Anyone running 9 or 10 speakers in their HT setup?

Your Sony Blu-ray player has 5.1ch analog outs, but it's not internally processing the TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Theater codecs. That's why you're unimpressed and it's why I suggested borrowing a Blu-ray player with internal lossless audio decoding. They're just starting to come out now, and the cheapest one is the new Panasonic DMP-50 at $700.

Of course the prices will come down. You may want to get another pair of Kappas and go 7-channel, but you won't achieve what you REALLY want until you get a higher bandwidth audio signal going to the amps. After all, the IMAX surround is 6-channel. It's 12,000 watts, but it has to fill a 450-seat theater.

On paper, my 1600w, 26-driver surround system should equal in an 18x20 room what 12K watts does in an IMAX theater. Most of the time it does, but the deck is stacked against us until we can get lossless surround sources.

I'm with you--the stuff's too expensive and feature-deficient to adopt right now. I'm not spending $700 to get the Panasonic and I'm sure as hell not tossing my Boston Acoustics AVP7 pre-pro out in favor of an Integra 9.8 pre/pro. I'll just wait until Oppo or somebody offers an all-in-one Blu-ray player with internal hi-def audio processing for $400 or less, and then I'll bite. Until then, I'll wait.

Johnnyb53.....Um, er......you're right. I went back to read up on my player and it does not decode the newer hi-def codecs. Thank goodness you corrected me before I went out and incorrectly and ignorantly bad-mouthed the new formats.

Now, with the Panasonic DMP-50 that you mentioned, it has 5.1 analog outputs. I put on a disc with a 7.1 hi-def soundtrack....if I go thru the 5.1 analog outputs to my processor's analog inputs, will the blu ray player send a signal to all nine of my speakers or just five of them?

I run a IMAX theater so I can tell you exactly what they are doing. It sounds like you were in a smaller joint venture theater (Regal or AMC), because a traditional stand alone IMAX does not use multiple arrays of speakers. Typically they use 6 Full range speakers that are IDENTICAL and ONE huge subwoofer dead center screen. Mine has 8 18" drivers and you can walk inside it. IMAX found that multiple subwoofers actually cancel each other out. The six speaker locations are L-C-R LR RR and Top Screen. Top screen is rarely used. It works well for rocket launches. Some movies have no top screen content at all. The source is is either 6 channel 35mm analog mag tape or 6 channel digital files. All tracks are full range, and there is NO processor. The sub bass track is summed off all 6 channels. All amps are also IDENTICAL except for wattage. Older theaters use modified Bryston amps. All drivers have electronic crossovers. Each 4 way speaker is quad amped. The new theaters are using class D amps. I can't recall the make. I think they sound more digital though. The speakers are custom designed, but they use Electro Voice and JBL drivers. To me they sound like big boxes with horns. Dynamic, you bet. Hi-fi, not so much.

So basically they have been doing a variation of 5.1 for 40 years now. I doubt all those speaker arrays were running for Batman. Those arrays came with Dolby surround. I could be wrong. Not all theaters have the sound system supplied by IMAX. That is an additional cost.

If you add side or rear channels it will make your surround more seamless. Matching amps and speakers are key. Proper speaker placement, acoustic treatment and set-up will make your system sing. I see these basic concepts ignored over and over by pros and joes.

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I LOVE THIS FORUM!!

Thank you Steuspeed! Invaluable info. Yes it was at a joint venture theater. The full sized IMAX theater here in Los Angeles is at the Univ of Southern Calif Museum of Science and Industry. I've never heard of them showing a comercial film there....I've seen several nature-type doucmentaries there over the years. Nothing in those documentaries to challenge the sound system like the Batman soundtrack though.
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You need to see Batman at the REAL IMAX. Multiple scenes are shot in real IMAX and will fill the entires IMAX screen. This is a first for a Hollywood style film. I would be interested in your feedback between the two venues.