Doug, when I refer to 'surrounds', I'm talking about speaker position, not speaker type. I still believe that direct radiating (mono-pole) speakers are preferable to the non-directional (di-pole) type once you have 5.1 or more.

Since the rear is stereo, you DO want to be able to tell where the sound is coming from, and the greater the number of sound sources (speakers), the better the dispersion (spread) of sound.

Mine are BI-polar (did you read my post I referred to above?) because they radiate sound more similarly to real sound sources, i.e., in all directions, but localize more like mono-poles.

In my opinion you should keep the setup you have now, with ONE change: Move the RL & RR speakers to the sides of your seating, directly to the side. The stereo separation in the rear channels will be more pronounced, but will still sound like 'surround sound', and any sound intended for the back of the room will be reproduced by the RC. Give it a try.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com