What would be the best 5.1 Set-Up for our 'difficult' livingroom?

  • Thread starter Antiekepoepdoos
  • Start date
A

Antiekepoepdoos

Audiophyte
Hi everyone,

First of all, I am a huge noob when it comes to home theater and/or surround sets, apologies in advance if I am asking beginner questons (not an English native by the way). Hope that I've come to the right place for some tips and advise.

I just moved into a new home and want to invest in a new home theater set, preferable a 5.1 Set-Up. the problem however is that I am not sure how to go about things as the room is not perfectly setup for a surround system. I have not purchased any system as of yet and am open to any ideas.

I have attached a picture of our livingroom below.
As you can see we currently have our telivision positioned next to our fireplace (the yellowish box to the left) which (I know) is not ideal. The fireplace is made from concrete (covers the floor to the ceiling). Also, there is a door in the middle of the room to enter the living room (forgot to add this to the image) which is positioned to the right (about 1m) of our couch.
Living room.png


As mentioned, I am a beginner and have absolutely no experience when it comes to installing or setting up a home theater set or surround system. I would love to have a good 5.1 Set-Up based on the above layout, but can Imagine that this is going to be a challenge.
The first problem would be the 3 front speakers. The middle speaker can be positioned below our telivision, but the two other speakers are going to be a major issue. We can put the left speaker on the righst side of the fireplace, and the right speaker next to the right of our telivision (at the same height), but i doubt that this setup is even an option.
Also, what I am wondering, is whether it is not a problem that the two back speakers would be positioned next to the couch as we have our couch backed against the wall. I read a lot of tips to position the back speacker behind the couch/sitting area in stead of next to it. Moreover, I can image that the sound would bounce of the walls if they are positione too close to the walls?

My apologies for the messy post, some of you will probably think that the above Set-Up does not make any sense at all, which I completly understand haha. Honestly, I am open to any suggestions, all I wish is to have the best surround Set-Up possible in our small but comfy livingroom.

Hope you guys can help!
 
rojo

rojo

Audioholic Samurai
Thanks for including the diagram. That helps. Would it be unreasonable to consider moving the dining table to the left side of the room and the television to the right?

Your plan to mount the left speaker to the right of the fireplace won't give you much stereo separation. There'll be little to no advantage of that over, say, an LCR speaker bar. Ideally, you want more space between your left and right speakers, not less. Could you use wall mount brackets to mount your mains farther apart? Something like this is what I was thinking, but I'm not sure where you'd find those in Europe. You are in Europe, right?

By the way, if you were planning to get towers for your left and right channels, they'll limit your placement options with no benefit. I'm assuming you're planning to get a subwoofer, right? Well, if you cross over your mains at 80Hz and let a subwoofer take over the lows, there won't be much aural difference between bookshelf speakers and tower speakers -- but bookshelfs will offer better performance for the money and give you the option either to wall mount or use stands for more flexible placement.
 
A

Antiekepoepdoos

Audiophyte
Thanks for all the tips! Much appreciated.
It would not be unreasonable, but we would prefer not to. However, if we have no other options then yes, would definitely look at moving the dining set. Only disadvantage is that we will have a fireplace next to our dining table instead of the couch.

Yes, we could use wall mount brackets, i'm sure that we can get them here (yes, based in Europe, the Netherlands to be precise). Thanks a lot for the tips on the space between the left and right speaker, will make sure to keep this in mind.

Not sure how we are going to have everything Set-Up, but your tips are definitely of help. I think that we will opt for the bookshelf speakers as indicated by yourself, as this does give us some more flexibility.

Thanks again rojo!
 
S

Stampede

Enthusiast
Maybe I missed something, but I would leave the lounge to the left, swing around the lounge so that the TV and speakers are in front of the window( not ideal I know, but put a curtain). Then mount the rear speakers bit further back at a height. In ceiling maybe an option here.

The advantage this setup holds is that less rear wall reflections, better rear speakers placement, better stereo room symmetry(better sound quailty) and you can watch tv from the dining area.

Hope this helped.
 
S

Sky1

Audioholic Intern
This may sound crazy but what about mounting TV on a motorized swing arm so it folds down or out? It has to be above fireplace.
 

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