I used an old receiver (hooked to my 1050's pre-amp output) to drive my single surround back channel for a while last year, before getting a used Parasound amp. It worked just fine -- I picked a volume setting on the receiver (adjusting it and the trim on the 1050 to get the speaker balanced) and left it there. If you have space for two speakers, it would be no problem to split the 1050's pre-amp output and run the signal into the left and right AUX inputs on your Hitachi. With a 15' wide room, you may very well see benefits from having the extra speaker.

Also, Owl's_Warder brings up a good point -- most receivers and pre/pros offering 7.1 actually use the same signal for both surround back channels. The 1050's Surround 6.1 sounds very comparable to Dolby EX to my ear.

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