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Friday I bought a pair of Sonus Faber Signums, and borrowed a TAG P100 and cables from the store, to upgrade from 5.1 to 7.1 (I felt there was a gap between the surrounds, in the back corners, and the front)...First impression, as the missus promptly said, "the living room looks like a store"... even though the speakers are beautiful, she was right, it ruined completely the decor... :(
Second, the gap was gone, now the room was "full" of sound... :)
Then more serious testing:
With music, now I could ear the room, full, but I could ear it, with 5.1 it disapeared, like there where no walls, we didnīt like what 7.1 had done...
With 5.1 movies, instead of listening the effects focused, coming from behind, they where all over the place, smeared...
I donīt have any 7.1 movies, so I didnīt test that, I am sure they would sound great, but there arenīt many, so I donīt think it is worth it... so I gave up 7.1
In the end I kept the Signums to replace the surround Concertos, as they match much better the front EAII, the gap is less noticeable now, so me, and specially the wife, are happy with 5.1
It was worth the experience, at least I wonīt be wishing I had 7.1 for a while...
Estes, you are right, I am sure I could setup better, but, still, I think the concept was wrong, particularly with music, I have my front speakers well setup, so I get a very deep and wide sound stage, the extra speakers beside me, a little to the front, no matter how low I set them, did flatten that stage (and I couldnīt "ear" them)... maybe for someone without such good "imaging" up front, it will work better...Daleda, I do like very much 5.1, even use Dolby ProLogic II with CDs... just 7.1 doesnīt seem to work for me without proper recordings...
7.1 is just another way to sell us more gear (speakers, wire, processors, upgrades, on and on). I, like you, tried it and was unimpressed. In a "well set up" room (acoustics, right speakers, etc etc) 5.1 is just fine for me and I will never chase it. I'm still trying to get the "taste of the hook" out of my mouth for being so stupid to try it in the first place. I won't make the same mistake with SACD or DVD-A though (PCM 2 channel straight up please)!
Sounds like setup, setup and setup are the issues in your case ;-)
It can be a pain getting HT right. Get a test disc and a Sound level meter and I think the results will be better. I also try and set up the rears in a similar fashion to the fronts (ie so that they image). I don't like the effect of "diffuse" surrounds.
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