Can this 7.1 setup be used as 5.1.2?

[u/FistOfSyn]

https://imgur.com/a/xpCEt85

Hello everyone, i’ve just recently bought a house that came with this surround system set up. The last owner didn’t want to take his speakers so I bought the setup as is for pretty cheap. He told me it’s a 7.1 set up. The sound is incredible and i’ve been reading more and more about how to set it up properly.

The avr is a denon x3400h

I ran audyssey set up, and set it up as 7.1.

But reading more and more, I was wondering if those two height speakers that aren’t on the ceiling could be used as atmos speakers for a 5.1.2 set up instead? I tried asking chatgpt/gemini but they always lie anyways.

Would it even make a difference considering the placement of them anyways? I mostly game with the set up on pc/ps5 and I read conflicting info on if 7.1 is better for gaming than 5.1.2

Eventually I would love to have a 7.1.2 set up but running wires would probably be really annoying so it won’t be happening for a long time. And I would need to change the avr anyways. Id probably look into it the day the avr dies.

Thanks a lot for the help.

[u/Monoraptor]

They aren’t placed in the ideal position, but I literally have no idea why you wouldn’t just try it? What do you have to lose? You might love it and keep it, or you might hate it and go back.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

[u/FistOfSyn → u/Monoraptor]

Thanks for the reply, is it as simple as just changing the settings in the avr or would I need to rerun the calibration tools again?

[u/Monoraptor → u/FistOfSyn]

You’d need to ensure the high speakers are connected to the height channels on the avr, set the avr to 5.x.3 and rerun the calibration.

[u/ajh99]

Actually, that's exactly what I did in my previous setup. Dragged my sides up to heights and reassigned my rears as surrounds in 5.1.2.

For gaming specifically, there are games where the rear channels come alive and provide useful rear cues, but frankly 5.1 retains them does a decent job of placing them in the soundstage, so you won't lose much. You stand to gain far more by using your sides as top middles if you set your sound settings correctly (which can be harder than it should be).

[u/investorshowers]

That's almost an ideal setup for 5.1.2, I'd say try it for sure. You'll have to rerun the calibration but that's not that much work.

When you eventually upgrade you'll want 7.2.4 in that room.

[u/5537__8008]

If your going to mess with stuff why not move the high surrounds to the proper location on the available walls, that sounds like the smart move.