New Basement Project - advice requested

[Tornado11]

Hi all,

I just purchased my first house and am getting ready to finish the basement. I have the bits and pieces for a semi-decent HT setup but I need some advice on implementing the 7.1 features of my receiver.

As you can see the layout of the room is long and narrow, roughly 35' x 12'. I have a Yamaha 5760 7.1 receiver, 2 wharfedale 8.1 bookshelf speakers, wharfedale 8.1 center, 2 generic Sound Dynamic bookshelfs I've used for the rears.

Now to implement the 7.1 I need to add in some additional rear speakers. Given the size of the room, and not wanting free standing speakers in the middle of the room, I'm seriously considering in-ceiling speakers.

Question 1: Will in-ceiling speakers provide a nice sound and take advantage of the 7.1 system?

Question 2: If I use in ceiling speakers what kind of distance behind the seating area should they be?

Question 3: Do I get the best solution by adding some bipole speakers to the sidewalls instead of in-ceiling speakers.

Thanks,

David

PS I had a layout but I'm sure how to attach it to this message. If I find out I'll be back

PPS Found the layout. the speakers behind the couch are indicative of the In-ceiling currently

 

[mtrycrafts]

Question 1: Will in-ceiling speakers provide a nice sound and take advantage of the 7.1 system?

Question 2: If I use in ceiling speakers what kind of distance behind the seating area should they be?

Question 3: Do I get the best solution by adding some bipole speakers to the sidewalls instead of in-ceiling speakers.

Thanks,

David

PS I had a layout but I'm sure how to attach it to this message. If I find out I'll be back

PPS Found the layout. the speakers behind the couch are indicative of the In-ceiling currently

In ceiling speakers will not do you well at all. It is used as a last resort.

Side wall and rear wall for rear center channel will do you the best.

 

[Tornado11]

Hmm. Given that the back wall isn't really useable for this setup, would there be any particular type of side wall speakers I should be looking at? Would I be better off getting shelf's built on the wall so I can use regular bookshelf speakers and angle them in?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hmm. Given that the back wall isn't really useable for this setup, would there be any particular type of side wall speakers I should be looking at? Would I be better off getting shelf's built on the wall so I can use regular bookshelf speakers and angle them in?

I am unable to see your drawing attachement, not sure why, so I am somewhat disadvantaged.

You shouild definitely have side speakers for 5.1 if you can and with 6.1 or 7.1 you add the rear speakers to them. Shelves are fine or wall mount. If it is the right speakers for surround, you don't have to angle it down as you don't want a direct radiator type and beaming directly at you, like a front speaker
You should tgry to incorporate that back wall speaker. In a larger space it is very useful.

 

[Tornado11]

ok thanks for the advice. After some thought last night, as well as some searching on e-bay I came up with a couple of additional ideas.

I'm not using drywall on the ceiling, rahter going with a suspended ceiling. That allows me better access to all the wiring in the basement should something go wrong.

I had though about getting 2 custom cabinet's made that would fit in place of one of the suspended ceiling panels. That way I could set them back form the couch, not have to worry about placing things on the back wall and still be able to angle the speakers towards the listening area. I've attached a rough, very rough picture of what I mean.

The two speakers I though about putting in there are the Polk Audio RC80i, or (with a bit more work) the Wharfedale WH-2 Rear Surround speakers


Would this be a good solution?

Thanks for all your help BTW,

Dave

 

[Leprkon]

depending on the WAF, a simple solution to putting speakers in the back would be to use indoor/outdoor speakers.

most have a very flexible bracket that allow a lot of options in mounting. You can generally get a great two-way with either 4 inch or 5 1/2 inch mids for less than a comparable bookshelf. the I/O's are generally in a plastic case, and are a lot lighter than the bookshelf equivalents, putting less stress on your drywall. most are paintable to match your indoor trim.

there are some really nice and cost-effective models on the market, like the Polk Atrium series, Rocket makes some good ones (see Clint's Christmas guide), Acoustic Research Edge series, and Yamaha makes some good ones too (although they are 6 ohms and can be a pain to deal with).
the indoor-outdoors are alot more efficient and directable than the in-ceilings. it might be worth taking a look.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3968553

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=2253879

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3196783

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=44.1

 

[Tornado11]

ok thanks for the direction (no pun intended) on the indoor/outdoor speakers. I'm still tempted to get the in-ceiling speakers and arrange them in the ceiling using custom cabinets, angled down and towards the listening area. It seems it would look nice, as well as being fairly suitable in terms of sound output.

Am I correct in that assumption, or will the wall mounted directed speakers do a much better job of working as rear surrounds?

Thanks,

David
PS here's my fancy drawing