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[Guybrush]

Asking for opinions on a 6.1 surround setup. I custom built an amplifier for my existing 5.1 system and used 3x stereo modules out of convenience for a total of 6 channels. So I have an extra 160W amp channel not being used. That, more than any displeasure with the performance of my existing 5.1 setup, is driving me to consider adding a rear center speaker.

I know what you're going to say, but in my circumstances a 7.1 surround setup is not feasible. So it's 5.1 or 6.1. Does 6.1 add anything? My existing rear speakers are a pair of klipsch f-20 floorstandings. They are powerful for rears but also highly directional. Would a rear center give a fuller sound from behind or just blur the positioning of the RR and RL channels? I'm asking with home theater in mind. Thanks!

[ferday]

Well it would work great with the couple 6.1 movies out there (Star Wars)

the idea with 6.1 was to have a true rear centre (mono) and use side channels (not rear surrounds).  In practice most home theatres reflected the sound off the front wall which killed the rear directionality and thus was born the rear surround

If it works in your room I bet it would sound pretty good, I'd probably try the other two in either side or height channel (I love height channels) and not rear surround.  I'm sure you have a cheap speaker lying around to test with...

The Cinema Version of "Dolby Digital EX" is called Dolby Digital Surround Ex and works similarly. Dolby Digital Surround EX was co-developed by Dolby and Lucasfilm THX in time for the release in May 1999 of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It provides an economical and backwards-compatible means for 5.1 soundtracks to carry a sixth, center back surround channel for improved localization of effects. The extra surround channel is matrix encoded onto the discrete Left Surround and Right Surround channels of the 5.1 mix, much like the front center channel on Dolby Pro Logic encoded stereo soundtracks. The result can be played without loss of information on standard 5.1 systems, or played in 6.1 or 7.1 on systems with Surround EX decoding and additional speakers. Dolby Digital Surround EX has since been used for the Star Wars prequels on the DVD versions and also the remastered original Star Wars trilogy. A number of DVDs have Dolby Digital Surrond EX