Surround mode or Stereo mode for Super Bowl?

FOX Sports is doing this year's SB broadcast. During their broadcast of the NFL Playoffs, I noticed on my Denon receiver that the incoming signal from DirecTV satellite was only in stereo, so I set the receiver to Dolby Digital PL II THX Cinema so that the output to the speakers would be 7.1. It worked great, creating the ambient sound of the stadium, including the individual fans, as mentioned by reubent above. I've wondered whether a network could be fined for the obscenities of an overzealous fan.

Don't know whether the choice of stereo was from Fox or DirecTV, but I hope they will not do that for SB. That would be really lame.

Anyway, here's hoping it's not a total Patriots blowout. We're hoping for double overtime.

DaddyO: check the "audio" setting in your Directv receiver's setup menu and switch it to Dolby Digital...those games in HD were broadcast in DD 5.1 and your receiver would have automatically switched to DD.

None of the above.

IMO, there's no way any kind of processing is going to work for 30-40 people (unless of course, your Sunfire is in a dedicated theather room that's designed to accommodate that many people). People will be standing, getting refills, chatting and blocking sound even for those lucky guests staking out seats in the "sweet spot."

When you've got a party that size in a standard living room, (say 20' - 25' x 30') and a big screen TV, your only fighting shot at making the announcers & commercials audible over the din of conversation & snacking is to go "all channels" or "party" mode where every speaker has the same information output. You're giving nothing up by going this way, as all of the ambiance retrieval & other effects are lost just by having all the people and moving parts that make up a superbowl party.

Added benefit of party mode is setting it, forgetting it, and tending to more pressing hosting responsibilities: Making sure the beer stays cold, shaming the double dippers, etc.

Thanks Dave, I'll check it out. I build home theaters for a living, so this could be embarrassing.

Dchase,

The room is 22 feet wide x 70 feet long with a 22 foot ceiling height. It has been configured so that the guests will be sitting 25 feet from the screen and front speakers.
It is a loft....no problem accomodating that number of people.