Only thing that worked… …was mint linux live disk. I got 5.1 audio, no problem at all.
If 5.1 surround is working on this Live ISO, PulseAudio diagnostics pulseaudio --dump-conf and pacmd dump would show differences in configuration that can be used in Manjaro
The main configuration changes needed to create the LFE stream for subwoofer have already been suggested
If system is already capable of producing 5.0 output, default-sample-channels probably does not need to be changed
Settings for sample-format and sample-rate are not necessary for creating LFE subwoofer audio but does improve audio quality
PulseAudio has a manpage for the daemon.conf configuration file man pulse-daemon.conf that has more information on all these settings
SoundBlaster AE-5 Plus was patched to work in ALSA a few months ago
Soundblaster Creative AE-5 Plus: No sound
This device usually works ok if user does not have to switch between stereo and 5.1 surround output.
Switching between stereo and 5.1 surround outputs on this device must be configured in ALSA controls and cannot be managed automatically in PulseAudio