Yeah well the thing is I now know of four different manufacturers having
this problem,
Realtek, Creative, Montego and Sabrent.
It can only be the OS because almost all work in 7.1 mode properly. Its
probably 1 wrong line of code that doesn't enable full range in the rear.
How do I get this straight to someone who can do something about it rather
than ranting in forums?!
I have moaned and pleaded in the forums of winamp, thetechguy, hydrogenaudio
and thevistaforums, the general consensus is that the rear speakers sound
awful and that a tiny bug is to blame... Updating drivers does jack-all and I
need some real help here!

But thanks for posting anyway...