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ort888 · Apr 16, 2007, 09:32 PM

I'm currently replacing my old receiver, and my new one (Onkyo TX-SR604) has the ability to go up to 7.1 sound. My room is wired up and set up with 5.1.

Should I bother adding an extra speaker to get to 6.1? (I'm not even sure that 7.1 would be noticeable, since my room is somewhat odd, and both back speakers would need to be right next to each other and about 10 feet behind the listener.) I also do not have a hi-def video player yet, but plan on getting one sometime.

How many DVDs take advantage of the extra speaker?
Is it really noticeable?
Does the Xbox 360 support 6.1 at all?

I ask this because, while I can add another speaker to my set up, it would be a bit of a pain in the ass. However, if I wanted to do it, now would be the time, since we are gutting out basement and remodeling a bunch of stuff.

Here is how the room is laid out. Is having the speaker that far back going to be a problem?

Gossamer · Apr 16, 2007, 09:45 PM

Dakarʒ · Apr 16, 2007, 09:53 PM

ort lives in Iraq?

G4ME · Apr 16, 2007, 09:55 PM

nice placement for it, i hear you can get a 3dB boost by having them in the corners of the room

Dakarʒ · Apr 16, 2007, 09:57 PM

Not to start a flame war, but that's the stupidest placement I've seen for a bondage wheel.

G4ME · Apr 16, 2007, 10:09 PM

i don't think he wants to make it the center piece of the room, you know keep it PC for all teh kiddies

Dakarʒ · Apr 16, 2007, 10:14 PM

Please, the kids should be busy drinking at that bar anyway.

Gossamer · Apr 16, 2007, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ

Not to start a flame war, but that's the stupidest placement I've seen for a bondage wheel.

I disagree. * Is that how this works?

ort888 · Apr 16, 2007, 10:17 PM

The people on the wheel need to be able to watch TV.

G4ME · Apr 16, 2007, 10:19 PM

i would adjust the placement of the sound system to reflect that need

Dakarʒ · Apr 16, 2007, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by G4ME

i would adjust the placement of the sound system to reflect that need

Drowning the screams of people on said wheel?

Dakarʒ · Apr 16, 2007, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Gossamer

I disagree. * Is that how this works?

Your heart's not in it.

centerchannel68 · Apr 16, 2007, 10:31 PM

Bondage wheel aside, I would not mess with 6.1. It's not really a 'standard', nor do I see any reason why it would be remotely useful. Ever heard of 'phantom imaging'? Basically, with only two speakers equally spaced apart in front of you, by mixing the source between the two in various ways, you can make the sound to 'appear' to come from directly in front of you, all the way to the right, left, and ANYWHERE inbetween all those. The 6.1, to me, seems rather stupid, as there isn't really a point in having a center rear speaker. Throw in the fact that your ears aren't even really pointed that direction anyway (most people's ears pick up sound from the sides and in front, NOT in back), and you'd really only hear that speaker when it's noise bounced off from the wall in front of you, really. A center channel is also KINDA pointless, considering you could technically use phantom imaging to simulate a center channel, but the difference is this: In DVDs with surround sound, they use the center channel MAINLY for things like dialogue, and the surrounds/sub for everything else. In this respect, you get a realistic acoustic environment, with clear human voice reproduction. So what's in the rear channel? Most likely it's pretty much just the rear two channels mixed together. So yeah, I think it's pointless, and if anything it will only make your acoustics even muddier.

PS: Did you try placing the sub behind the TV? Just wondering. Corners give you a pretty big boost in bass performance. It also makes sure you won't hear any low frequency localization, ie, it coming only from the right.

Gossamer · Apr 16, 2007, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ

Your heart's not in it.

Hyperbole.

Dakarʒ · Apr 17, 2007, 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by Gossamer

Hyperbole.

That's more like it.ʒasshole

Gossamer · Apr 17, 2007, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ

That's more like it.ʒasshole

Straw man.

Dakarʒ · Apr 17, 2007, 09:54 AM

One word.

*sigh* You need practice.

Gossamer · Apr 17, 2007, 10:05 AM

Nice sig.

Dakarʒ · Apr 17, 2007, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Gossamer

Nice sig.

Up yours.

ʒ Oh wait, you were being serious.

Gossamer · Apr 17, 2007, 10:10 AM

I won't admit how close I was to starting a feedback thread about this curious new forum glitch.

Dakarʒ · Apr 17, 2007, 10:11 AM

No need to go besson on us.

Gossamer · Apr 17, 2007, 10:13 AM

We need a separate forum for people with tricky sigs.

Dakarʒ · Apr 17, 2007, 10:15 AM

I doubt I'll trick anyone.

But it won't stop me from trying.

(Have you tried clicking it?)

Gossamer · Apr 17, 2007, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ

I doubt I'll trick anyone.

But it won't stop me from trying.

(Have you tried clicking it?)

No. * Yes.

G4ME · Apr 17, 2007, 10:21 AM

very very nice

Y3a · Apr 17, 2007, 11:01 AM

under 125Hz it's omni-directional anyway. I guess more than 2 channels might be OK if the multichannel sources were not such an effect circus. Hasn't sounded 'real' at anyplace thats tried to demo it.

olePigeon · Apr 17, 2007, 11:39 AM

I'd stick with 5.1.

slpdLoad · Apr 17, 2007, 06:40 PM

I think you might notice a slight improvement with 6.1 soley because of your particular setup. If someone was to be sitting in the midde/corner of the couch, they would actually be sitting behind the surround speakers, so a 6th speaker behind might fill in the space a bit.

I wouldn't swear that it would help though, and in general I think 5.1 is the way to go.

Rumor · Apr 17, 2007, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

center channel is also KINDA pointless

slpdLoad · Apr 17, 2007, 07:19 PM

mdc · Apr 17, 2007, 08:06 PM

We have an Onkyo system that is 7.1. We bought it as a home theatre in a box system and it works well, but I find the 7.1 a little pointless. Since we have moved we haven't bothered setting up the 2 center rear speakers. I don't think I have anything that supports 6.1 or even 7.1, I'll check my DVDs and HD DVDs to make sure.

5.1 is good enough in my opinion. In your situation and speaker locations I think you should just go for 5.1 how it is and not worry about any more speakers.