5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 for home theater

EJ
EJ Posts: 42
edited April 2002 in Technical/Setup
I am getting a dedicated home theater room for movies and music. The room will be 15'X11'X8"H. Will this room be too small to run a 6.1 or 7.1 system? At present I have rt2000p's for mains, cs400 for center, rt10's (small towers) for surrounds and am using a single 35i for a rear surround.

We are having the room built as part of an addition and I would appreciate any feedback to help me realize the final product. In addition to movies it will be used for music listening including DVD-A in multi-chanel. Any suggestions on what would be the best configuration, including changes in the equiptment would be welcome. I am using a denon 3801 receiver as well.

Thanks & regards
EJ
Post edited by EJ on
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Comments

  • joe logston
    joe logston Posts: 882
    edited April 2002
    it shoud be alright i would put the width as 11 ft. and the 15 ft. as the depth that way you can put tour rear channel behind you at a deeper depth, if you get a lot of sound chancelation you can put sound absorbant materal on walls.
    . rt-7 mains
    rt-20p surounds
    cs-400i front center
    cs-350 ls rear center
    2 energy take 5, efects
    2- psw-650 , subs
    1- 15" audiosource sub

    lets all go to the next ces.
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,194
    edited April 2002
    I bless that with a second.
    7.1 wire for it and go for it.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited April 2002
    Another vote for 7.1
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
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  • TheGrayGhost
    TheGrayGhost Posts: 196
    edited April 2002
    At a minimum go for 6.1
    Best Regards, Cliff
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  • EJ
    EJ Posts: 42
    edited April 2002
    Thanks for the replies. I take it that the room is large enough to use the 6.1 or 7.1 configuration?
    As I mentioned in my original post, my surrounds are RT10;s, small towers, should these be elevated?

    Thanks & regards
    EJ
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited April 2002
    check out the polk audio page regarding speaker placeemnt as well as WWW.DOLBY.COM . I think you will get the best performance by placing the surround speakers above and slightly behind your listening position, and placing your rear speaker(s) at the same height. Hope this helps.
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
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  • goingganzo
    goingganzo Posts: 2,793
    edited April 2002
    do any one think there is much differance between 5.1 and 7.1 i went from the old prow to 7.1 witch is a big upgrade but what is the diff between the sound of 5 and 7.1
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited April 2002
    After I finally got my FX300's installed, and my amp for the rear channels hooked up, my wife and I sat down and watched U-571. There's a scene where the good guys are being shot at by the stinking ****'s and the bullets were literally flying over our heads and hitting the water behind us. I looked at my wife with a huge grin on my face to see what her response was, she had the same look on her face. I guess if my wife was impressed enough, that should speak volumes for going with a 7.1 set-up.

    BTW, she's not easily impressed with my toys
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
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  • rkrooney
    rkrooney Posts: 5
    edited April 2002
    EJ,

    7.1 is much more dramatic than 5.1 if you can do it. My question to you would be "where are you sitting in this room"? You can and should do 7.1 as long as you are at least three feet from your back wall. I would also highly recommend using a sound level meter to calibrate your speakers. You would be amazed at the difference this will make.

    7.1 will give you much better pans of sound (especially in DTS-ES). It will also create a feeling of things above you and give you more natural movement of surround special effects and ambience. 5.1 has limitations with these things.
    6.1 is great and will overcome most of the problems with 5.1 but tends to isolate the rear sound, where as, 7.1 will broaden the rear sound making the room feel larger than it really is and maintain the illusion of actually being in the environment of the movie.
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  • EJ
    EJ Posts: 42
    edited April 2002
    Thanks for the replies. I only have a single 35i for a rear surround now but perhaps I can get another one for the new room. I do have a sound level meter and intend to use it when the time comes. I may even go for a professional setup if I can work it out. I just found out that there is someone from Vancouver who does this including ISF calibration on your RPTV.

    Regards
    EJ
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  • mhetman
    mhetman Posts: 25
    edited April 2002
    Originally posted by EJ
    I am getting a dedicated home theater room for movies and music. The room will be 15'X11'X8"H. Will this room be too small to run a 6.1 or 7.1 system? At present I have rt2000p's for mains, cs400 for center, rt10's (small towers) for surrounds and am using a single 35i for a rear surround.

    We are having the room built as part of an addition and I would appreciate any feedback to help me realize the final product. In addition to movies it will be used for music listening including DVD-A in multi-chanel. Any suggestions on what would be the best configuration, including changes in the equiptment would be welcome. I am using a denon 3801 receiver as well.

    Thanks & regards
    EJ

    That is about the size of the room I use for my 7.1 system. Sounds great......
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