Thread: 5.1 vs 7.1

I am upgrading my current 2.1 audio system to 5.1 surround sound. Besides two more speakers, what are the advantages of having 7.1 surround sound vs 5.1?

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More immersive, being front, back and sides. I like it. But I must admit, true 7.1 is rare.

I have to admit, when I upgraded I got more value out of a high quality center and subwoofer.

Originally Posted by navychop

More immersive, being front, back and sides. I like it. But I must admit, true 7.1 is rare.

I have to admit, when I upgraded I got more value out of a high quality center and subwoofer.

Do you think it is worth the extra $?

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It depends on a lot of factors. One big one is the size of the room. If you are putting the system into anything smaller that 15x25 and only have 1 row of seats, you are not going to get a lot out of 7.1. As Navy mentioned, true 7.1 material is very rare, so most of the time the extra speakers are filling in sound for the 5.1 channels, and in a smaller space, it just doesn't add much.

Buy better 5.1 speakers and plan 7.1 as an eventual add-on. You will get a better overall sound now.

Well I would have to get a new stereo for 7.1 anyway. So I guess I will just go with 5.1. I will take a measurement of the room in a little bit.

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Originally Posted by navychop

I have to admit, when I upgraded I got more value out of a high quality center and subwoofer.

Originally Posted by jayn_j

It depends on a lot of factors. One big one is the size of the room. If you are putting the system into anything smaller than 15x25 and only have 1 row of seats, you are not going to get a lot out of 7.1. As Navy mentioned, true 7.1 material is very rare, so most of the time the extra speakers are filling in sound for the 5.1 channels, and in a smaller space, it just doesn't add much.

Buy better 5.1 speakers and plan 7.1 as an eventual add-on. You will get a better overall sound now.

Both of you are absolutely right. The only thing I would add is to match the new speakers sonically to the old ones. IOW, buy the same brand and from the same line if possible.

Most improtant speakers to match are the fronts (L,C, and R). Not as important in the rears as 97% of audio comes through the fronts.

S~

Is there really that much of a difference if they are different brands? My L,R, and surrounds are Bose and my center is an Infinity.

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Yes.

It is pretty obvious to me because the tone, balance and levels are not the same. Even if I adjust the levels, I hear the differences. Really apparent when sound pans across the screen, but even noticable on ambience.

I replaced speakers on my family room unit this weekend, and at first only replaced the mains. I had to dig the center out of storage. The ball game was on and I only lasted about 15 minutes before I gave up and retrieved the matching center. Granted, this was a rather extreme case where I was replacing Denon HTIB speakers with some full size Klipsch's.