i was just wondering, i think it'd be awsome to have.

well I have a 7.1 receiver, but currently only a 5.1 setup due to space limitations. It definitely IS awesome. I use my PC as dvd player, etc for my projector and use optical out from pc to reciever for surround sound. My PC's sound card also supports on the fly surround encoding so I can get it from video games etc as well. truely adds another dimension to everything and really completes the home theater.

I have an Onkyo 7.1 surround sound system with a 10" sub-woofer... and yes, its all true. Surround sound is something that you dont know youre missing until you have it and realize what u have not been spending $ on

I too have the Onkyo 7.1 surround sound system. Works great, awesome piece of hardware!!

Only problem I found is not a lot movies support 7.1 yet (most are 5.1). I read somewhere that this receiver will blend the front and rear singles of a 5.1 movie into the middle channels, or something like that..

I'm running mine the same way as Tameone (optical out of 7.1 sound card). Don't forget to change your media player settings to pass the raw sound signal (no software decoding), this allows the decoding to be done on the receiver and sounds 100 times better

I got a JVC RX-D202B. You can get 'em from amazon fer about 100. I got a 5 speaker set and another 2 spkr set of Daytons from parts express, again for about 100. The JVC does all the decoding you could need, and the Dayton speakers are like Parts Express'es version of the Evo. They're DIY'ers, giving the Dayton home theater a lot of bang for the buck.

I'm using a 6.1 setup. There isn't too much difference between 6.1 and 7.1 as the two surround rear channels aren't discrete- they play the same material. My room is not large enough to merit two surround back channels- one is probably overkill. I have a Marantz SR4300 to do the decoding (digital coax out from comp) and that also amplifies the midrange section of my speakers. I have a Carver AV505 5 channel amp to do the amplification for the high range. All speakers are bi-amped except for the surround back channel. That has made a nice difference in clarity and dynamic range.
Most receivers have a decoding mode which can matrix the surround back channel from 5.1 sources (make it into 6.1 mostly... ) - it's similar to using dolby pro-logic to get a center channel from a stereo source.
If you have a nicely setup 5.1 system the jump to 6.1 or 7.1 isn't huge - but it does help to fill in some surround effects and makes pans smoother around the room.

So how have you got the crossover set up in this system?

DJ

All of my speakers have two sets of binding posts on the backs, one for the hi freq inputs and the mid/bass. The speaker still uses it's internal passive crossover, and both amps are receiving full range signals. I use the pre-outs on the back of the marantz to drive the carver. I do have all the speakers set to 'small' in the receiver so that anything below 80hz goes to the subs and tactile transducer.

I would dearly love to have all active crossovers processing a line level signal, and actual dedicated amps for each frequency range... but that is a bit more equipment and $$ than I have right now... (even if i DIY all of the gear)

Let me know if that answers your question... I didn't want to blab on forever. Audio was the first element that got me interested in home theater originally- so sometimes i've a bit more to say about it

I have 7.1. I Just sold my H/K AVR7300 that I have had for over a year and a half. Great reciver for the price. I paid $2100 when I got it and they are now going for sub 1000 which makes them a steal. I am currently in the process of getting the Nad masters pre pro set up. But back on topic. Most DVDs are only encoded in 5.1 a few are 6.1. There are no DVDs in 7.1. The Bluray and HDDVDs are suposed to support 7.1. I am holding out to see who wins the battle before I buy one. But in the THX sounder in the begining of starwars does play in 7.1 and it is sweet cranked up. Blows peoples minds. 7.1 looks nice but honestly it is not currenly worth it. Maybe in the near future we will finally get some use for it. BTW if you want a good encoded DVD for 6.1 get BLADE 2. This one is top notch for a good system. Blade trinity really disapointed me as it stunk. Just remember to set up the 6.1 in the menu.

Later

Here are a few photos of one of the setups I have done. Sorry the camera lens was dirty and I didnt know it. I can get more if ya really want.

About a year ago I upgraded my system from 5.1 Dolby prologic to 7.1 Dolby Digital. I really like the combined front and rear surrounds of the 7.1 system. It has the descrete surround effects of the DD 5.1 combined with the enveloping feeling of the old Prologic 5.1 system. I would recommend it if you can swing it. In fact most of the new AV receivers wil be 7.1.

The very rear speakers need only be inexpensive since they are not playing full range sound and are generally at a much lower sound level.

i have a 7.1 system but as has been mentioned not a lot of movies support it. I have a Yamaha RX-V1500, Klipsch F3's , C-3's, C-1, C-3, S-3's, and RS-3's. And a Klipsch 12" sub.

I had it hooked up as 7.1 and the receiver set in DPL IIx but with most movies the very back speakers never were used. So I switched it back to a setup where the side and back speakers are hooked up together and the receiver is in 5.1 mode.

It was kind of weird , the receiver would automatically switch from Dolby Pro Logic IIx to normal 5.1 Dolby as soon as the movie started playing. But the previews and DVD Menu would be in 7.1. And the only movies I found that did 7.1 were my Blu-Ray movies. ????

