@FatLarry:

I’m going to be nice and assume that you’re actually interested, and try to answer your question.

We have two ears which are more like microphones than speakers.  That’s where your statement was faulty. The ears take in sounds from all around around us, and when interpreted by the brain, we can locate what direction a sound is coming from.

The sound has to come from everywhere because in real life, we are ‘surrounded by sound’ and sound travels in waves which can bounce all over the place.  Since most speakers send sound out in front of the speaker and not in a spherical pattern our brain can tell that the sound is coming from 1 speaker pretty easily. 

To date, no amount of technical tricks or processing that I’m aware of has made a single speaker fool the brain into thinking sound is coming from all around.

When we add more speakers (or drivers) and introduce processing tricks to feed them, we can actually surround the listener with sound from all sides, hence the term ‘surround sound’.

Sound engineers have to mix the sound to best approximate what each speaker should radiate to convince the brain that it is in the middle of whatever movie scene you are watching.  Each speaker can radiate different sound, and put it out at different times and volumes in order to help you localize where the sound is ‘supposed’ to come from.

To a point, more speakers in more locations make it easier to have sound come from a specific location to add a sense of size, scope, power, height, depth, whatever is trying to be expressed, but only if the soundtrack is recorded with all of that information, and your equipment knows how to interpret it properly.

Where does it end?  If I knew, I’d be a rich man, but a lot of people think that we’re not done at 7.1 yet.

Fat Larry, are you for real?  You need to go back to school and get some education, you clearly slept thru all your classes.  Your logic implies that since we only have 1 mouth we should only eat one kind of food.

Wake up, bro…

-RW-

If you look at your ears as a set of speakers you wouldn’t really worry about 7.1 surround sound.  You have two ear holes which means you only need two speakers, maybe four at the most.  The brain can only handle 6 hz of power per day so what is the point of having 7-18 speakers floating above your head or running under your feet?

Chad, I truly believe that you would benefit the most by having a consultation.  (In case you are wondering, I’m on the west coast so there is nothing in it for me.)  A little background is in order:
Sometimes when I design a home theater system I have to weigh the dollar amount available to see if I go w/a receiver or separates, and this will determine what speakers I match with which amp/preamp or receiver.  In addition to this, I also have to visit the space so I can better understand the viewing/listening area in relation to the speakers and the display.  All this has to be factored in.  My first question to you would be, ‘what do you mean by more punch?  In other words are you trying to make the system play louder?  (With 130 watts/channel, you SHOULD be putting out some high SPL’s, enough to make some viewers/listeners uncomfortable.)  Or is it that you want it to play louder because you are missing clarity or some other find nuance that you are hoping to gain with more power?  Possible solutions could be… 1. Your current speakers have a low sensitivity rating.  Obtaining a speaker with a higher sensitivity, greater than 3Db when compared to what you have would DOUBLE the output.  2. Speaker placement isn’t ideal or the room could use acoustic treatments to provide better clarity and imaging.  3.  Maybe getting a bigger amp really is the solution.  Either way, it would behoove you to meet with your local A/V specialist for a consult.  The initial outlay in exchange for the information gathered would be well worth it.

Assuming you don’t run your receiver in the 1500 square Ft acoustically dead space (another word we are talking about typical living-room/HT environment), you should have adequate power as is.
If that’s the case, you will benefit the MOST by investing in SPEAKERS upgrade.
At the today’s level of technology, speakers (together with their placement and room acoustics) are BY FAR the most critical/influential factors in sound reproduction.

Kris

PS Craig - only double-blind (AB or preferably ABX) tests with level matching to less than 0.1 dB difference wold reliably reveal any possible change in sound quality. That has been proven scientifically countless times.
What you most likely heard (aside from unknown problems with your previous amp/receiver) was level mismatch + “placebo effect”.

K.