Hi John!
->          I have never been one of the me too crowd. I have always
-> tried to find my own way and make things a little interesting along
-> the way. I have been listening to subs every weekend for the past
-> three months
 The 5.1 specifications work fine for me with the one sub woofer channel
and all above speakers potentially independent, but not necessarily so.
Depending on the crossover frequency and the slope of the filter, there
should be little need for the sub system to be duplicated for every
channel. Dolby's cinema surround system has evolved to the single sub
idea over a number of designs, the early 70mm version having two sub
channels in one configuration. The 5.1 works very well with little
compromises at all in bass directionality/locations.
 Your experiments with the sub in the kitchen show h/ow "uncritical" sub
placement can be to get by generally. Control of room nodes, and such
is another matter though for truely accurate critical listening and
that the subs are excruciatingly loud when dinner time comes up! Be
gentle!
 Bonnie **:  *:>
--- QScan/PCB v1.18b / 01-0249
---------------