In , on 06/24/03
at 08:30 AM, "Faustino Dina" said:

I'm really a newbie to AV world. I'm planning to buy an AV receiver
and I realize that apart of 5.1 channels, exists 6.1 and even 7.1
channels... what is all about? If DVD films have only 5.1 channels
then why I need 6.1 and 7.1 AV receivers...?

To some extent it is an arms race. More speakers must be better, right?
It's the American way.

6.1 introduces a rear center speaker. It is less clear what 7.1 does.
Some implementations add two front speakers, some add two side speakers
(near the rear) and adding a rear center brings the count up to 8.1.

In my experience each of these step-ups from 5.1 can add to the
experience -- if one has the luxury of placing the speakers
appropriately. If one or more of the listeners is very close to a
speaker, it will dominate and very small body movements will change the
sound balance significantly. On some material 6.1 is a welcome
improvement, but in most living rooms, that center rear speaker is very
close to the listener and is very annoying because the system will have
to be rebalanced when you shift your position on the soffa.

In most situations my own choice would be fewer, better speakers. While
there are exceptions, I find that most people prefer simple stereo for
music. This is not a surprise because, except for the very youngest of
our members, we have grown up to expect this and the music has been
recorded with two speaker playback in mind. Over time, I expect this
will change and we will move to multi-channel for everything.

I use different sets of rules for Home Theater and Music systems. For
Music I tend to be a minimalist, but Home Theater should be larger than
life. Movies are for escape. Why would we want to imitate what we are
attempting to escape?

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