On Thu, 2010-02-25, Bearcat M. Sandor wrote: ... One could do this, and it was how things were done back in the quadraphonic era. What you are seeking to do is to create phantom images between pairs of speakers, and for this you need a mixing style. "[A]djusting the balance" is called pair-wise mixing and, unfortunately, this doesn't work with surround sound. You can hear this for yourself by performing the very simple experiment described on my website at: http://members.tripod.com/martin_leese/Ambisonic/exper.html Pair-wise mixing is also discussed in the Ambisonic Surround Sound FAQ at: http://members.tripod.com/martin_leese/Ambisonic/faq_latest.html#SECTION12 If you use an appropriate mixing style, such as Ambisonics, then you don't need more than four speakers (although more is helpful). Regards, Martin -- Martin J Leese E-mail: martin.leese stanfordalumni.org Web: http://members.tripod.com/martin_leese/