This is strange,

I have an Onkyo TX-Nr901 and before that I had another Onkyo. I think a TX-SR603 or something like that. My Onkyo synthesises the rear surrounds on most DVD's. As far as I understand it the rear surounds are synthesised from the 5.1 DD mix and all they is required is a flag of some type on the DVD to tell the processor to set itself for 7.1. Otherwise you can do it manually and it still seems to work on most DVD's.

YMMV.

Well the speaker outputs on my Yamaha have a surround left/right and a rear surround left/right. When I hook up the surrounds that way, the only setting in which I can hear the Rear Surrounds is in DTS Dolby Pro Logic IIx . Even with THX and Dolby surround I can't hear them. And only on some BluRay movies will the Dolby IIX even work. On most movies the receiver automatically switches back to Standard Dolby Surround.

Ya Dolby pro logic IIX is a combination of Dolby pro logic and dolby digital. You have to have this setting to get 7.1 .

DTS is a different thing but also has a 7.1 mode. Works similar but I forgot the name.

However, I don't know why your system is switcing out of 7.1 mode when you go to THX. THX is only a form of equalization and should work in any mode. It could be a programming issue.

THX should also work even if the DVD doesn't have the flag for it to switch automatically.

I GET AUDIO FROM ALL 7 ON MY ONKYO, WHEN ITS IN DOLBY DIGITAL EX MODE

Typing in ALL CAPS is considered shouting. I also renamed your account to something more fun...

just wanted you to HEAR ME.(-!)
and thatnks for the name change, why does a forum let an individual pick their own, if you ultimatly get to change it to what amuses you?

We dont actually use name filters in registration because of the possible combinations. I got two PM's when you were on, so I decided a name change was in order but I wanted to keep with the "slightly sarcastic, wry and yet slightly naughty " feel of your name.
I thought "Censored" might be fun for you.

If you like, PM me and we will assign a new name to your account.

SJ

its cool, just didn't think anyone would care. i've only had 1 other forum that didn't want it, and they just banned me, instead of changing it.

You dont nessisarly need a 7.1 system. 7.1 is for larger rooms where 5.1 would be lost becasue of size and the speakers being too far apart. In small rooms such as small basement theatres 5.1 works fine as well as 6.1 if the room is longer. My amp supports 7.1 but I only hooked up 5.1 becasue there is no need for 7.1 becasue my room dementions are too small for it. This is what I have heard and it makes sense. If anyone would like to elaborate on 5.1 vs 7.1 please post.

OK,

For most DVD's 6.1 and 7.1 pretty much amount to the same thing. THe reason is that the rear surrounds are not discrete channels like the other 5.1 channels are for most DVD's.

So when you have 7.1 you are really kind of playing the same thing out of both rear surrounds as opposed to 6.1. However they may do a few tricks with the two signals to make the ambiance a bit more spacious.

Regardless of the size of your room you should experiment with 6.1 or 7.1 if you have it. There is a reason that 6.1 and 7.1 were created.

When DD 5.1 first came out it was great in several respects but also inferior in some respects to the old Dolby pro logic. With the old Dolby prologic the rear surroundes were just ambient low level sound synthsized from the two main stereo channels. Even so, it created a large enveloping feeling that you were in a larger space which Dolby Digital 5.1 did not do as well. And these kind of synthsized channels usually work best if they are behind the listening position. The nice thing about these synthsized rear surrounds is that they work rather well even if the side surround channels don't have much information in them.

So with the new DD 5.1 the front channel and voices were better sounding and the LFE and the side surround effects were better. But the enveloping acoustic was missing to some degree.

With 6.1 and 7.1 they have combined the old and the new technology and the result is much better than either one of the others. Since the rear surrounds are low level and don't capture discrete surround effects on most DVD's they don't need much dynamic range so small inexpensive speakers will work just fine. A few sources have 7.1 discrete sound. But I imagine these are only on a few new collectors editions disks and HD-DVD's or Blu-ray.

I would encourage anyone to try it out. Even if the room is small. If the rear surrounds are very close to the listening position they should be run at a much lower level. Sitting in the listening position you can adjust the relative volume levels of each channel in all AV receivers that I have seen until the overall sound field is in balance.

Also, I have noticed that when I use Zoom player on my PC to play DVD's it does a better job of sending the AV receiver the correct information to set itself up. I attribute this to the fact that my DVD player is older and may not read some of the new flags in the sound stream on some DVD's.

i used to use a Harmon Kardon avr 525... it got some water damage, it still has all the remotes and still turns on but it needs a few boards replaced before it can be used... i will give it away to who ever wants to pay the shipping...

So just to clarify, for those who are looking into 7.1.... True 7.1 uses Dolby True HD, and DTS 7.1, and should also have PCM 7.1... if you dont see those listed, its the matrixed 7.1 where the rear surrounds are sort of taken from the regular left and right surrounds in the 5.1 soundtrack. I havent heard of any discrete (real) 7.1 soundtracks except for Bluray, HDDVD, and possibly some PS3 and 360 games. So if youre in the market for a new receiver, if you can afford it, get a discrete 7.1, not a matrixed (dolby plIIx and DTS ES), because they are not forward compatible, so when you get a blu ray player, you can actually play the soundtrack properly. cheers.