# 9.1 possible with Onkyo HT-S6300? High Front vs. Surround Back



## borednerds (Oct 1, 2010)

Hey Shack Patrons!

This is my first post, and I am new to the online world of home theater, but I would say I know my way around electronics pretty well. Thanks to the research I've done here, and across the web, I purchased the Onkyo HT-S6300 7.1 system from Amazon for less than $500, a pretty sweet deal, I think.

I haven't received the system yet, but I've been reading the documentation online (.pdf version of the owner's manual). The receiver natively supports 7.1. With that, it has the option of having Surround Back speakers Or High Front speakers. However, the "Zone 2" speakers can Also double has "High Front" speakers.

So I wonder: Is it possible to have both High Front And Surround Back speakers? Everything I've seen makes it seem that it is one or the other, but I just wonder if I can strategically set up my speakers such that I get both?

I ask because I have two Technics SB-A50 200W beasts that I want to use for the front L/R channels, and then use the two "extra" Onkyo speakers as the High Fronts. Thereby allowing the system to support a 9.1 setup instead of just 7.1.

Could it be that "Zone 2," when used in the High Front setting is actually just a duplication of the front L/R channels? This is my best guess, but from the documentation, I can't find anything that says one way or the other. Or anything that says by using one or the other (HiFronts vs SurrBacks) the AVR will kill the signal to the other speakers.

I would post a link to the .pdf, but the rules say I can't, so I'll just suggest that anyone who wants to have a look should google "Onkyo HT-S6300 Owner Manual"

Thank you for your help!


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## SLAYER (May 8, 2007)

Hello there friend,welcome to the shack.
Nice speakers btw, i own the sb-s407 myself 300 watts 12" .

about the onkyo ordeal,i own the 504 pre-hdmi model so everything i know is by reading the manuals and the official threads over @ avsforums,so take the information as that.
there was only one gentleman who got running the high fronts and the main fronts running at the same time,using outboard power amp,but his setup is for 2channel stereo music. .

in theory,there is nothing wrong with running mains and fronts wide/high at the same time in dolby mode utilizing an outboard amp,but even that has been blocked by onkyo(to make you buy the 9.1/11.1 avr)

technically I've been running 9.1 setup for 15 years,by utilising an atenuator connecting it to the tweeter on each main and conected a small satellite and placed it about 3 feet above each speaker,i've heard the yamaha and onkyo setups in the stores and it sounds the same (to me at least)...


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## borednerds (Oct 1, 2010)

Actually, the documentation SUGGESTS using mains and highs together instead of using highs as Surround Backs. 

My question pertains to using the front highs And surround backs at the same time. Theoretically, if I were to creatively connect the speakers to the AVR, I could have the possibility of mains, center, surrounds, High Fronts, And Surround backs. But I wonder if the AVR detects this and then shuts off one or the other set of speakers (high fronts or surround backs)...

This link is a diagram of how to set up/ position the speakers
"http://63.148.251.135/redirect_service.cfm?type=QuickHookup&file=SN29400233_HT-S6300_QSS_En_web.pdf"

It shows the high fronts as "optional," but from what I read, it's either high fronts OR surround backs. So I wonder if I can take the "option" of using both, even though it may not be designed for that.


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## SLAYER (May 8, 2007)

Hello friend,thats what i tried to tell you ....

you can physically connect 9 speakers but you can only have 7 speakers max active at the same time,so its either fronts high or back surrounds.,the good news is you can change sound fields at the fly,so you can test between fronts or back...

hope this clarifies it better for you..


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## borednerds (Oct 1, 2010)

Ahh, yes it does. But I wonder why that is. If you can have zone 1 and zone 2 active, and zone 2 can output the same signal as a front high channel, why couldn't we have it set to do that?


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## SLAYER (May 8, 2007)

Because it does not make any business sense...


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## borednerds (Oct 1, 2010)

haha, I guess I can deal with that.


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