Help with surrounds

[doomguardian]

I was wondering where my 3 surrounds should be?

-All 3 on back wall?
-1 on back wall and the other 2 facing each other?

Second, how high should they have to be above your ear leval? I have a guide from my last HT package and it says 2-3 feet above your ear leval, should I do that?

Thirdly, if I have to put "1 on back wall and the other 2 facing each other", should I have the two that's facing eack other, facing directly to my ears, or should I put them slightly behind my ears?

Thanks in advance, Doomguardian.

 

[jonnythan]

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html

Have the surrounds aligned with the listening position, or a little behind, facing each other, and place the rear surround directly behind you.

 

[tomd51]

I was wondering where my 3 surrounds should be?

-All 3 on back wall?

I wouldn't suggest this unless they were all bipole/dipole surround speakers. Even then, I would suggest mounting one in the rear and two across from each other.

-1 on back wall and the other 2 facing each other?

Yes with caveats, see answer below.

Second, how high should they have to be above your ear leval? I have a guide from my last HT package and it says 2-3 feet above your ear leval, should I do that?

Placement should be approx. 2-3 ft. above the central listening point and 1 ft. back from the central listening point. If they are direct radiating speakers, you would want to mount them at the same height, but possibly a bit more in line with the central listening area as opposed to behind as the soundfield will not be as dispersed as when using bipole/dipoles. Best bet is to try a few positions to see which you find gives you the best rear soundstage, if possible.

Thirdly, if I have to put "1 on back wall and the other 2 facing each other", should I have the two that's facing eack other, facing directly to my ears, or should I put them slightly behind my ears?

See answer above.. -TD

 

[doomguardian]

Man, I am such a noob.

Can you explain to me what dipole/bipole and direct radiating speakers are?

I'm sorry for wasting your time.

 

[tomd51]

In a nuttshell...

You're not wasting anyone's time, that's why a lot of us are here, to help the way others have helped us...

Now... Dipole and Bipole speakers are specifically designed speakers for use (typically) as surround speakers, left, right or rear. The benefit of these types of speakers is the manner in which they are engineered to produce a broader soundfield than direct radiating (most typical bookshelfs) speakers. This helps when trying to provide an 'every seat is a good seat' configuration for your home theater setup.

The only typically noted downside to using dipole/bipole speakers as opposed to direct radiating (and this is a very subjective topic) is that when performing critical listening to multichannel (MC) music (DVD-Audio, MC SACDs, DualDisc MC recordings, etc.), the surrounds tend to disperse the soundfield, which in quite a few cases listeners don't prefer as much.

There are lots of speaker manufacturers that produce all kinds of dipole/bipole/tripole/quadpole/ad nauseum types of surrounds. Some listeners prefer these types of speakers in all scenarios, some prefer direct radiating, it's really a preference thing.

I can provide some examples if you'd like, hopfully I didn't lose you on this semi-lenthy dissertation. Let me know you'd like me to explain a bit further, DG...

 

[mtrycrafts]

Man, I am such a noob.

Since tom didn't say, don't punish yourself with this. You think we were born with what we now know?
Just try to learn, absorb and don't hesitate to ask questions, just not 10 times as it should stick well before that

 

[tomd51]

Yeah, what he said...

Thks mtrycrafts, that was my sentiment in my last response, just wasn't literal enough w/it... TD