with coverage holes, particularly in rooms with a single row of 5 or more seats and a monopole rear surround setup. Using a center works well to fill in the center seat section when rear monopoles are used. In a particularly wide room you can also go to a single WDST surround in the rear, which gets you a wider coverage swath without quite so much localization. The one thing to remember on the center channel in back is the coverage...many centers limit vertical dispersion to minimize floor bounce and immediate reflections off the ceiling. This means the center will need to be pointed down towards the listening area. A WDST surround like an RS-62 gives you a wide coverage area with good vertical downward coverage and doesn't need to be pointed down. This is particularly important if your seats are closer to the rear wall. If the seats are against the rear wall and there was no way to convince the client to move them out a few feet, then a WDST in-ceiling speaker is the way to go..but only after one final round of begging to be allowed at least 2 feet of space between the seat and the wall.

[33klfan]

Well, i have rs-25's as rear surrounds to the side of me. My room is only like 11.5'x11'. I am sitting against the rear wall, so i am not sure if the rear center would help or not since i would pretty much be right underneath it. Now there's probably about 1' of space between the top of the rear surrounds and the ceiling. Should i keep the rear center about the same or lower. This depends if it will even help since i won't be able to sit out a couple of feet. Thanks for the input so far.