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[CraigNZ]

The rear surround channels are wired the same as the front speakers.  When playing a 5.1 or 7.1 movie, does the audio signal in the movie soundtrack already compensate for this by inverting the phase to the surround speakers by 180 degrees?  If not, does the JRiver software automatically invert the phase for the rear surround speakers when playing surround audio?  And if not then I assume I would need to check the invert box on room correction for the rear speakers?

[muzicman0]

I'm confused, are you saying that you have the rear speakers receiving the same signal as the front, or that you connected the same (IE: positive to positive, negative to negative)?

If it's the latter, then I don't see a reason to reverse the polarity.  The signal going to the rear speakers would be set at the studio that created the track...and if you think about it, real sounds that come from behind you in real life aren't 180 degrees out of phase.

This is assuming movies...if it is music, then I have no idea, I would tend to only send the audio to L/R unless it was specifically designed for surround.

Take what I say with a grain of salt though...I'm not a Home Theater audio guy, but I have many years of experience in Pro Audio.

[CraigNZ]

Sorry for the confusion, but correct, the + and - terminals are wired to the same posts on the amplifiers as are all the other speakers.  In other words, all speakers have the + terminal going to the + terminal on the amplifier .. so no speaker is phase inverted.

I had read somewhere that the surround sound channel signal did invert the phasing so that if there was surround sound music that it would all be correctly phased, but I just wanted check to see what everyone had done in wiring their rear speakers and how whether they checked the invert signal box on the room correction.  It also seemed to make sense to do it that way because otherwise there would be a lot of confusion out there when it came to connecting the speakers up.

[muzicman0]

no problem...just wanted to make sure I understood before giving my 2 cents worth...

I still maintain that leaving it connected in phase would be the correct way of doing it.  For sure if it is mostly for movies as your original post states.  I suppose if you are doing a lot of music, and you have stereo signals coming out all speakers, then there could be phase issues (but again, I wouldn't listen to music that way, unless it was mixed in surround).  I also think that for the most part, it probably wouldn't hurt to have the rear speakers reversed polarity.

Hopefully someone more knowledgable in HT audio can chime in.