Surround speaker placement in a 5.1 setup

Placement of side surrounds in a 5.1 setup

  • 135 degrees ( a bit behind me) at two feet above ear level (lowest is 0.5 feet above ear level)

    Votes: 4 100.0%
  • 90 degrees at three feet above ear level

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4
Y

yonyz

Audioholic
Hi,

Regarding surround speaker placement in a 5.1 setup, these are my two options:

1. 135 degrees ( a bit behind me) at two feet above ear level (SVS's recommendation for height).

2. 90 degrees (SVS's recommendation for angle is 90-110 degrees, Dolby's recommendation is 90 degrees as well) at 3 feet above ear level

I'll be using L shaped metal brackets that I can bend a bit downwards if needed.

I'm including a poll for this one to help me see the overall preferred method, but please comment why you chose the option you did.

Thanks.
 
PoutineHIFI

PoutineHIFI

Enthusiast
Voted for option 1. I recently switched from your option 2 to option 1 with only 1 difference being that I had them angled down towards the listener in the 90 degree position and leveled them out for the 120-130 degree position.

I found that the higher position worked well for effects that were in fact supposed to be perceived as above you but lacked when effects were to be perceived as behind you. The lower position and greater angle brought a better balance between the 2 effects leading to a better rear sound stage.

If you think about it in terms of soundstage, 2 speakers at 90 degrees on each side trying to place an effect behind you will actually place it directly above your head or even right inside your head. By moving them back passed the 90 degree point even by 1 degree each will immediately put the effect behind you. 90 degrees should be reserved for when you are employing rear channels as well.

My seating position is only about 2' from the back wall so my experience may differ from yours but that is my 2 cents.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I have had my surrounds at ear level for many years and find that it works the best for multichannel music. For movies, it works but isn't ideal for some types of sounds as mentioned by PoutineHIFI. My rooms have permitted an ear level type of setup though, because you need some room to give them distance behind you, and I was more concerned about music.

Keep in mind, Dolby's recommendation is for bi/dipoles also, not monopoles. So it depends on the speakers you have too. I always use monopoles. Given the two choices, I'd go with #1
 
Y

yonyz

Audioholic
Thank you both for the explanations. Since submitting this post, I've read about a standard called THX/ITU 775 that was developed after some research and their conclusion was that 90 degrees provides the best atmosphere and 135 degrees provides the best rear sound effects, and so their conclusion was that 110 degrees is the best compromise. But if I go with 110 degrees then the speakers will be at the corners of the room with, I assume, lots of reflections.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Their recommendations are based on ideal rooms that support what they are recommending. They are also just recommendations, not hard and fast rules. You obviously need to account for your room and what sounds best in it. Avoid corners.
 
Y

yonyz

Audioholic
If I go with 135 degrees at two feet above sea level, the speakers will have at least two feet from any walls, so in that sense it's ideal.
 
PoutineHIFI

PoutineHIFI

Enthusiast
Really depends on where you live. For me, 2 feet above sea level would be about 350 feet below my ear level. =)

There isn't a hard rule for a god distance from walls really. It comes down to the speaker and the range you are feeding to it. Surround channels are going to be a lot less effected by the surroundings given their usual frequency range.

Surround placement is generally a pain though as it isn't just a matter of moving the speaker to test the location as they usually require mounting. I have 3 holes on each side of my room needing patching since the last time I did some testing.

If you get the speakers into the generally accepted locations (110-130 deg & >= 2' up) that are also aesthetically pleasing, you can usually sort out any fine tuning with some treatment on the first reflection points.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Poutinehifi said most of what I was going to say so I will only add that I recommend some kind of articulating mounts. That way if you decided say, 110deg, you can aim them up/down/behind/ and in front of the LP. IME taking the time to properly aim them can do just as much for cohesion as setting width and toe for the front speakers. I, like j_garcia prefer monopoles and I find they lend themselves to modern soundtracks much better since there is so much soundtrack information that is directional. Di/bipoles just can't image the same way. And don't let anyone tell you just to plop them wherever, since there's not much information in the surround channels. Fwiw, my surrounds tweeters are at 77 inches high and about 2' behind the LP. This gives me(in my room) a great mix of overhead sounds, ambiance, directionality, sounds behind the LP, and cohesion with the fronts. Lots of trial and error. I think you'll find putting the time in will be worth it.
Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Y

yonyz

Audioholic
I did the 135 degrees setup and I like it. Checked this Dolby Atmos demo video and I loved it.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Nice! What height did you try?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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