The 3.1 system is simple, just a bar type speaker that would sit in front of the telly and a sub as you can see from the pic, there's no mic-based setup or anything. There are a few basic settings; movie, music, news for example that just cut certain speakers I believe. News is probably centre only, music is stereo for example.
The PC? Well I just checked and the HDMI shows just 2 channels, but I guess that's cos it's plugged into the TV? Perhaps I could change the settings through Windows device manager if plugged into 3.1 set-up. I'm not very PC savvy and the computer is a Japanese-only model that I nearly ruined by installing an English version OS, rendering most of the hardware useless when I lost all the drivers. I'm sure at some stage the realtek HD audio controller showed 5.1 set-up through HDMI but now it's gone, it just shows analog and optical outs (not in use).
If I got the full 5.1 speaker set up I could probably put the rears behind the couch but would need stands - more cost - and they would be
right behind my head, there's no space to separate (perhaps I should post a pic of the room). Can't wall mount because one wall is a kitchen, one is a sliding door to the balcony and one is closet and door, not to mention that I don't want speaker wire trailing around the apartment, especially with an 18 month old around.
Edit: went out and bought the Marantz amp today. I'll think about what to do about speakers, might try out the bookshelves on their own to see how they sound, might not need a sub after all.
Edit 2: so I tried to set up just the bookshelves and the computer but I only have 1 HDMI cable, damn! I'm used to stuff coming with cables these days. I have a DVI to HDMI and even an optical digital audio cable but one of the connector types is wrong. Guess I'll have to wait 'till tomorrow.
Plus, the bookshelf speakers I have are 4ohm and the amp is rated 6-8ohm. Will it be OK to use at relatively low levels? I don't know much at all about it but is it only really a problem if you start pushing it hard and will i make a difference having only 2-3 speakers connected? All Onkyo speakers seem to be 4ohm. These are the specs...
2WAY
impedance 4?
input power 70W
sensitivity 82dB/W/m
frequency 50Hz?35kHz
cross-over 6.5kHz
6.0 litre cabinet
dimensions 150W?241H?251Dmm
weight 3.6kg each
woofer 13cm New A-OMF cone
tweeter 2.5cm soft dome
on another note: i finally got around to ordering my NAD C316BEE and, to go along, quite a bit of hopefully decent cables: 3,5m to connect my PC, another 3,5m to connect the subwoofer (which will come in due time) and another 30m of speaker cable. all manufactured by goldkabel, recommended by a friend (anyone have experience with that, i guess not?).
Looks like Christmas morning to me.