Quote Originally Posted by kexodusc
With 2 surround backs, I could angle the side surrounds differently, a bit more forward and to the side (much like a movie theater setup). The rear channels no longer became distracting, it was more ambient. Arrows in Gladiators DTS ES were transitioned alot better. The part where that guy swings his mace was awesome...it totally circles the room. There's no "quiet spot".

I'm going to go out on a limb here, because you're making me think about this. I've been fortunate, both in my old, and new house to have 2 large 400 sq ft + rooms. Since all the speakers are 8 ft or more away from me I wonder if my placement becomes far more forgiving than if I was in a smaller room (like my old apartment)? Perhaps I'm achieving the right amount of dispersion? Certainly a auto calibrating tool like my RX-V1400's YPAO helps (though I'm becoming less and less impressed with the Parametric EQ part for signals above 200 Hz...not noticing much audible differences).


Moral of the story...the less human error the better! No doubt 7.1 isn't for everyone.
Can't wait until 8.2 and 9.2 become the standards (don't get me started on my "stereo bass" experiment).
It was only a few weeks ago that I got, (what I feel) is close to optimum out of my 7.1 system. Actually it's 7.1+2 if you take into account that I'm running two sets of mains. It was only when I realized that I should set my CSW T500's to SMALL, and send all of the bass signal to my subs that things really came alive. When set to small there's no signal going to the T500 woofers, so the speakers are acting more like standmounts. The maggies blend well with the Velodyne subs, and OK with the rest of the dynamic speakers, but NOT with the woofers of the T500.

I agree, a big room helps alot. If you think you want to do 7.1 make sure you have about 4-5 ft behind your seats or it won't work correctly. When it does it really adds to effects. We watched X2 the other day and there's a lot of info going to the rear surrounds in that movie. Even little things; like when Striker blows up the wall of ice to get to Wolverine you can hear the ice falling BEHIND you! 5.1 just coudln't give you that effect, or if it could you'ld need to be sitting exactly in one spot. There's something very startling about hearing noises behind you, and 7.1 gives you that effect when it's called for.