5.1 upgrade to 7.1 worth it?

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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Joined
20 Sep 2006
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Hi all,

I'm shortly having the carpet replaced downstairs and having laminate installed. The chap doing the work has agreed to put some flat cabling underneath so that I can run my surround speaker cable out of sight.

I'm wondering about having 4 cables running so that I can upgrade to 7.1. The room is a perfect size for it and I'd be able to position the speakers optimally. However I seem to recall reading on here that it's not really worth the upgrade?

My amp is 7.1 capable but not Atmos, this is something I have thought about upgrading.

Thoughts?
 
Perfect opportunity to get the cabling laid whilst you're getting the new floor done. Even if you don't go ahead with the upgrade now it's ready for when you do! :cool:

No brainer! :p
 
Absolutely lay the cables if new carpet being fitted. The difference is there obviously but 5.1 is a pretty sweet set up in home. 7.1 is just fancy update. Atmos however is pretty brilliant but you need a massive room to appreciate it. All depends on how fussy you are with audio tbh but "prevention is better than cure" ie lay cables ready is a no brainer.
 
I found 7.1 to be a waste of time.

Only time I could tell when it was being used is when I knew 7.1 was coming out.

This possibly speaks of how great I find my dipole surround speakers in my room for 5.1 content.

Saying that, while you've got the opportunity fire in every wire you can.
 
I've installed quite a few 5.1 and 7.1 systems. On a couple of occasions I have installed 9.1 and 9.2 systems where it's 7.1/7.2 with additional front height speakers. More recently I did a 7.2.4 Atmos install.

Bearing in mind that material is available to take full advantage of 7.1 and Atmos I haven't yet been blown away by either. Strangely, what did impress me the most was running front heights on a Yamaha and on an Onkyo receiver. I say strangley because unlike 7.1 and Atmos that have dedicated discrete channels for the extra speakers, the front height systems use a form of ProLogic to invent the height information. I noticed the effect and more importantly IMO I enjoyed the effect far more than additional rear surround because it made the front sound vista so much more expansive. Much like RoyMi6 then, I am a fan and user of dipole surrounds, but the systems I have installed haven't all been with dipole/bipole speakers.

I would agree with the idea of running the cable while you have the chance.
 
I'm using Monitor Audio BXFX for my rears, so I'd use the same again. However I want to upgrade my floorstanders which of course means having to change everything to match. More money I guess. :D
 
I would agree with the others here, install the cables while you can.

Having said that though, the bulk of my 100 or so blu-ray collection is 5.1 (7.1 titles include the SW series LOTR & The Hobbit series) all the 7.1 titles are DTS-HD.

DVD titles aren't exactly swimming with DTS-ES or DD-EX 6.1 soundtracks either as I found out to my cost. :rolleyes:
 
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