5.1 vs 6.1 Setup...?!?

[rana_kirti]

Living Hall Size in feet.

Length = 20'
Width = 13'
Height = 9'

I'm Planning a new Home Theater setup for the above mentioned living hall size. I have a Yamaha RX V450 which is a 6.1 AV Receiver. Now i'm wondering whether to go for a 5.1 vs. 6.1 Setup.

Now i read and understand that a very few movies have Discrete 6.1 Soundtrack. My AVR's manual says that it can derive a 6th channel out of a 5.1 Channel Soundtrack. I understand that it would then become a 6.1 Matrix.

So i had a few questions...

1. How is the effect of a 6.1 matrixed soundtrack derived out of a 5.1 Soundtrack ?
2. In the above mentioned Living Hall size will a 5.1 be enough or will i benefit with a more enveloping sound from a 6.1 Setup ?

Thanks.

 

[sam9s]

6.1 is Dead, you would rarely find a movie that has discreet 6.1 channels. 7.1 is still more prevalent and you can actually find movie that have discreet 7.1 channel sound. For you I'd say stick with 5.1. I have 7.1 but I still say 5.1 is more than sufficient to enjoy most of the movies .....

 

[rana_kirti]

any more members can share their experiences with 5.1 vs 6.1 Setup...?!?

 

[ranojoy]

I used to own a Yamaha RX-V440, which was also 6.1 like your 450. After trying out matrixed 6.1 for sometime, I decided that 5.1 was quite OK and continued with that.

Based on that experience, I have configured the new receiver as 5.1+IIz rather than 7.1.

I'd say go with 5.1. Purely my personal opinion, though.