6.1vs7.1

Lately I have gone Outlaw crazy....I sold my 1050 to a new Outlaw.....then I grabbed a 950.....then a handful of Outlaw PCA cables....and now just recently a trio of M200's (these things rock, by the way....I love my Parasound 85wpc amp, but the 200's are amazing). Okay....so now I now just picked up a couple more Paradigm Mini-Monitors off Ebay to add to use, I guess, as rears. (I already have two mini's that I'm using for surrounds.) I've gone through the 950 manual to try and understand the concept of Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES, but I'm unclear as to whether I can just use one center surround, or if I need the pair. I have enough channels of amplification, but I only have my room wired for one more speaker. I don't want to mess with running another wire for at least a few months, but I'm unclear as to whether the 6th and 7th channel have the same information, or if they have different information. Can I just hook up one of the speakers for now, which would make for a 6.1 configuration, and then mess with the 7th later on? If so, does it matter if I hook it up to the R or L rear surround output on the 950? And is 6.1 all I need to run the EX and ES modes?
Thanks

Yes, you can just hook up one rear speaker (as the left rear), which will enable you to use the Cirrus surround modes (see page 26 of the manual).

I am just curious since I have the Parasound HCA855, how do they compare to the M-200's?

Jeff Aguilar

Jeff:
I have the same Parasound amp as you. I think that for an 85 wpc amp, it's a pretty solid performer. I've been very happy with it, and it definitely was an upgrade over the amps in the 1050. (I would hope so, since the Parasound amp is twice the cost of the 1050.) When I went with the 950, I figured I would go from 5.1 to either 6.1 or 7.1 so that I could take advantage of the 950's capabilities. I almost got a Parasound HCA-1000 (125x2) to go with the 855. But being that I've been more than thrilled with everything I've picked up from Outlaw, I decided to give the M200 an audition. At first I ordered two, but then called Melissa back and asked to add a third. I kept reading how it's advantageous to have the R, L, and center amplified as equally as possible. I also have read many times that more, clean power can make a pretty significant difference in the sound. Well, both have held to be true. It's probably not a fair comparison since the Parasound is only 85wpc and the Outlaw is 200, but nonetheless, the difference was quite evident. I have always understood the concept of having 'headroom' with your amps, especially during HT, but now I truly know what it's like to experience that. Also, the front stage has opened up significantly. On top of all that, having three of these things stacked on top of each other in my rack is a sight to be seen Even my wife can't help but admit it's really cool looking. These things are solid as a rock, too. The only drawback that I can see is that I have 8 channels of amplification now, whereas I only need 6 or 7. But the Parasound is more than adequate to take care of the surrounds and the rears.....although I have to admit that I'm tempted to sell the Parasound and pick up a few more M200's But anyway, to answer your question, yeah, there was a significant difference in performance when I went to the M200's.

AJZ- If you trying to decide between 6.1 and 7.1, do a little searching here in the 950 saloon.

I put forth, that if you have the money and the space, there really aren't any reasons to do 6.1 vs 7.1. Dual rears gives a more solid soundstage in the rear of the room, helps to minimze the psycho-acoustical effect of reversal, and one of the best DSP algorythms for multichannel music and film, Logic 7, does not even offer 6.1 support. THX Ultra2 also recommends two rear speakers. I had 5.1 for years, 6.1 for 18 months, and 7.1 for about 6 months now. I much prefer my system with 7.1.

I went from 6.1 to 7.1. I suppose a lot has to do with speaker placement, but I agree that 7.1 in my situation was a big improvement over 6.1. For the rear channel to be effective, both ears have to hear it equally. If money is an issue, better to have two less expensive rears/ amplification.