home theater- speakers

[deathbeckonsu]

I just bought a house and was thinking about upgrading my living room set up. Right now the only thing in my living room that I'm proud of is my Xbox 360, hopefully a 32" LCD screen is not to far off.
I dont plan on going too over the top but i wanted something better than a Sony reciever and Jensen & KLH speakers.To keep things simple I was planning on buying a Yamaha reciever instead of buying amps and preamps and a bunch of components. Its not that big of a room (bout 12x12) so i figured some smaller bookshelf speakers for fronts and surrounds, plus a nice subwoofer would be fine. My questions are..

1. whats the point of a 7.1 channel reciever if all of the formats on DVD's and 360 games is 5.1, and should i even spend money on a 7.1 reciever and extra speakers?

2. I figured i would spend $500 or so on a yamiha reciever, (dont know which model yet) and was wondering what speakers would match up with the quality of that reciever, and how much should i spend. It would be pretty pointless to buy 1000's of dollars worth of speakers if the reciever isn't that high fidelity.

Any thoughts and ideas would help a bunch. This is just a thought for the future and i just need somewhere to begin.

[cargodz]

You'd probably get a better response to your questions if you had this in the "Home Audio Advise" section :)

[deathbeckonsu]

didnt know there was a home audio section, been long time since i been here
o well

[GlassWolf]

there really is no such thing as 7.1 first of all.
there is AC3 which is dolby digital, and DTS which are 5.1
There is DTS ES and DD EX which are 6.1 discrete, and 7.1 is just 6.1 where the rear mono center channel is split to two speakers, but still only 7 total discrete channels.

If you want a great set of matched sat/sub speakers, look at the Energy Encore system, or if you want cheaper, try the Take 5.2 set.

[William from NOLA]

there really is no such thing as 7.1 first of all.

Yea, there is. It's going to be the standard format of Blueray/HD DVD's. The only 6.1 disc that I know of right now is Gladiator, and that is a regular dvd.

[GlassWolf]

It's still not 8 discrete channels.. it's 6.1 DTS ES/DD EX with two mono rear effects speakers instead of one for larger rooms, unless Dolby came out with a new format since the last time I've looked, which is possible. I just haven't seen it anywhere.
Dolby Digital EX is 7 discrete channels though, not 8, technically.

[William from NOLA]

It's still not 8 discrete channels.. it's 6.1 DTS ES/DD EX with two mono rear effects speakers instead of one for larger rooms, unless Dolby came out with a new format since the last time I've looked, which is possible. I just haven't seen it anywhere.
Dolby Digital EX is 7 discrete channels though, not 8, technically.
Oh, I get what you're saying. I misunderstood, thinking you meant that there was no 7.1 format.

For those of you who don't really get the whole .1 thing, just assume it isn't there lol. It's best to have full range available to all speakers, just gives the most options.

I think we'll get 8.1 once they develop left and right center channels.