...on a 7.1 receiver...

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

on a 7.1 receiver pecifically denon, theres a surround back/multi zone, surround A- and surround B-

which one of these are the front surrounds, and which is the back??????/

mantis

Good question,
I can see exactly how thats confusing.As a Owner of a Denon avr3801,I will try to explain.
The Surround A is designed for the rear channel like in a regular 5.1 system
The Surround B is a Denon exclusive,it allows you to run 2 different pairs of rears,one for music and one for movies.You also can run them both at the same time.
The Surround Back/MultiZone is for the 6th channel in the new surround format.Denon allows you to run 2 mono channels instead of just one like Yamaha does.THX also wants 2 surround speakers.As it's also labeled Multizone,you can in the set up menu's,re asign the surround back amps to power a 2nd zone.
I can explain that better then that.
2nd zone means taking a pair of speakers, lets say for example you have a pair of outdoor speaker for your deck,you now can drive them without buying another stereo or adding a 2 channel amp to your exsisting system.You run speaker wire to your outdoor speakers and if you want you can put a Volume control (weatherproof)out on the deck for control,or use an RF remote programmed to work the Denon zone 2.
Now lastly(as I had it set up for a long time)If you run surround back in your theater room,you now need to use a seperate amp to run the 2nd zone,in my case I used a B&K st140 to run a pair of rt35i's in my masterbed.I use a niles repeater system and a Phillips Pronto to have complete control over my 2nd zone.I was going for a Niles Intellipad but found it to limited.I lke The Pronto better as I can set up Macros to listen to what I want.
I hope this explains the Denon's capabilities,they are very nice well rounded receivers for the money you spend on them.And they mate with Polk speakers very well.

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

technically speaking...surround A is Back Surrounds, and the B Surround is technically the front surrounds?

mantis

NO,
surround B is also for the back,
check it out,
If you place the surround A speakers on the side walls,like on both sides of your couch if it was in the middle to back of your room,then Place surround B on the back wall behind your couch.The in the middle of surround B you can place surround Back, like having 6 rear speakers,its just simply awesome.
When you pick up the Denon ,read the manual, it shows pictures, or better yeat go to Denons web site and Download the manual,it shows you clear pictures on how the surrounds are laid out.
Only Yamaha does front effect speakers, thats there exclusive.