To Doug Schneider,
I went into the store to buy a new five-channel receiver to replace my old one and the salesman said that I should go for a seven-channel one. I only have five speakers and a subwoofer. Does this make sense?
Rich Thompson
It makes sense if you plan to buy more speakers to expand your surround-sound setup. It also makes sense if the receivers are priced the same, because it's nice to have those two channels available in the event you want to expand later -- 7.1-channel surround can provide a more immersive, enveloping experience, providing the software has been encoded that way. On the other hand, I’m pretty happy with the 5.1-channel setup I have here, and you might be too. . . . Doug Schneider
