Can someone share their knowledge on the differences between these two listening modes? I'm interested in knowing what the 1070 does to the signal in both cases.

I notice a significant increase in bass from the sub and L/R speakers when in 5 Stereo mode.

If my specific settings are causing the difference I would like to acheive a state where the two modes sound alike, with the difference being 2 or 5 speakers activated.

The 5 Stereo mode is fairly straightforward: The left channel is copied to the left surround, the right channel is copied to the right surround, and the left and right are summed to produce a center channel signal. You are likely to encounter an increase in bass as well as an overall increase in sound power level when switching between Stereo and 5 Stereo without adjusting the volume - this is because the copying process is done without reducing levels so that the different channels all operate at the same level to produce a greater combined volume, plus the fact that the bass management is now steering data from five channels to the sub instead of two.

in order for the 2 to sound alike, you would have to set all you speakers to large. that way the bass would not be redirected to the front speakers. Either way, its a question of preference. you will get used to one or the other and will stick to the one you like more. If your front speakers or much better quality than your other speakers, than stick with stereo.

Regarding the post from 8/24/06 copied below:

Does the copying of the channels occur regardless of how many speakers are connected to the receiver? If the 1070 was operating with only mains and a sub would the signal from the other channels still be sent to the sub?


"The 5 Stereo mode is fairly straightforward: The left channel is copied to the left surround, the right channel is copied to the right surround, and the left and right are summed to produce a center channel signal. You are likely to encounter an increase in bass as well as an overall increase in sound power level when switching between Stereo and 5 Stereo without adjusting the volume - this is because the copying process is done without reducing levels so that the different channels all operate at the same level to produce a greater combined volume, plus the fact that the bass management is now steering data from five channels to the sub instead of two." -gonk

If the 1070 only had mains connected (with or without a sub), the user should have the center, surrounds, and rear surrounds disabled in the 1070's menu. At that point, neither 5 Stereo nor 7 Stereo will be available for use - the 1070 will recognize that the mode isn't applicable to the system configuration and won't offer it as a choice. In fact, I believe that you have to have the center and surrounds both enabled to achieve 5 Stereo (no 3 Stereo or 4 Stereo, in other words) - beyond that, you would have 6 Stereo if a single surround back speaker was configured or 7 Stereo if two surround back speakers were configured.