7.1 plus height channels?

[Maximo]

I am convinced that in my new media room I am going to want to explore the use of the height and or width channels on my (soon to be) new avr. I intend on running 7.1 off of a new or newer onkyo 700 or 800 series amp and the other set(s) of channels either off of my old 700 series AVR or a couple of anciliary amps I have sitting around. Can I do that?

Anyone care to take a guess as to whether or not it will amount ot anything?

 

[Yesfan70]

I think it's just one of those plug it in and see how it goes scenarios. Back when 6.1 was coming out, I used a cheap JVC receiver with Pro-Logic on it to decode the surround channels in my first DD5.1 receiver. Some movies sounded great with the extra channels (like the Mummy for instance).

The major drawback I saw with this setup is ambient noise (like rain, traffic, etc.) wouldn't be spread out in the surrounds, but collapse in the back surround channels. I imagine you'll experience something similar when you go to split a pair of channels for the height speakers.