I have a hdtv and blu ray player...should i be looking for a 7.1 channel home theater system?

Question

or will a 5.1 be more than good enough

Answer 1

They're way too expensive right now. All you're getting for all that extra $ is 2 extra channels of audio sent to speakers on either side of you. When the price becomes reasonable then why not; but till then you're paying a lot for very little.

Answer 2

7.1 channel makes a little diffrence. 5.1 is pretty good also.

Answer 3

Probably best to focus on getting the best 5.1 system you can afford.

You really only NEED the extra speakers in a large room and you can always add one or two extra speakers to a 5.1 setup if you want later. Since there is little 7.1 program material, and what there is generally doesn't have a great deal of sound sent to the rear, an inexpensive speaker (6.1) or a pair (7.1) is all you need.

Answer 4

Back in the days of DVD, the 6th and 7th speaker only added some "ambient" sounds to the 5-channel setup.  In fact, DVD can only deliver 5 or 6 channels of sound on it's best day.  And that 6th one wasn't quite there at all.  But surround receivers and speaker companies could find ways to make all 7 speakers make noise all at the same time.

Another thing to know is that with 5-channel (3 in the front & 1 on each side of you), upgrading to 7.1 would add 2 more speakers behind you, placed about the same distance from you as the speaker on either side of you.

With DVD, these 2 extra speakers added a "post-processing" WHOOSH to your 5.1 sound field.  The speaker on each side of your head were in STEREO and effects could pan back and forth, delivering great surround sound.  George Lucas (in 1999) thought this wasn't good enough.

Instead of having both rear speakers play similar sounds simutaneously to give the illusion of "right-behind-you" in addition to alternating "over-your-shoulder" effects, George decided to add one or two speakers right behind you, giving a "distinct" audio location for "right-behind-you" sound effects.

Problem was that there's not enough room on DVDs for one more channel of audio, so they figured out away to "steer" the audio from the speaker on each side of you.  When those speakers make the same noises, at the same time, then Lucas' 1 or 2 new speakers make noise.  Pretty clever.

Now the debate over adding 2 or just 1 new speaker for Lucas' new audio comes down to this.  The two new speakers directly behind you were in MONO.  That is, they played the exact same audio information.  And two speakers playing identacle audio, sound like one speaker.  You decide.

While upgrading from stereo (2-channel) to 5.1 is a no-brainer, one can hardly justify switching from 5.1 to 7.1 with just a DVD player which is limited to producing a 5-channel recording anyway.  But Blu-ray Disc has changed all that.

There's enough room on Blu-ray Discs to offer, not only 7 separately recorded audio tracks (plus subwoofer), but completely uncompressed digital audio.  The difference in sound quality over DVD is similar to CDs over MP3s.

This is the first "all-in-one" package from Onkyo to cater to Blu-ray Disc.  It includes a stereo receiver which can decode the latest "Uncompressed" surround formats ("DolbyTrueHD" and "DTSHD Master Audio"), HDMI audio/video switching, 7 fairly unobtrusive speakers and a powered subwoofer.  Click here for a link to that system at Onkyo's website: http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S...

That setup (for $1,000) comes with a DVD player you won't need but all the hardware/software to get the most out of your Blu-ray Disc player.  Right now, it's the only "all-in-one" which can decode the HD audio on Blu-ray Discs.  I'm sure in 6 to 12 months other electronic manufacturers will jump on the band wagon (with lower prices, too).

One problem with 7 speakers is if your movie-watching position is against the back wall of your viewing room, then you won't be able to place the 6th and 7th speakers far enough away to get a convincing "7.1" effect.  If you can't get Lucas' extra speakers as far away as the speaker on each side of you, the just stick with 5 speakers.  The Onkyo is smart enough to "redirect" the sounds for the missing 6th and 7th speakers into the speaker on each side of you, so you won't miss a thing.

Bottom line, the picture is barely HALF of the Blu-ray Disc experience.  The uncompressed audio offers, for the first time ever, an EXACT copy of the studio master.  You won't believe it until you hear it for yourself.  With "DolbyTrueHD" and "DTSHD Master Audio" at home you won't want to go to a movie theater again.

Answer 5

Yes Definitely, why? because it will Optimize your gear and allow your Blu-ray to present itself with the true playback format[s] that they are capable of.   And indeed I mentioned that all of the Blu-ray disc already come in 7.1 surround playback whether it be Dolby or DTS,  So going 7.1 is a good choice that follows anyone that is using Blu-ray and HDTV, to follow with.

        There are some good name brands out their followed by some good (in box) set ups to choose from just remember know what budget you want to use for yourself [if any] and be smart when shopping around.