7.1 or 5.1

Frank11

Hello,
I’m in the market for a surround sound system (High Definition) and was wondering what peoples thoughts are on 5.1 versus 7.1. I will be using the system to watch DVD/Blu-ray Concerts and movies.
I need the lot from TV to DVD player.
I have only started to look around and found the following items interesting:
Yamaha RXV 1900 Amp
Bose AM10/15 Speakers
Panasonic DMR-EX78 DVD Recorder
PS3 for Blu-ray

Anybody any thoughts or alternatives on these?

Cheers.

Idleater

I went wired in 7.1 because I was building afresh, but the support is very limited at present with only a handful of titles running 6.1 never mind 7.1.

The AVP that I got matrixes the 7 from 5 channels automatically if they (5) or it (6) don't exist.

Not 100% sure on how well the difference between behind and beside works out because even if you google 7.1 configurations there are several different options for speaker locations.

i.e. you can have 2 rear and 2 left/right, there is above front above back, etc etc.

The one advantage, since my surrounds are all built in ceiling speakers, is that no matter where you sit in the room, the sound always goes in the correct direction (eg front to back) whether you are sitting to the left of ideal, right of ideal, or center.

Also, smaller rooms don't benefit as much from 7.1 as the channels are very close together and the ear can't differentiate between the ms delay between side and rear.

As for your equipment, the Yamahas are good on features, don't know the specifics per model. Onkyo might have more features for less €, so you could check them out.

If you are using the PS3 for HD material, and it is very good (it supports both TrueHD/DTSMA), make sure that your AVR can decode an LPCM audio stream, as the ps3 won't bitstream them (not DTSMA anyway).

I won't comment on Bose speakers either way, there are better, there are worse.

Have you got an overall budget?

Frank11

I have not though too much about a budget, probably not a good idea. I look on it as a 1 time expenditure so I want to do it right first time. Max probably about 2.5k for the sound system.
The size of the room has me thinking that the 5.1 would be a better option.
After x-mas i'll get out to some shops and start asking.

Idleater

2.5k is a decent enough budget.

To break it down:
ps3 €400
1080p tv €1000
Onkyo 606 €400

leaves €700 for a decent set of speakers and cabling (assuming you ditch the DVDR for the short term). Sure it's possible to get speaker packages for less that, but you have the makings of a decent system there.

The thing with audio and video is that there is always something better, and always new features on the way. You spend a total of 2.5k on your entire system, others spend that on a pair of speakers or a cd player...

Hence, set out your budget, and set out what components you want for your system, then research and ask questions about them.

cdb

The Yamaha RX-V1900 gets 5-stars in What-hifi's review so you won't go too far wrong there.

http://whathifi.com/Review/Yamaha-RX-V1900/

If you like the Yamaha brand you could also consider the less expensive DSP-AX763, which won their best-in-class.

http://whathifi.com/Review/Yamaha-DSP-AX763/

Nereid's advice in the previous post above is spot-on, spending £900 (rrp) on the amp is probably overkill if you have to compromise on the other components in the set-up.

The exchange rate is fantastic at the moment so you will get a lot more for your money if you shop somewhere like Richersounds.