[SOLVED] hi-fi audio 5.1 setup vs 7.1?

[G-star93]

Hello,

I was wondering, what's better to have 5.1 audio setup with large floor standing speakers, or 7.1 with smaller bookshelf speakers? I currently have, Denon avr X1400H 7.2 receiver, with 2x Dali Zensor 7 floor standing speakers, 4x Dali Zensor 3 bookshelf speakers and 1 Dali Zensor Vocal aka center speaker with yamaha nssw300 sub. I was thinking about an upgrade, I'm planning to sell two 3's and buy two 5's instead so I would have 2x Zensor 3, 2x5's and 2x7's. or maybe sell all 4 of Zensor 3's and buy 2 Zensor 5's so i would have 4 floor standing speakers and 1 center? What's your take on this?

 

[Frag Maniac]

I hear Dali Zensors sound great, but where I live Elac Uni Fi is more cost effective and has the nice concentric speakers that blend mids with tweets well.

As for your questions, definitely forget about the last option with 4 floor standing speakers because the surround channels wouldn't make use of them due to lacking bass. Surround channels are meant mostly for mid to upper frequencies.

5.1 vs 7.1 is going to depend what games you're playing and how good a receiver you have. The better games and receivers do positional audio better, meaning the side channels will help seamlessly transition the sound, and could even help you hear enemies flanking better.

So my recommendation is to nix the idea of floor standing rears and just add a pair of 3s on the side if you have room for them. I also advise buying from a place that allows 30 day returns for any reason (like Amazon), because any sound related products can be hard to justify until you hear them as you intend to use them.

 

[G-star93]

I hear Dali Zensors sound great, but where I live Elac Uni Fi is more cost effective and has the nice concentric speakers that blend mids with tweets well.

As for your questions, definitely forget about the last option with 4 floor standing speakers because the surround channels wouldn't make use of them due to lacking bass. Surround channels are meant mostly for mid to upper frequencies.

5.1 vs 7.1 is going to depend what games you're playing and how good a receiver you have. The better games and receivers do positional audio better, meaning the side channels will help seamlessly transition the sound, and could even help you hear enemies flanking better.

So my recommendation is to nix the idea of floor standing rears and just add a pair of 3s on the side if you have room for them. I also advise buying from a place that allows 30 day returns for any reason (like Amazon), because any sound related products can be hard to justify until you hear them as you intend to use them.

I have four Zensor 3's, one zensor vocal aka center and two Zensor 7's. I was thinking of changing two 3's to two 5's so I would have 4 floor standing speakers, 2 bookshelf speakers, a center and a woofer. But I don't know if it's worth the upgrade? Because the 3's are already loud as hell for such a relative "small" speakers. I have Denon avr x1400h 7.2 receiver with 145rms @6ohm per channel.

 

[Frag Maniac]

All you did was repeat what you said in your first post. I can read, as evidenced by my response. Did you even read it?