Mid price receiver

Homer, if you mean outputs for speakers that will be mounted on the side walls, any 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 receiver will do the trick. Typically Dolby labs recommends mounting the "surround speakers" on the side walls in a 5.1 system, however most people I know have theirs mounted on the back wall. If you go 6.1, you add a single speaker in the center of the back wall, and 7.1 adds two speakers on the back wall.

Just look for any current Home Theater or Surround sound reciever. If it has Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, Dobly EX, etc., it has, by default, "side speaker" outputs. They are listed on the receiver as "surround L" and "surround R". If it is a 6.1 or 7.1 channel reciever, it probably also list them as "surround L&R" and list the rear wall speaker outputs as "back L and back R" or "Rear L and Rear R".

If you are looking for a surround sound/HT receiver that supports speakers in the front (L, R, Center), sides (surround) and back (rear wall), go for any 7.1 channel receiver. It will, by default, have outputs for "side" speakers.

Enjoy,

TIC

Your friend might enjoy Googling "Outlaw Audio".

Thanks Reubent. I mean "side" when I say "side", much like the outputs that I have on my Lexicon decoder. 7.1 would be the proper term I surmise.

I just picked up the Harmon Kardon AVR 240 for my home theater setup, and it is amazing. I started with an Onkyo TX-SR304 which had a really nice sound to it (only 5.1 setup) and switched to a Sony STR-DG800 for the extra rear surround outputs (7.1 setup). It turns out that the Sony sounded so much worse than the Onkyo that I had to return it and get something else. I opted for the Harmon Kardon AVR 240 which has a 7.1 setup, and it even sounds way better than the Onkyo.

It's affordable, and I can vouch that it sounds amazing. It's only rated at 50 watts per channel, but that's an honest continuous power rating that will produce PLENTY of high quality sound in that price range.

Homer,

Take a look at this link from Dolby Labs:

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html

As I stated earlier, Dolby intends the primary surround speakers to be at the side location. So, in DD 5.1, the speakers are L, C, R and L side, R side. For 6.1, you add a center back speaker and for 7.1 you add a L back and R back.

In the instance of your Lexicon, they went a step further and actually labeled the surround outputs as "side", which is where Dolby recommends the primary surround speakers be placed.. However, in my experience, this is not typical. Typically HT receiver manufacturers label the default surround outputs as "surround" L and "surround "R". This would correspond to the ones marked "side" L and "side" R on your Lexicon.

If the receiver supports additional channels of processing/amplification, they are typically marked as "surround back" for 6.1 channel receivers and "surround back L" and surround back R" for 7.1 receivers.

Sorry I've replied so late, but this may also help folks who search the topic in the future.

Enjoy,

TIC