5.1 surround sound questions

[Pc_Pimp]

I have a 5.1 surround sound receiver and I am currently just using it in stereo mode with a left and right speaker. My question is I know when its in surround sound mode it splits up the sound to send certain parts to each speaker but what I was wondering is can you run say just the left, right and center speaker and still get all your sounds? or do you have to use it in either stereo or all out with all 5 speakers and a sub? Sorry I'm new to this surround sound stuff. Thanks

 

[salvage-this]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for but you can run your 5.1 as a 2.1 setup.

 

[Darth Shadious]

Yes, the receiver will "sense" what channels are hooked up and utilize those. Also, there are lots of dolby surround sound setting too on most newer set ups to get the most out of what you have.

 

[Darth Shadious]

Also, some sound cards (on board or discrete) have settings to tell it what speakers you're using to only output to the active channels