Need help deciding 5.1 vs. 7.1

[spanderson]

Hello All,

I have been thinking about doing an end of year upgrade for my home theater system, which recently had my really old satellites go on me so i'm down to a 3.1. I have been wondering if it is worth it go to 7.1 over 5.1. The room in which I would install this system is fairly wide open, but running the cables would be a pain as I would either have to drill through a lot of ceiling studs, or I would have to run crown molding to hide them. My budget for speakers is $2,000 and my budget for a tuner is $750. I am no stranger to DIY, but I am also no pro at doing installs. Here are my following questions:

1. Should I go 5.1 over 7.1?
2. Are there any decent wireless systems?
3. Should I just buy a soundbar?
4. Should I have a specialist come in and quote me on what they would charge. I have a feeling this would be out of my price range.

Thanks for your time!

 

[ssddx]

1- any content labeled surround sound is available in 5.1 however there is not as much content for 7.1 so the extra two speakers would be unused in some cases unless you were running prologic or another method to fake them in. for the same money you could get a better 5.1 system as well so i think staying 5.1 might be the better choice. unless of course you really wanted 7.1 in which case go for it. there is no wrong choice as long as you are happy with it.

2- most good home theater speakers are wired... using standard speaker wire. any wireless set would still need a wire... for ac power and its own internal amplifier so basically it would be a powered speaker.

3- if you have a very limited amount of space then soundbars work well. however for a wide open room you would be much better off with a good speaker system.

4- the prices of professionals installing such things might scare you. is there a reason why you cannot run the cables in the floor? (explain what the flooring is and what the floor underneath is. also there are flat speaker cables that you can actually paint over so you can hide them by painting over the wall >link<. you could also run it behind your baseboard and there are also baseboards >link< that allow you to hide cables in them. to be honest running the wires is so easy that it would be silly to pay someone to do it but that is your choice and not mine to make.

 

[spanderson]

The area where I plan to put it is somewhat awkward. I'll try to explain it as best I can without pictures. You walk in through the front door and enter a foyer area. You then have the stairs to the left and the living room right there. so if you walked in to the living room and turned to your right there is no wall there and then the kitchen. So my main kind of problem is that it's really really open and somewhat awkward. There is no basement, so i'm stuck with a slab and carpeting. The 2 best places I can run the rear speakers are somewhat problematic. One of them I could run a cable along the ground and then up a corner where the walls actually do meet, but the other....there is no solid wall or baseboard to run it against, and I'm assuming it would show if I ran it under the carpet the whole way..I guess I could certainly give it a shot though. I have looked at professional installs, and yes...the price does scare me. I know they usually charge anywhere from 80-120$ for just labor.

I thought about getting this setup for the 5.1 replacement.

http/www.klipsch.com/r-26f-home-theater-system

Any thoughts on those?

 

[ssddx]

use mspaint and draw up a simple diagram with some sketched on dimensions if you can and upload it to tinypic and post it here. its much easier than trying to explain it in words alone. also draw in where you would like the furniture to be and what you were thinking for speaker locations.

you mentioned under the carpet... is that even an option? that would typically involve ripping up the carpet and trying to restretch it. its possible to do but you might not get it right again.

i cannot give you a definite answer on that speaker set as i do not know how it compares with what else is available for that price on the market but i can say a few things you might want to read.

i've seen it mentioned on the internet that you either like klipsch's sound profile or you dont due to things such as the tractrix horn (tweeter). i've heard that the satelites and especially bookshelves can be a bit high pitched while the floorstanders are a bit warmer sounding. although i personally feel that this is hogwash and can be said about any speakers (that you either like them or you dont...we all appreciate a different kind of sound profile).

with that said... i personally own a klipsch quintet iv 5.0 satelite speaker set and i love it. a bit pricey yes but it works out great for me (photos if you click build in my signature) and sounds great. i've heard the floorstanders and bookshelves (sorry dont know which models off the top of my head) and i liked them as well but did not have the budget for them. if i had more money in the future and a larger room to play with then i would be looking at some of the larger speakers they offer myself since i've been so happy with them.

if you live in the usa and have a best buy near you... they have them on display in the theater room so you can give them a listen. hhgregg may have a display as well. if possible i would definitely listen to see if you like their speakers.

if you lived in the UK i would absolutely say that wharfdale diamond speakers are excellent. however they are severely marked up in the usa which makes them not so worthwhile although still great sounding.