Differences Between 5.1 and 7.1 Home Theater Receivers

When choosing home theater components to make a quality home theater, homeowners evaluate projectors, projection screens, lighting and receivers. With all of the choices out there, it is difficult to choose the best setup for the size room and budget you have, especially when it comes to home theater receivers.

Number of receivers

In a 5.1 home theater receiver system, there are six speakers. There is one center speaker, one rear speaker, a right and left surround speaker and a right and left front speaker. This is based on the optimal setup for the receiver system.

In a 7.1 home theater receiver system, there are seven speakers. Instead of one rear speaker there are two rear speakers, one on the left and one on the right.

Sound channels

In the 5.1 system, the surround and rear channels both come out of the right and left surround speakers. In the 7.1 system, the surround channels come out of the two surround speakers and the rear channels come out of the two rear speakers.

Listening

A 7.1 receiver system provides more depth to your listening experience, because of the split between the surround and rear channels in the back speakers.

Frequency

The .1 on the 5.1 and 7.1 receiver systems indicates that they use Low Frequency Effects, or LFE, channels to transmit sound. The .1 stands for the subwoofer that you place in the corner of the room and provides the bass part of the sound transmitted through your speakers.