Rear speakers - open plan living

[planetshilp]

Hmm, not many great options to my eye.

You could consider in-wall rears, or something mounted high in the corners pointing down at you, but I suspect neither would be worth the significant trouble.

Maybe look instead at some atmos options to sit atop your towers and bounce off the ceiling. At least that way you can experiment with direction and get some improved HT effect, while remaining tidy.

Thanks for your reply. There is no way i can access the ceiling to install atmos speakers - its a double story house and the setup (living room) is on the ground floor.

 

[planetshilp]

Just don't think about it. Doing surround audio in a room like that is a waste of time and money, in fact worse than that.

A room like that is best served with a really good 2.1 or 3.1 system. My advice is to spend funds to improve the 3.1 system you have. That will give you the best results.
Systems like you already have can give really good results in rooms like that.

Thanks for your reply. My initial thoughts were the same and was thinking to ditch the idea of rears and maybe have another subwoofer. But the idea of having sound coming in from rears is too fascinating (especially while watching movies)!

 

[planetshilp]

Tough choice in that room. Having wall mounted speakers might work in the far corner but not so great next to the doorway. In our living room I opted to mount the surrounds up high in the rear corners, so higher than what WIlliam has sketched in the photo. High surrounds are not ideal but they still make an audible difference if you just want to add some effects to movies. If this is primarily a music setup I would stick to 3.1.

As to how I would go about it in that room, I would get speakers with mounting brackets and just run cables on the floor to test things out. 14 gauge stranded copper is not that expensive. In that scenario, if you don't like the result, then you only have to patch a few screw holes and touch up the paint. If you like the result, then the trick is hiding the wires. Only a couple options that I see since you can't go in the ceiling. If there is basement access, then down from the stereo, through the floor joists and up the walls. If no floor access, then either in-wall or surface mounted. In-wall will require a lot of patching and repainting. For surface mounting you can buy tracks to run the wire inside and run the tracks on top of the base board. The lack of trim around the doorway will make that a tricky option as well.

As to speakers, depends on your budget. I am planning to replace my surrounds with the True Mini from Philharmonic Audio. You'll be hard pressed to beat the sound in that size but they are $380 US + shipping. They do make them in white, though, which I'm sure from the photos is your preferred colour.

Thanks for your reply. I spoke to an installer and he reckons he can hide the cables in the wall - if i were to place the rears on either side of the plantation shutters. The wire from AV receiver could just be mounted on the wall (wall tracks). Not sure though the rear speakers would do any improvement considering its an open plan living area and one side (back side) opens via a sliding door to our backyard. But, having an option like the SVS elevation speakers seems fascinating even if they add a bit of dimension to the surround sound.

 

[planetshilp]

I agree that your room doesn't really lend itself to a surround system- mine doesn't, either. I could, but since most of what I listen to wasn't mixed for surround and since it wouldn't sound great with surround, I haven't bothered. My system is stereo. Not 2.1 or 3.1, stereo. The dialog comes from dead center, right and left channel information come from the appropriate locations and anything between the two speakers pans evenly and without drops in level or detail. When I watch TV or movies, it works well and in systems that are less than very expensive/painstakingly set up and subject to glitches due to the technologies involved, I keep it simple.

That said, I think your system might be better if it were turned 90° to the left and the sofa placed so people can walk behind it, as they can with the chair. The walls to the sides of the speakers would be more symmetrical and the sound would benefit from that, IMO.

Thanks for your reply. Interesting! i might push the sofa (green) a bit and see if it makes any difference! Thanks

 

[Wardog555]

Thanks for your reply. There is no way i can access the ceiling to install atmos speakers - its a double story house and the setup (living room) is on the ground floor.

Mount to the ceiling then using something like arendal 1961 heights.

 

[Eppie]

Thanks for your reply. I spoke to an installer and he reckons he can hide the cables in the wall - if i were to place the rears on either side of the plantation shutters. The wire from AV receiver could just be mounted on the wall (wall tracks). Not sure though the rear speakers would do any improvement considering its an open plan living area and one side (back side) opens via a sliding door to our backyard. But, having an option like the SVS elevation speakers seems fascinating even if they add a bit of dimension to the surround sound.

I think it's about managing expectations in this case. While you can add a bit of "dimension" you won't get the precise object placement that a proper setup which conforms to the Dolby specification can offer. I used ceiling mounted surrounds for several years and enjoyed the added ambience but I have since changed to side surrounds and in-ceiling ATMOS speakers and it's much improved. There are several companies that make height speakers but if you want to stick to the white theme then SVS Elevation and the Arendal Heights mentioned above are probably your best option. If mounted ceiling height you can configure them as rear heights for movies and experiment with different surround modes for music.

 

[snakeeyes]

I think you’re going to end up wanting dual subs if you try to integrate small surrounds.