I have a 5.1 system and have heard that on 7.1 surround the rear speakers play the same channel as the side speakers. Would it be possible on 5.1 surround to split the speaker output signal to the side speakers and hook up a pair of rear speakers running off the same channel? Or would this risk frying the amp and/or degrading sound quality? Just curious if this is possible.
" heard that on 7.1 surround the rear speakers play the same channel as the side speakers". That is not true. It is true that since not much is recorded in 7.1, you are not getting a heck of a lot of true 7.1 experience
Why would you want to splice the speakers? There will be zero improvement in your sound quality unless your room is so big and the speakers so small that the sound does not fill up the room. In which case I recommend you get better speakers.